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THE CRUSTACEA, ARACHNIDES AND INSECTA,
BY P. A. LATREILLE,
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, ETC. ETC: ETC.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH,
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BY H. M’MURTRIB, M.D. &c. &c.
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REMARKS.
In presenting to the Zoologist this production of the Aris-
totle of the nineteenth century, the oracle of his science, it
is far from my intention to occupy his time by attempting to
show that it is not only the best source of knowledge to which
he can refer, that of Nature herself alone excepted, but that
it is the only one from which he can be certain of obtaining
it unmingled with the grossest error—for this is universally
admitted.
Divesting himself of the prejudices arising from a blind re-
verence for authority and a habit of imitation, our author has
brought all the free energies of his powerful and penetrating
mind to the investigation of his subject. Perceiving at once
the importance of the difference between the constant and
mutable characters of animals, aware of the harmony subsist-
ing between one constant character and another, and unap-
palled by the prospect of the almost endless labour that
awaited him, he resolved to expose them with the knife; ex-
pecting by the aid of comparative anatomy to arrive at facts
which would enable him to arrange the whole animal king-
dom, from Man to the last of the Infusoria, in its natural
order. How well he has succeeded, the precision with which
he has characterized insulated and mutilated fragments of
fossil bones of extinct species, and the reconstruction of the
whole of their gigantic frames from a part, this book, and the
common consent of the learned of all countries, amply testify.
He has accomplished the boast of Horace, he has erected the
altars of the science in the temple of Truth, and placed its
1V REMARKS.
everlasting foundations on the unchangeable organization of
that economy it was his business to study: his monument is
imperishable-—* Regalique situ pyramidum altius.”’
When the extent and nature of this work are taken into
consideration, it will be readily surmised that my task has been
far from an easy one; and a glance at the original is sufficient
to convince the scientific critic that such is not only the case,
but that the difliculties 1 have had to encounter were of no
ordinary cast. The graceful flexibility of the French lan-
guage is such as to yield to a combination of words and forms
of expression that almost bid defiance to any thing like sy-
nonymes in our more stubborn English. If this be true in
relation to the language of conversation or that of books on or-
dinary subjects, how greatly must the difliculty be increased
when we find them abounding in a work like this! Such has
been my trouble and perplexity on this account, that I may be
excused for observing, that although the necessity for making
new words cannot be denied, we should never forget that
there are but two sources from which they can be legitimately
drawn—the Latin or Greek. A word thus formed, being
universally understood, may be removed unaltered from one
language to another(1).
Previously to commencing the execution of this version, it
became indispensably requisite to fix upon some general plan
of proceeding. The absurdity of translating into English the
technical portion, or the nomenclature, was too apparent to
demand a moment’s consideration—the genius of our language
forbids it. ‘To have left these terms in French would have
been inexpedient for self-evident reasons; and the idea of
giving a class in Latin, an order in French, &e., presented
too revolting a medley. By giving them all in Latin, the
common language of science, these objections vanished, al-
though it entailed difficulties of a different character. - I have
ventured to encounter them; and while strictly adhering to
(1) For some remarks on this'Subject, see Count Dejean’s preface to his Spe-
cies, &c., I, p. 8.
REMARKS. MY
the spirit, and, as far as practicable, to the very letter of my
author, have endeavoured to give to the whole work that
classical ‘¢form and pressure” which facilitates its study and
tends to fix its great and leading points more firmly in the
memory. How far I have succeeded others must determine.
I have not forgotten that although this work is more parti-
cularly intended to be studied by the naturalist, it will proba-
bly be read by every one who has the slightest desire to ac-
quire some knowledge of the numerous and interesting groups
of animals by which Man is surrounded, and with which he
is so indissolubly connected. ‘The general reader will lose
nothing by the concise and simple style I have endeavoured to
adopt ; and although the meanings of the names aflixed to the
various divisions are not placed in glaring characters at their
head, he will always find it in the text.
Whenever an animal is mentioned that is generally known
by one and the same English, or vulgar name, I have always
givenit; but of the many thousands here treated of, very few
are thus circumstanced, and I cannot but think that it would
be advantageous to the science if vulgar names were totally
excluded from its nomenclature. The evidence of this is to
be found in the fact, that, with comparatively few exceptions,
these names vary, not only in different countries, but in dif-
ferent parts of the same country. ‘Thus the Rockfish of Phila-
delphia is a Striped-Bass at Boston; the Sheephead of Pitts-
burg (a Corvina) is a totally different fish from the one so called
in our city (a Sargus), and even belongs to a different family;
the Trout we receive from Long Branch might with equal
propriety be denominated a Shark ora Sturgeon. Different
names are sometimes attached to the same animal, and the
same name to different animals. Vulgar names are a fruitful
source of error; and therefore I have employed them as spa-
ringly and as cautiously as possible.
An immaculate book is perhaps rather to be wished for than
expected, and that errors should have crept into the Regne
Animal is not at all surprizing. These I have endeavoured
to correct, not by erasure or altering the text (those cases al-
vi REMARKS.
ways excepted where the mistake was evidently and purely
typographical), but by a note, either on the page itself, or in
the appendix. Thus, whatever has been added, nothing has
been taken away, and the text of my author remains as J
found it.
It was originally my intention to have made considerable
additions of American species to the Entomology, but to such
an extent has the formation of new genera and the division of
old ones lately been carried, that it would have required
more time to do this correctly than to translate the whole
book, and consequently I was compelled to abandon it. Of
the Fishes of this country nothing can be said, until we are in
possession of the expected work of M. Lesueur.
The period in which America was compelled to look to
Europe for a knowledge of her own productions has termi-
nated; and our Wilson, Say, Ord, Le Conte, Harlan, Hentz,
Audubon, &c. &c. are repaying the debt with usury. Nor
is this spirit of observation abating. The increasing number
of institutions exclusively devoted to the natural sciences, in
almost every section of our extensive country, shows the re-
verse to be the fact, and authorizes us to expect the most
splendid results from their united efforts.
I cannot conclude without acknowledging my obligations to
Major Le Conte for his valuable communications on various
portions of the Regne Animal. The results of his critical and
laborious investigations are chiefly to be found in the notes on
American birds, and the Catalogue which closes this volume,
and I have only to regret that the unfinished state of the work
on the Lepidoptera of North America, which is now being
published at Paris by him and M. Boisduval, prevented me
from employing it.
H. M’MURTRIE.
Philadelphia, June 1831.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Havine devoted myself from my earliest youth to the stu-
dy of comparative anatomy, that is to the laws of the or-
ganization of animals and of the modifications this organiza-
tion undergoes in the various species, and having, for nearly
thirty years since, consecrated to that science every moment
of which my duties allowed me to dispose, the constant aim of
my labours has been to reduce it to general rules, and to pro-
positions which may contain their most simple expression.
My first essays soon made me perceive, that I could only
attain this in proportion as the animals, whose structure I
should have to elucidate, were arranged in conformity with
that structure, so that in one single name of class, order, genus,
&c. might be embraced all those species which, in their ex-
ternal as well as internal conformation, have affinities either
more general or particular. Now this is what the greater
number of naturalists of that epoch had never attempted, and
what but few of them could have effected, had they ever
been willing to try, since a similar arrangement presupposes
an extensive knowledge of the structures, of which it is partly
the representation.
It is true, that Daubenton and Camper had given facts,
that Pallas had indicated views: but the ideas of these learned
men had not yet exercised upon their contemporaries the in-
fluence they merited. The only general catalogue of animals
then in existence, and the only one we possess even now, the
system of Linnus, had just been disfigured by an unfortunate
editor, who did not even take the pains to examine the prin-
Vill PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
ciples of that ingenious methodist, and who, wherever he
found any disorder, seems to have tried to render it more in-
extricable.
It is also true, that there were very extensive works upon
particular classes, which had made known a great number of
new species; but their authors merely considered the exter-
nal relations of those species, and no one had employed him-
self in arranging the classes and orders from the ensemble of
the structure; the characters of several classes remained false
or incomplete even in justly celebrated works of anatomy ;
some of the orders were arbitrary, and in scarcely any of these
divisions were the genera placed conformably to nature.
I was compelled then, and the task occupied a considerable
period of time, I was compelled to make anatomy and zoology,
dissection and classification, the pioneers of my steps ; to search
for better principles of distribution in my first remarks on or-
ganization—to employ them in order to arrive at new ones, |
and to render the distribution perfect—in fine, from this mu-
tual reaction of the two sciences, to elicit a system of zoology
that might serve as an introduction and a guide in anatomical
investigations, and as a body of anatomical doctrine fitted to
develope and explain the zoological system.
The first results of this double labour appeared in 1795 in
a special memoir upon a new division of the white blooded
animals. A sketch of their application to genera and to their
division in subgenera was the object of my elementary ‘‘’Ta-
bleau Elémentaire des Animaux,” printed in 1798, which, in
conjunction with M. Dumeril, I improved, in the tables an-
nexed to the first volumes of my ‘¢Lecons d’Anatomie Com-
parée” in 1800.
T should, perhaps, have contented myself with perfecting
these tables, and proceeded immediately to the publication of
my great work on anatomy, if, in the course of my researches,
1 had not been frequently struck with another defect of the
greater number of the general or partial systems of zoology; I
mean the confusion in which the want of critical acumen has
left a great number of species, and even several genera.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix
The classes and orders were not only not sufficiently con-
formed to the intimate nature of animals to serve conve-
niently as a basis to a treatise on comparative anatomy, but
the genera themselves, although mostly better constituted,
presented but inadequate resources, on account of the species
not having been arranged under each of them, in conformity
with these characters. Thus in placing the Sea-cow (Mana-
tus, Cuv.) in the genus Morse (Trichechus, Lin.), the Siren
in that of the Eels, Gmelin had rendered any general propo-
sition relative to the organization of these two genera imposs-
ible, just as by approximating to the same class the same
order, and placing side by side the Sepia and the fresh-
water Polypus, he had made it impossible to say any thing in
general on the class and order which embraced such different
beings.
The examples above cited are selected from the most strik-
ing of these errors ; but there existed an infinitude of them,
less sensible at the first glance, which presented difliculties
not less real.
It was not enough then to have imagined a new arrange-
ment of classes and orders, and to have properly placed the
genera there; it was also necessary to examine all the species
in order to be assured, whether they really belonged to the
genera in which they had been placed.
Having come to this, I found species not only grouped or
dispersed, against all semblance of reason, but I remarked
that several had not been positively determined; neither by
the characters assigned to them, nor by their figures and de-
scriptions.
Here, one of them, by means of synonymes, represents seve-
ral in one single name, and often so different from each other
that they should not be placed in the same genus 3 there, a
single one is doubled, trebled, and successively reappears in
several subgenera, genera, and sometimes in different orders.
What shall we say, for instance, of the Trichechus mana-
tus of Gmelin, which in one single specific name comprises
three species and two genera ; two genera, differing in almost
Vou. I.—(2)
xX PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
every thing? By what name shall we speak of the Velella,
which figures there twice among the Medusz and once among
the Holothurie ? How are we to bring together the Biphore ;
some of which are called there Dagyse, the greater number
Salpe, and several placed among the Holothuriz.
In order, therefore, completely to attain the object, it was
not suflicient to review the species—it was necessary to re-
view their synonymes, or in other words to remodel the sys-
tem of animals.
Such an enterprise, from the prodigious development of
the science in late years, could not have been executed com-
pletely by any one individual, even supposing him to have no
other employment and to live the longest possible term of
years; had I been constrained to depend upon myself alone,
I should not have been able to prepare even the simple sketch
I now give; but the resources of my position seemed to me to
supply what I wanted both of time and talent. Living in the
midst of so many able naturalists—drawing from their works
as fast as they appeared—enjoying the use of their collec-
tions as freely as themselves—and having formed a very con-
siderable one myself especially appropriated to my object; a
great portion of my labour consisted merely in the employ-
ment of so many rich materials. It was not possible, for in-
stance, that much remained for me to do on shells studied by
M. de Lamarck, or on quadrupeds described by M. Geoffroy.
The numerous and new aflinities observed by M. de Lace-
pede were so many traits for my system of fishes. Among so
many beautiful birds, collected from all parts of the world,
M. Le Vaillant perceived details of organization, which I im-
mediately adapted to my plan. My own researches, employed
and multiplied by other naturalists, yielded those fruits to me,
which, in my hands alone, they would not, all, have produced.
Thus, by examining, in the cabinet I have formed, the ana-
tomical preparations on which I designed to found my division
of reptiles, M. de Blainville and M. Oppel anticipated (and
perhaps better than I could have done) results of which as
yet I had but a glimpse, &€., &e.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ea
Encouraged by these reflections, 1 determined to precede
my treatise on comparative anatomy by a kind of abridged
system of animals, in which I would present their divisions
and subdivisions of all degrees, established in a parallel man-
ner upon their structure, external and internal ; where I would
give the indication of well ascertained species, which certainly
belong to each of the subdivisions, and where, to create more
interest, I would enter into some details upon such of those
species, which from their abounding in our country, the uses
to which we put them, the evils they cause us, the singularity
of their habits and economy, their extraordinary forms, their
beauty or their size, become the most remarkable.
In so doing, I hoped to prove useful to young naturalists,
who, for the most part, have but little idea of the confusion
and errors of criticism in which the most accredited works
abound, and who, in foreign countries particularly, do not
sufficiently attend to the study of the true relations of the con-
formation of beings; I considered myself as rendering a more
direct service to those anatomists, who require to know be-
forehand to what orders they should direct their researches,
when they wish to solve any problem of human anatomy or
physiology by comparative anatomy, but whose ordinary oc-
cupations do not sufliciently prepare them for fulfilling this
condition which is essential to their success.
I had no intention, however, of extending this two-fold view
to all the classes of the animal kingdom, and the Vertebrated
animals, as in every sense the most interesting, naturally
claimed a preference. Among the Invertebrata, I had to
study more particularly the naked Mollusca and the great
Zoophytes; but the innumerable variations of the external
forms of shells and corals, the microscopic animals, and the
other families whose part, on the great theatre of nature, is
not very apparent, or whose organization affords but little
room for the use of the scalpel, did not require a similar mi-
nuteness of detail. Independently of this, so far as the shells
and corals were concerned, I could depend on the work of
xil PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
M. de Lamarck, in which will be found all that the most ar-
dent thirst for knowledge can desire.
As regards Insects, which, by their external form, organi-
zation, habits, and influence on all animated nature, are so
highly interesting, I have been fortunate enough to find assis-
tance, which, in rendering my work infinitely more perfect
than it could have possibly been had it emanated from my pen
alone, has at the same time considerably accelerated its publica-
tion. My friend and colleague M. Latreille, who has studied
these animals more profoundly than any other man in Europe,
has kindly consented to give, in a single volume, and nearly
in the order adopted for the other parts, a summary of his
immense researches, and an abridged description of those in-
numerable genera entomologists are continually establishing.
As for the rest, if in some places I have given less extent
to the exposition of subgenera and species, all that relates to
the superior divisions and the indicia of relations, I have
founded on bases equally solid, by assiduous and universal re-
searches.
I have examined, one by one, all the species of which I
could procure specimens; I have approximated those which
merely differed from each other in size, colour, or in the
number of some parts of little importance, and have formed
them into what I denominate subgenera.
Every time it was possible, I dissected one species at least
of each subgenus, and if those be excepted to which the
scalpel cannot be applied, but very few groups of this degree
can be found in my work, of which I cannot produce some
considerable portion of the organs.
Having determined the names of the species I observed,
which had been previously either well described or well
figured, I placed in the same subgenera those I had not
seen, but whose exact figures, or descriptions, sufliciently
precise to leave no doubt remaining as to their natural rela-
tions, I found in authors; but I have passed over in silence
that great number of vague indications, on which, in my opi-
nion, naturalists have been too eager to establish species,
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xill
whose adoption is what has mainly contributed to introduce in
the catalogue of beings, that confusion which deprives it of so
great a portion of its utility.
I could, every where, have added great numbers of new
species, but. as I could not refer to figures it would in that
case have been necessary to extend their descriptions beyond
the bounds of my limits; I have preferred therefore depriv-
ing my work of that ornament, and have indicated those only
whose singular formation gives origin to new subgenera.
My subgenera once established on undoubted relations, and
composed of well ascertained species, nothing remained but
to construct this great scaffolding of genera, tribes, families,
‘orders, classes and divisions which constitute the ensemble of
the animal kingdom.
Here I have proceeded, partly by ascending from the in-
ferior to the superior divisions, by means of approximation
and comparison, and partly by descending from the superior
to the inferior divisions, on the principle of the subordination
of characters; carefully comparing the results of the two
methods, verifying one by the other, and always sedulously
establishing the correspondence of forms, external and inter-
nal, both of which constitute integral parts of the essence of
each animal.
Such has been my mode of proceeding whenever it was ne-
cessary and possible to form new arrangements; but I need
not observe, that in many places, the results to which it would
have conducted me, had been already so satisfactorily obtained,
that no other trouble was left to me than that of following the
track of my predecessors. Even in these cases, however, by
new observations I have confirmed and verified what was
previously acknowledged, and what I did not adopt until it
was subjected to a rigorous scrutiny. An idea of this mode
of examination may be obtained from the Memoirs on the ana-
tomy of the Mollusca which have appeared in the ‘* Annales
du Muséum,” and of which I am now preparing a separate
and augmented collection. I venture to assure the reader,
that the labour I have bestowed upon the Vertebrated animals,
XIV PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
the Annulata, the Radiata, and many of the Insects and Crus-
tacea, is equally extensive. I have not deemed it necess-
ary to publish it with the same detail; but all my prepara-
tions are exposed in the Cabinet of Comparative Anatomy in
the Jardin du Roi, and will serve hereafter for my Treatise
on Anatomy.
Another work of considerable labour, but whose proofs
cannot be made so authentic, is the critical examination of
species. I examined and verified all the figures adduced by
authors, and as often as possible referred each to its true spe-
cies, before making a choice of those I have pointed out; it is
from this verification alone, and never from the classification
of preceding methodists, that I have referred to my sub-
genera the species that belong to them. Such is the reason,
why no astonishment should be experienced on finding that
such or such a genus of Gmelin is now divided and distributed
even in different classes and divisions; that numerous nominal
species are reduced to a single one, and that vulgar names are
very differently applied.
There is not a single one of these changes that I am not
prepared to justify, or of which the reader himself may not
obtain the proof by recurring to the sources I have indicated.
In order to diminish his trouble, I have been careful to se-
lect for each class a principal author, generally the richest in
good original figures, and I quote secondary works only in
those cases in which the former are silent, or where it was
useful to establish some comparison, for the sake of confirm-
ing synonymes.
My subject could have been made to fill many volumes;
but I considered it my duty to condense it, by imagining
abridged means of publication. I have obtained these by gra-
duated generalities; by never repeating for a species what
could be said of a whole subgenus, nor for a genus what might
be applied to an entire order, and so on, we arrive at the
greatest possible economy of words. ‘To this my endeavours
have been, above all, particularly directed, inasmuch as this
was the principal end of my work. It may be observed,
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XV
however, that I have not employed many technical terms,
and that I have endeavoured to communicate my ideas with-
out that barbarous apparatus of factitious words, which, in
the works of so many modern naturalists, prove so very re-
pulsive. I cannot perceive, however, that I have thereby
lost any thing in precision or clearness.
I have been compelled, unfortunately, to introduce many
new names, although I endeavoured as far as possible to pre-
serve those of my predecessors; but the numerous subgenera
I have established required these denominations ; for in things
so various the memory is not satisfied with numerical indica-
tions. I have selected them, so as either to convey some
character, or among the common names which I have latinized,
or finally after the example of Linnzus, from those of mytho-
logy, which are generally agreeable to the ear, and which we
are far from having exhausted.
In naming species, however, I would recommend employ-
ing the substantive of the genus, and the trivial name only.
The names of the subgenera are designed as a mere relief to
the memory, when we wish to indicate these subdivisions in
particular. Otherwise, as the subgenera, already very nu-
merous, will in the end become greatly multiplied, in con-
sequence of having substantives continually to retain, we shall
be in danger of losing the advantages of that binary nomen-
clature so happily imagined by Linneus.
It is the better to preserve it that I have dismembered,
as little as possible, the genera of that illustrious reformer of
science. Whenever the subgenera in which I divide them
were not to be translated to different families, I have left
them together under their former generic appellation. This
was not only due to the memory of Linnzeus, but it was ne-
cessary in order to preserve the mutual intelligence of the
naturalists of different countries.
The habit, naturally acquired in the study of natural his-
tory, of the mental classification of a great number of ideas,
is one of the advantages of that science that is seldom observed,
and which, when it shall have been generally introduced into
XVi PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
the system of common education, will become, perhaps, the
principal one. By it, the student is exercised in that part of
logic which is termed method, just as he is by geometry in
that of syllogism, because natural history is the science which
requires the most precise methods, as geometry is that which
demands the most rigorous reasoning. Now this art of me-
thod, once well acquired, may be applied with ‘nfinite advan-
tage to studies the most foreign to natural history. Every dis-
cussion which supposes a classification of facts, every research
which demands a distribution of matters, is performed accord-
ing to the same laws; and he who had cultivated this science
merely for amusement, is surprised at the facilities it affords
him in disentangling and arranging all kinds of affairs.
It is not less useful in solitude. Sufliciently extensive to
satisfy the most powerful mind, sufficiently various and inte-
resting to calm the most agitated soul, it sheds consolation in
the bosom of the unhappy, and stills the angry waves of envy
and hatred. Once elevated to the contemplation of that har-
mony of nature irresistibly regulated by Providence, how weak
and trivial appear those causes which it has been pleased to
leave dependent on the will of man! How astonishing to be-
hold so many fine minds, consuming themselves so uselessly for
their own happiness or that of others, in the pursuit of vain
combinations, whose very traces a few years suflice to sweep
away.
I avow it—these ideas have always been present to my mind,
the companions of my labours; and if I have endeavoured by
every means in my power to advance this peaceful study, it is
because, in my opinion, it is more capable than any other of
supplying that want of occupation, which has so largely con-
tributed to the troubles of our age—but I must return to my
subject. :
There yet remains the task of accounting for the principal
changes I have effected in the latest received methods, and
to acknowledge the amount of my obligations to those natu-
ralists, whose works have furnished or suggested a part of
them.
-PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XVil
To anticipate a remark which will naturally present itself
to many, I must observe that I have neither desired nor pre-
tended to class animals so as to form one single line, or so as
to mark their relative superiority. I even consider every at-
tempt of this kind impracticable. Thus, I do not mean that
the Mammalia or Birds which come last, are the most imper-
fect of their class; still less do I believe that the last of the
Mammalia are more perfect than the first of the Birds, the
last of the Mollusca more so than the first of the Annulata or
of the Radiata, even restraining the meaning of this vague
word perfect to that of most completely organized. I re-
gard my divisions and subdivisions as the merely graduated
expression of the resemblance of the beings which enter into
each of them, and although in some we observe a sort of de-
gradation or passage from one species to the other, which can-
not be denied, this disposition is far from being general. The
pretended chain of beings, as applied to the whole creation,
is but an erroneous application of those partial observations,
which are only true when confined to the limits within which
they were made—it has, in my opinion, proved. more detri-
mental to the progress of natural history in modern times,
than it is easy to imagine.
It is in conformity with these views that I have established
my four general divisions, which have already been made
known in a separate Memoir. [I still think it expresses the
real relations of animals more exactly than the old arrange-
ment of Vertebrata and Invertebrata, for the simple reason,
that the former animals have a much greater resemblance to
each other than to the latter, and that it was necessary to
mark this difference in the extent of their relations.
M. Virey, in an article of the “‘ Nouveau Dictionnaire d’ His-
toire Naturelle,” had already discovered a part of the basis of
this division, and principally that which reposes on the ner-
vous system.
The particular approximation of oviparous Vertebrata, in-
ter se, originated from the curious observations of M. Geoff-
roy on the composition of bony heads; and from those I have
Vor. I.—(3)
XVill PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
added to them, relative to the rest of the skeleton and to the
muscles. ,
In the Mammalia I have brought back the Solipedes to the
Pachydermata, and have divided the latter into families on a
new plan; the Ruminantia I have placed after the Quadru-
peds, and the Sea-cow near the Cetacea. ‘The arrangement
of the Carnaria I have somewhat altered—the Ouistites have
been wholly separated from the Monkeys, and a sort of pa-
rallelism between the pouched animals and other digitated
Mammalia indicated ; the whole from my own anatomical re-
searches. All that I have given on the Quadrumana and the
- Bats is based on the recent and profound labours of my friend
M. Geoffroy de Saint-Hilaire. ‘The researches of my bro-
ther, M. Frederick Cuvier, on the teeth of the Carnaria and
the Rodentia, have proved highly useful to me in forming the
subgenera of these two orders. Notwithstanding the genera
of the late M. Illiger are but the results of these same studies,
and those of some foreign naturalists, I have adopted his names
whenever my subgenera could be placed in his genera. I
have also adopted M. de Lacépéde’s excellent divisions of this
description, but the characters of all the degrees and all the
indications of species have been taken from nature, either in
the cabinet of anatomy, or the galleries of the Museum.
The same plan was pursued with respect to the Birds. I
have examined with the greatest care and attention more than
four thousand individuals in the Museum ; I arranged them
agreeably to my views in the public gallery more than five
years ago, and all that is said of this class has been drawn from
that source. Thus, any resemblance which my subdivisions
may bear to some recent descriptions is on my side purely
accidental(1).
(1) This observation not having been sufficiently understood abroad, Iam com-
pelled to repeat it here, and openly to declare a fact witnessed by thousands in
Paris—it is this, that all the birds in the public gallery of the Museum were named
and arranged according to my system in 1811. Even such of my subdivisions
as I had not yet named were marked by particular signs. This is my date. In-
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xix
Naturalists, I hope, will approve of the numerous subgenera
I have deemed it necessary to establish among the Birds of
Prey, Passerine, and Shore-Birds; they appear to me to have
completely elucidated genera hitherto involved in much con-
fusion. J have also marked, as exactly as I could, the corres-
pondence of these subdivisions with the genera of MM. de La-
cépede, Meyer, Wolf, Temminck, Savigny, and have refer-
red to each of them all the species of which I could obtain a
very positive knowledge. ‘This laborious work will prove of
value to those who may hereafter attempt a true history of
Birds. The splendid works on Ornithology published within
a few years, and those chiefly of M. Le. Vaillant, which are
filled with so many interesting observations, together with M.
Vieillot’s, have been of much assistance to me in designating
with precision the species they represent.
The general division of this class remains as I published it
in 1798 in my “ Tableau Elémentaire(1).”
The general division of Reptiles, by my friend M. Brong-
niart, I have thought proper to preserve, but I have prose-
cuted very extensive and laborious anatomical investigations
to obtain my ulterior subdivisions. M. Oppel, as I have al-
ready stated, has partly taken advantage of these preparatory
labours, and whenever my genera finally agreed with his, I
have noticed the fact. ‘The work of Daudin, indifferent as it
is, has been useful to me for indications of details, but the par-
ticular divisions I have made in the genera Monitor and
Gecko, are the product of my own observations on a great
number of Reptiles recently brought to the Museum by Messrs
Peron and Geoflroy.
My labours with regard to the Fishes will probably be found
to exceed those I have bestowed on the other vertebrated
dependently of this, my first volume was printed in the beginning of 1816. Four
volumes are not printed as quickly asa pamphlet ofa few pages. I say no more.
(Note to Ed. 1829.) 4
(1) I only mention this, because an amiable naturalist, M. Vieillot, ina recent work
has attributed to himself the union of the Picw with the Passeres. Ihad published
it in 1798, with my other arrangements, so as to render them public in the Museum
since 1811 and 1812.
KX PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
animals. Since the publication of the celebrated work of M.
de Lacépeéde, the accession to our Museum of a great number
of fishes, has enabled me to add several subdivisions to those of
that learned naturalist, to form different combinations of several
species, and to multiply anatomical observations. I have also
had better means of verifying the species of Commerson and of
some other travellers, and on this point I owe much toa re-
view of the drawings of Commerson and of the dried fishes
he brought with him, by M. Dumeril, which have been but
very lately recovered: resources to which I added those pre-
sented to me in the fishes brought by Peron from the Indian
Ocean and Archipelago; those which I collected in the Medi-
terranean, and the collections made on the coast of Coroman-
del by the late M. Sonnerat, at the Isle of France by M. Ma-
thieu, in the Nile and Red Sea by M. Geoffroy, &c. I was
thus enabled to verify most of the species of Bloch, Russel,
and others, and to have prepared the skeletons and viscera of
nearly all the subgenera, so that this portion of the work will,
I presume, present to icthyologists much that is new.
As to my division of this class, I confess its inconvenience,
but I still think it more natural than any preceding one. When
I first published it, I gave it, quantum valeat, and if any one
discovers a better principle of division, and as conformable
to the organization, I shall hasten to adopt it.
It is well known that all the works, on the general division
of the Invertebrated animals, are mere modifications of what
I proposed in 1795 in the first of my memoirs; and the time
and care I have devoted to the anatomy of the Mollusca in ge-
neral, and principally to the naked Mollusca, are equally so.
The determining of this class, as well as of its divisions and
subdivisions, rests on my observations; the magnificent work
of M. Poli had alone anticipated me by descriptions and
anatomical researches, useful to me it is true, but confined to
bivalves and multivalves only. I have verified all the facts
furnished to me by that able anatomist, and I have, I think,
more justly marked the functions of some organs. I have also
endeavoured to determine the animals to which the principal
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XXI
forms of shells belong, and to arrange the latter from that con-
siderations; but as to the ulterior divisions of those shells whose
animals resemble each other, I have examined them only so
. far as to enable me to describe those admitted by Messrs de
Lamarck and de Montfort; even the small number of genera or
subgenera which are properly mine, are derived from observa-
tions on the animals. Inciting examples I have confined my-
self to a certain number of the species of Martini, Chemnitz,
Lister, and that only (the volume of M. de Lamarck, which
is to contain these matters, not being published), because I
was compelled to fix the attention of the reader on specific
objects. In the selection and determining of these species
however I lay no claim to the same critical accuracy I have
employed for the Vertebrated animals and the naked Mol-
lusca.
The excellent observations of Messrs Savigny, Lesueur,
and Desmarest on the compound Ascidia, approximate the
latter family of the Mollusca to certain orders of Zoophytes—
a curious relation, and an additional proof of the impractica-
bility of arranging animals on one single line.
The Annulata. (the establishing of which order, although
not the name, belongs de facto to me) have I think been ex-
tricated from the confusion in which they had hitherto been
involved among the Mollusca, the Testacea, and the Zoophy-
tes, and placed in their natural order—even their genera have
been elucidated only by my observations on them, published
in the ‘¢ Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles,”’ and elsewhere.
I can say nothing relative to the three classes contained in
the third volume. M. Latreille, who, with the exception of
some anatomical details, founded on my own observations and
- those of M. Randohr, added to his ee is its sole author,
will spare me that trouble.
As to the Zoophytes, which terminate the animal kingdom,
I have availed myself, for the Echinodermata, of the late work
of M. de Lamarck, and for the Intestinal Worms, of that of
M. Rudolphi, entitled Zntozoa; but I have anatomized all
the genera, some of which have been determined by me only.
Xxll PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Besides this, there is an excellent work of M. Tiedemann on
the anatomy of the Echinodermata that received the prize of
the Institute some years ago, that will shortly appear—it will
leave nothing unsaid with respect to these curious animals.
The Corals and the Infusoria, allowing no field for anatomical
investigations, have been briefly disposed of. ‘The new work
of M. de Lamarck will supply my deficiencies(1).
With respect to authors, I can only mention, here, those
who have furnished me with general views, or who were the
origin of such in my own mind(2). There are many others
to whom I am indebted for particular facts, whose names I
have carefully quoted wherever I have made use of them.
They will be found on every page of my book. Should I
have omitted to do justice to any, it must be attributed to in-
voluntary forgetfulness—no property, in my eyes, is more
sacred than the conceptions of the mind, and the custom, too
common among naturalists, of making plagiarisms by a change
of names, has always appeared to me a crime.
The publication of my Comparative Anatomy will now
occupy me every moment; the materials are ready, great
quantities of preparations and drawings are finished and ar-
ranged ; and I shall be careful in dividing the work into parts,
each of which will form a whole, so that should my physical
powers prove insuflicient for the completion of the totality of
my plan, what I shall have produced will still form entire
suites, and the materials I have collected be ready for the
hand of him who may undertake the continuation of my la-
bours.
Jardin du Roti, 1816.
(1) I have this moment received, /’ Histoire des Polypiers coralligéenes flexibles of
M. Lamouroux, which furnishes an excellent supplement to M. Lamarck.
(2) M. de Blainville has recently published general zoological tables, which I
regret came too late for me to profit by; having appeared when my book was nearly
printed.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE preceding preface exhibits a faithful account of the
state in which I found the history of animals at the time the
first edition of this work was published. During the twelve
years that have since elapsed, this science has made immense
progress. The labours of numerous, courageous, and learned
travellers, who have explored every region of the globe, the
rich collections formed and rendered public by various go-
vernments, the profound and splendid works where new
species are described and figured, and whose authors have
been determined to detect their mutual relations and to con-
sider them in every light(1), have all been instrumental in
producing this result.
I have endeavoured to avail myself of these discoveries, as
far as my plan permitted, by first studying the innumerable
specimens received at the Cabinet du Roi, and comparing
them with those which served as the basis of my first edition,
in order to deduce thence new approximations or new subdi-
visions, and then by searching in all the books I could pro-
cure for the genera or subgenera established by naturalists,
and the description of species by which they have supported
these different combinations.
The study of synonymes has become much easier now than
it was at the period of my first edition. Both French and
(1) See my Discourse before the Institute on the “ Progrés de l’Histoire Natu-
relle depuis la paix maritime,” published in the third volume of my “ Eloges.”
XX1V PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
foreign naturalists seem to have felt the necessity of establish-
ing divisions in those immense genera, in which such incon-
gruous species were formerly heaped together ; their groups
are now precise and well defined, their descriptions sufliciently
detailed, their figures scrupulously exact even to the most
minute characters, and very frequently of the greatest beauty.
Scarcely any difficulty remains therefore in determining the
identity of their species, and nothing hinders them from com-
ing to an understanding with respect to the nomenclature.
This, unfortunately, has been almost neglected ; the names of
the same genera, the same species, are multiplied as often as
they are spoken of; and should this discord continue, the same
chaos will be produced that previously existed, though arising
from a different cause. |
I have used every effort to compare and approximate these
redundancies, and forgetting even my own little interest of
author, have often given names which seem to have been form-
ed expressly to avoid being compelled to avow the borrowing
of my divisions. But in order thoroughly to execute this un-
dertaking, this pinax of the animal kingdom, which becomes
daily more and more necessary, to examine its proofs, and to fix
on the definite nomenclature that would be adopted, by basing
it on sufficient figures and descriptions, requires more space
than I can dispose of, and a time imperiously claimed by other
works. It is in the ‘‘ History of Fishes,’’ which, assisted by
M. Valenciennes, I have commenced publishing, that I intend
to give an idea of what I think might be effected with respect
to all parts of the science. This is a mere abridgement, a
simple sketch—fortunate will I be if I succeed in rendering
it correct in all its parts.
Various descriptions of a similar kind have been published
on some of the classes, and I have carefully studied them all, in
order to perfect my own. The «‘ Mammalogie’’ of M. Desma-
rest, that of M. Lesson, the ‘‘ Traité sur les Dents des Qua-
drupedes” of M. Frederick Cuvier, the English translation of
my first edition by Mr Griffith enriched by numerous additions
~ chiefly by Hamilton Smith, the new edition of the ‘« Ma-
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. XXKV
nuel d’Ornithomalogie”’ of M. Temminck, the ‘¢ Ornithological
Fragments” of M. Wagler, the ‘‘Description of Reptiles” by
the late Merrem, and the dissertation on the same subject by
M. Fitzinger, were principally useful to me for the Vertebrated
animals. The ‘Histoire des Animaux sans Vertebres” of M.
de Lamarck, and the ‘‘ Malacologie” of M. de Blainville, were
also of great use to me for the Mollusca. To these I have
added the new views and facts contained in the numerous and
learned writings of Messrs Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, father and
son, Savigny, Temminck, Lichtenstein, Kuhl, Wilson, Hors-
field, Vigors, Swainson, Gray, Ord, Say, Harlan, Charles Bo-
naparte, Lamouroux, Mitchell, Lesueur, and many other able
and studious men, whose names will be carefully mentioned,
wherever I speak of the subjects they have described.
The fine collection of engravings which have appeared
within the last twelve years, have allowed me to indicate a
greater number of species, nor have I failed to make ample use
of the opportunity. I must particularly acknowledge what I
owe on this score, to the ‘* Histoire des Mammiferes” of MM.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Frederick Cuvier, the ‘‘ Planches
Coloriées’’ of Messrs Temminck and Laugier, the ‘‘ Galerie des
Oiseaux” of M. Vieillot, the new edition of the ‘‘ Oiseaux d’ Al-
lemagne” of M. Nauman, the Birds of the United States of
Messrs Wilson, Ord, and Charles Bonaparte(1), the great
works of M. Spix and of the prince Maximilian de Wied on
the animals of Brazil, and to those of M. Ferussac on the Mol-
lusca. The plates and zoological descriptions of the travels of
Messrs Freycinet and Duperrey, given in the first by Messrs
Quoy and Gaymard, and in the second by Messrs Lesson and
Garnot, present, also, many new objects. ‘The same should
be said of the animals of Java, by M. Horsfield.. Though ona
smaller scale, new figures of rare species are to be found in the
“¢ Memoires du Muséum,” in the ‘¢ Annales des Sciences Natu-
relles,” in the different dictionaries of the natural sciences, in -
(1) The work of M. Audubon upon the Birds of North America, which sur-
passes all others in magnificence, was unknown to me till after the whole of that
part which treats of birds was printed.
Vou. I.—(4)
XXV1 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
the Zoological Illustrations of M. Swainson, and in the Zoolo-
gical Journal published by able naturalists in London. The
Journals of the Lyceum of New York, and of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, are not less precious; but in
proportion as the taste for natural history becomes extended,
and the more numerous the countries in which it is cultivated,
the number of its acquisitions increase in geometrical pro-
gression, and it becomes more and more difficult to collect all
the writings of naturalists, and to complete the table of their
results; I rely therefore on the indulgence of those whose ob-
servations may have escaped me, or whose works I may not
have sufficiently studied.
My celebrated friend and colleague M. Latreille, as in the
first edition, having consented to take upon himself the im-
portant and diflicult subject of the Crustacea, Arachnides and
Insects, will himself point out the path he has pursued; so
that on these points I need say nothing more here.
Jardin du Roi, October 1828,
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
INTRODUCTION
Of natural history
Of living beings and or-
ganization in general
Division of organized be-
ings into animals and
vegetables
Of the forms peculiar to
the organic elements of
the animal body, and
of the principal com-
binations of its chemi-
cal elements
Of the forces which act in
the animal body
Summary idea of the func-
tions and organs of the
bodies of animals, and
of their various degrees
of complication
Of the intellectual func-
tions of animals
Of method as applied to
the animal kingdom
Distribution of the ani-
mal kingdom into four
great divisions
OF THE VERTEBRATA
IN GENERAL
Subdivision of the Verte-
brata into four classes
MAMMALIA
Orders of the Mammalia
BIMANA
Man
Peculiar conforma-
tion of Man
Physical and moral
development of
Man
11
13
16
A8
Varieties of the hu-
man species
QUADRUMANA
Simia
Simia proper
Pithecus
Hilobates
Cercopithecus
Semnopithecus
Macacus
Tnuus
Cynocephalus
Mandrills
Monkeys of America
Sapajous
Mycetes
Ateles
Lagothrix
Sajous
Sainiri
Sakis
Callithrix
Nocthora
Ouistitis
Midas
Lemur
Lemur proper
Indris
Loris
Galago
Tarsius
CARNARIA
CHEIROPTERA
Vespertilio = -
Pteropus
Cephalotes
Vespertilio proper
Molossus
Dinops
Nyctinomus
Noctilio
Phyllostoma
Megaderma
Rhinolophus
Nycteris
Rhinopoma
XXVill
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
Taphozous
Mormoops
Vespertilio
Plecotus
Nycticeus
Galeopithecus
INSECTIVORA
Erinaceus
Centenes
Cladobates
Sorex
Mygale
Chrysochloris
Talpa
Condylura
Scalops
CARNIVORA
PLANTIGRADA
Ursus
Procyon
Ailurus E
Ictides
Nasua
Meles
Gulo
Ratelus
DIGITIGRADA
Mustela
Putorius
Mustela proper
Mephitis
Lutra
Canis
Canis proper
Foxes
Megalotis
Viverra
Viverra proper
Genetta
Paradoxurus
Mangusta
Ryzena
Crossarchus
Proteles
Hyena
Felis
AMPHIBIA. |
Phoca
Phoca proper
Stenorhynchus
Pelagus
Stemmatopus
Macrorhinus
Otaries
Trichechus
MARSUPIALIA
Didelphis
Didelphis proper
82 Chironectes
3% Dasyurus
3 Thylacinus
84 Phascogale
84 Dasyurus proper
84 Perameles
85 , Phalangista
85 Phalangista proper
86 Petaurus
Hypsiprymnus
87 Ypsipry
87 Macropus
88 Koala
Phascolomys
89 y
90 RODENTIA
9] Sciurus
91 Sciurus proper >
Pteromys
a Cheiromys
oe Mus
md Arctomys
95 Spermophilus
96 Myoxus
96 Echimys
97 Hydromys
ae Capromys
99 Mus proper
99 Gerbillus
Meriones
99 Cricetus
99 Arvicola
100 Fiber
102 Arvicola
103 Georychus
104 Otomys
105 - Dipus
107 Helamys
nue Spalax
ce Bathyergus
109 Geomys
110 Diplostoma
111 Castor
111 Myopotamus
tae Hystrix
Hystrix proper
112 Atherurus
113 Eretison
117 Synetheres
118 Lepus
118 Lepus proper
119) |] Lagomys
120 Hydrochzrus
120 Cavia
120 Kerodon
120 Chloromys
121 Celogenys
122 EDENTATA
124 TARDIGRADA
125 Bradypus
148
148
149
150
151
151
153
153
153
154
154
154
154
155
156
157
157
157
158
158
159
& 159
160 |
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
Acheus 160
Bradypus 161
Megatherium 162
Megalonyx 162
EDENTATA ORDINARIA 162
Dasypus 162
Cachicamus 163
Apara 165
Encoubertus 163
Cabassous 164
Priodon 164
Clamyphorus 164
Orycteropus 165
Myrmecophaga 165
Manis 166
MonoTREMATA 167
Echidna 168
Ornithorhynchus 168
PACHYDERMATA 169
PROBOSCIDIANA 170
Elephas 171
Mastodon Li2
PACHYDERMATA ORDI-
NARIA 173
Hippopotamus 173
Sus 174
Sus proper 174
Phacocherus 175
Dicotyles 175
Anoplotherium 176
Rhinoceros 177
Hyrax 178
Paleotherium 178
Lophiodon 179
Tapir 179
SOLIPEDES 180
Equus 180
RUMINANTIA 182
Without Horns. :
Camelus 184
Camelus proper 184
Auchenia 185
Moschus 185
With Horns.
Cervus 187
Camelopardalis 190
Antilope 191
Capra 198
Ovis 199
: Bos 200
CETACEA 202
HERBIVORA 203
Manatus 203
Halicore 204
Stellerus 204
ORDINARIA 204
XX1X
Delphinus 206
Delphinus proper 206
Phocena 207
Delphinapte-
rus * 209
Hyperoodon 209
Monodon 210
Physeter Pa
Physeter 212
Balena DAD:
Balenoptera 214
Oviparous Vertebrata 215
AVES 217
ACCIPITRES 225
DIURN ZB 225
Vultur 226
Vultur proper 226
Cathartes 227
Percnopterus 228
Gypactos 229
Falco 229
Nobiles ; 230
Falco proper 230
Hierofalco 219
Ignobiles 233
Aquila 233
Aquila proper 233
Haliztus 235
Pandion 236
Circaetus 236
Harpyia 237
Morphnus 238
Cymindis 239
Astur 239
Asturproper 239
Nisus 240
Milvus 241
Milvus proper 241
Pernis 242
Buteo 242
Circus 243
Serpentarius 244,
NOCTURNE 245
Strix 245
Otus 246
Ulula 247
Strix 247
Syrnium 247
Bubo 248
Noctua 248
Scops 250
PASSERINZ 251
DENTIROSTRES 252
Lanius 252
Lanius proper 252
Vanga 255
/ Ocypterus 255
Barita 256
Chalybzus 256
XXX
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
Psaris 256
Graucalus 257
Bethylus 257
Falcunculus 257
Pardalotus 258
Muscicapa 258
Tyrannus 258
Muscipeta 259
Platyrhynchus 259
Muscicapa 260
Gymnocephalus 261
Chephalopterus 262
Ampelis 262
Ampelis 262
Tersina 263
Ceblepyris 263
Bombycilla 263
Procnias 264.
Procnias pro-
per 264,
Casmarhyn-
chus 264
Gymnoderus 264
Edolius 265
Phibalura 265
Tanagra 265
Bulfinch Tanagers 266
Grossbeak Tanagers 266
Tanagra proper 266
Oriole Tanagers 266
Cardinal Tanagers 266
Ramphoceline Tana-
gers 267
Turdus 267
Turdus proper 267
Grives 268
Lamprotornis 270
Turdoides 270
Grallines 270
Criniger 270
Myothera 270
Orthonyx 272
Cinclus 272
Philedon 273
Eulabes 274
Gracula___ 274
Manorhina 276
Pyrrhocorax 276
Oriolus 276
Gymnops 277
Menura 277
Motacilla 278
Saxicola 278
Sylvia 279
Curruca 279
Accentor 282
Regulus 283
Troglodytes 284
Motacilla 284.
Motacilla pro-
per 284
Budytes
Anthus
Pipra
Rupicola
Calyptomenes
Pipra proper
Eurylaimus
FISSIROSTRES
Hirundo
Cypselus
Hirundo proper
Caprimulgus
Podargus
CONIROSTRES
Alauda
Parus
Parus proper
- Bearded Titmouse
Remiz
Emberiza
Fringilla
Ploceus
Pyrgita
Fringilla
Carduelis
Linaria
Vidua
Coccothraustes
Pitylus
Pyrrhula
Loxia
Corythus
Colius
Buphaga
Cassicus
Cassicus proper
Icterus
Xanthornus
Oxyrhynchus
Dacnis
Sturnus
Corvus
Corvus proper
Pica
Garrulus
Caryocatactes
Temia
Glaucopis
Coracias
Coracias proper
Colaris
Paradisza
TENUIROSTRES
Sitta
Xenops
Anabates
Synallaxis
Certhia
Certhia proper
311
311
313
313
314
314
314
314
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
Dendrocolaptes 315
Tichodroma STS
Nectarinia 316
Diceum 316
Melithreptus 317
Cinnyris 317
Arachnothera 318
Trochilus 318
Trochilus proper 319
Orthorhynchus 319
Upupa 320
Fregilus 320
Upupa proper 321
Promerops 321
Epimachus 322
SYNDACTYLZE 323
Merops ; $23
Prionites 324
Alcedo». 324
Ceyx 325
Todus 325
Buceros . 326
SCANSORIA 327
Galbula 327
Galbula proper 327
Jacamerops 328
Picus 328
Picoides 330
Yunx 331
Cuculus 331
Cuculus proper 332
Couas 333
Centropus 333
Courols 333
Indicator 334
Barbacous 334
Malcoha 334
Scythrops 334
Bucco 335
Barbicans 335
Bucco proper 335
Tamatia 33
Trogon 336
Crotophaga 337
Ramphastos 337
Ramphastos proper 338
Pteroglossus 338
Psittacus 338
Ara 359
Cornurus 339
Cockatoos 340
Psittacus proper 340
Loris 341
Psittaculus 341
Péroquets a trompe 342
Pezoporus 342
Corythaix 343
Musophaga 343
/
xd
GALLINACEA 343
Alector 344
Alector proper 345
Ourax 345
Penelope 346
Ortalida 347
Opisthocomus 347
Pavo 347
Lophophorus 348
Meleagris 349
Numida 349
Phasianus 350
Gallus 350
Phasianus proper 351
Houppiferes 352
Tragopan 352
Cryptonyx 352
Tetrao 353
Tetrao proper 353
Lagopus 355
Ganga 3535
Perdix 356
Francolinus 356
Perdix proper 356
Coturnix 357
Tridactylus 358
Turnix 358
Syrrhaptes 358
Tinamus 359
Columba 359
Columbi-gallines 360
Columba proper 360
Vinago 362
GRALLATORIA 363
BREVIPENNES 363
Struthio 364
Casuarius 365
PRESSIROSTRES 366
Otis 367
Charadrius 368
C2dicnemus 368
Charadrius proper 368
Vanellus 369
Squatarola 370
Vanellus proper 370
Hematopus 371
Cursorius 371
Cariama 372
CULTIROSTRES 372
Grus 373
Psophia 373
Grus proper 374
Eurypyga 375
Cancroma 375
Ardea 376
Ardea proper 376
Crabeaters 7 376
Onores SY /
XXXI1
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
Egrets
Bitterns
Night Herons
Ciconia
Mycteria
Scopus
Hians
Dromas
Tantalus
Platalea
LONGIROSTRES
Scolopax
Ibis
Numenius
Scolopax proper
Rhynchea
Limosa
Calidris
Arenaria
Pelidna
Cocorli
Falcinellus
Machetes
Eurinorhynchus
Phalaropus
Strepsilas
Totanus
Lobipes
Himantopus
Recurvirostra
MACRODACTYLI
Jacana
Palamedea
Chauna
Megapodius
Rallus
Fulica
Gallinula
Porphyrio
Fulica proper
Chionis
Glareola
Pheenicopterus
PALMIPEDES
BRACHYPTERZ
Colymbus
377
377
378
378.
379
-380
380
380
381
381
382
383
383
384
385
386
387
387
388
388
389
389
389
390
390
391
391
393
393
394
394
395
Podiceps 405
Heliornis 404.
Mergus 404
, Uria 405
Cephus 405
Alca 406
Fratercula 406
Alea proper 406
Aptenodytes 407
Aptenodytes proper 407
Catarrhactes 407
Spheniscus 408
LONGIPENNES 408
Procellaria 408 -
Procellaria proper 409
Puffinus 410
Halodroma 410
Pachyptila 410
Diomedea All
Larus 411
Goelands 412
Mauves 412
Stercorarius 413
Sterna 413
Noddies 415
Rynchops ALS
_ TOTIPALMATZE 415
Pelecanus 416
Pelecanus proper 416
Phalacrocorax 416
Tachypetes 417
Sula 417
Plotus 418
Pheton 418
LAMELLIROSTRES 419
Anas 419
Cygnus 419
Anser 421
Anser proper 421
Bernacles 421
Cereopsis 421
Anas proper 422
Oidemia 423
Clangula 423
Somateria 424
Rynchaspis 426
Tadorna 426
Mergus 428
ia i a 4
INTRODUCTION.
As correct ideas respecting natural history are not very
-_ generally formed, it appears necessary to begin by defining
“its peculiar object, and establishing rigorous limits between it
‘and neighbouring sciences. —
Tn our language and in most others, the word NATURE is
variously employed. _ At one time it is used to express the
qualities a being derives from birth,.in opposition to those it
may owe to art; at another, the entire mass of beings whicli
eompose the universe ; and at a third, the laws which govern
those beings. . It is in this latter sense particularly that we
usually personify nature, and, through respect, use its name
for that of 3 its Creator.
Physics, or Natural Philosophy, treats of the nature of these
three relations, and is either general or particular. General
physics examines abstractedly each of the properties of those
movable and extended beings we call bodies. ‘That braneh
of them styled Dynamics, considers bodies in mass; and pro-
ceeding from a very small number of experiments, determines
mathematically the laws of equilibrium, and those of motion
- and of its communication. Its different divisions are termed
~ Statics, Hydrostatics, Hydrodynamics, Mechanics, &c. &ce.,
according to the nature of the particular bodies whose motions
it examines. Optics considers the particular motions of light,
whose phenomena, which hitherto nothing but experiment has
been able to determine, aré becoming more numerous.
Chemistry, another.branch of general physics, exposes the
laws Ay which the saad molecules of bodies act,on each
6. ben Wor? FE HA
2."™ . INTRODUCTION.
other; the cbimBinations or separations which result from the
general tendency of these moleculesto re- unite; and the
modifications which. the various circumstances capable of se-
par ating or approximating them produce on that tendency. It
is purely a science of expemMenis. and is irreducible to caleu-
lation. .
The theory of heat and that of sldbicicity belong either to
dynamics or chemistry, deaortily to the point of view in
which they are considered.
The ruling method in all the branches of general physics
consists in isolating, bodies, reducing them to their greatest
simplicity, in bringing each of their properties separately e
action, either by reflection or “experiment, and by observi S
or calculating the results; and finally, i in Seneralising and con-
necting the laws of these properties, so as to form codes, » "
and, if it were possible, to refer them to.one s single ae
into which they might all he resolved. '
The object of Particular Physics, ov of Ne wtural History ap
for the terms are synonymous—is the special application of.
the laws recognised by the various branches of gener hy- J
Sics to the numerous and varied beings which! ist ff,
_in order to explain the phenomena which eth of dove. ‘
sents. : *, a3 |
Within this extensive range, astronomy Brod be in: *
cluded; but that science, sufliciently elucidated by mechanics,
and inilelidy subjected to its laws, employs methods, differ-
ing too widely from those required by natural. history, to per-
mit it to be cultivated by the students of the latter. '
Natural history, then, is confined to objects which do not
allow of exact calculation, nor of precise measurement in all
their parts. Meteorology also is substracted from it and united
to general physics; so that, properly speaking, it considers only ~
inanimate bodies called minerals, and the different kinds of
living beings, in all of which we may observe the effects, more
or less various, of the laws of motion and chemical attraction,
and of all the other causes analysed by general physics.
Natural history, in strictness, should employ similar methods
with the general sciences; and it does so, infact, whenever the-
, ‘ iw 8
F
#
*
INTRODUCTION. 3
, objects it examines are sufliciently simple to allow it. This,
~ however, is but very rarely the case.
An essential difference between the general sciences and
natural history is, that in the former, phenomena are examin-
_ed, whose conditions are all regulated by the examiner, in
order, by their analysis, to arrive at general laws; whereas,
In the latter, they take place under circumstances beyond the
control of him who studies them for the purpose of discover-
ing/amid the complication, the effects of known general laws.
He is not, like the experimenter, allowed to subtract them suc-
cessively from each condition, and to reduce the problem to
its elements—he is compelled to take it in its entireness, with
~ albits conditions at once, and can perform the analysis only in
thought. Suppose, for example, we attempt to insulate the
numerous phenomena which compose the life of any of the
Ai her orders of animals; a single one being Suppncsad every
* vestige of life is Seimhillteedl
~ Dynamics have thus nearly become a science of pure calcu-
tions chemistry is still a science of, pure experiment; and
natural history, in a great number of its branches, will long
remain one of pure observation.
*. These three terms sufficiently designate the methods em-
ployed in the three branches of the natural sciences; but in
establishing between them very different degrees of certitude,
they indicate, at the same time, the point to which they should
incessantly tend, in order to attain nearer and nearer to per-
fection.
_ Calculation, if we may so express it, thus commands nature,
and determines her phenomena more exactly than observation
can make them known; experiment compels her to unveil;
while observation pries into her secrets when refractory, and
endeavours to surprise her.
There is, however, a principle peculiar to natur al history;
which it uses with advantage on many occasions; it is that of
the conditions of existence, commonly styled final causes. As
nothing can exist without. the re-union of those conditions
which render its existence possible, the component parts of
each.being musf be so arranged as to render possible the whole
4 INTRODUCTION.
being, not only with regard to itself but to its surrounding
relations. The analysis of these conditions frequently con-
ducts us to general laws, as certain as those that are derived
from calculation or experiment. .
It is only when all the laws of general physies and those
which result from the conditions of existence are exhausted,
that we are reduced to the simple laws of observation.
The most effectual method of obtaining these, is that of
comparison. ‘This consists in successively observing the same
bodies in the different positions in which nature places them, or
in a mutual comparison of different bodies; until we have
ascertained invariable relations between their structures and
the phenomena they exhibit. These various bodies are kinds
of experiments ready prepared by nature, who adds to or de- ,
ducts from each of them different parts, just as we might wish
to do in our laboratories ; showing us, herself, at the same mig
their various results.
In this way we finally succeed in establishing certain laws
by which these relations are governed, and which are ind
ployed like those that are determined by the general sciences.
The incorporation of these laws of observation with the
general laws, either directly or by the principle of the con-
ditions of existence, would complete the system of the natural
sciences, in rendering sensible in all its parts the mutual in-
fluence of ev ery being. ‘To this end, should those who culti-
vate these sciences direct all their efforts.
All researches of this nature, however, pre-suppose means
of distinguishing clearly, and causing others to distinguish, the _
bodies they are occupied with; otherwise we should be con-
tinually confounding them. Natural history thenshould be
based on what is called a system of nature; or a great cata-
logue in which all created beings have suitable names, may be
recognised by distinctive characters, and be arranged in divi-
sions and subdivisions, themselves named and characterised,
im which they may be found.
In order that each being may be recognised in this catalogue,
it must be accompanied by its character: habits or properties
‘
~
v
i
ae ia '
¥ INTRODUCTION. e 5
which are but momentary cannot, itien, furnish characters—
they must be drawn from the conformation. :
There is scarcely a single being which has a simple charac-
ter, or can be recognised by one single feature of its conforma-
tion; a union of several of these traits are almost always re-
quired to distinguish one being from those that surround it,
who also have some but not all of them, or who have them
combined with others of which the first is destitute. The
more numerous the beings to. be distinguished, the greater
should be the number of traits; so that to distinguish an indi-
Me ae being from all others, a complete description of it should
enter into its character.
‘Tt is to avoid this i inconvenience, that divisions and subdi-
‘visions have been invented. A certain number only of neigh-
bouring beings are compared with each other, and their cha-
racters need only to express their differences, which, by the
supposition itself, are. the least part of their conformation.
Me a re-union is termed a genus.
™ The same inconvenience would be expericnoed in distin-
:
guishing genera from each other, were it not for the repetition
of the operation in uniting the adjoining genera, so as to form
an’ order, the orders to form a class, &c. Intermediate sub-
- divisions may also be established.
This scaffolding of divisions, the superior of which’ contain
| ‘the inferior, is called a method. It isin some respects a sort of
dictionary, in which we proceed from the properties of things
_ to arrive at their names; being the reverse of the common
ones, in which we proceed from the name to arrive at the
property. ,
When the method is good, it does more than teach us names.
If the subdivisions ‘have not been established arbitrarily, but
are based on the true fundamental relations, on the essential
resemblances of beings, the method is the surest means of re-
ducing the properties of beings.to general rules, of expressing
them in the fewest words, and of stamping them on the me-
mory.
To render it such, we employ an assiduous comparison of
beings, directed by the principle of the sebordination of cha-
Ve
+
6 * "| - @INTRODUCTION. %
» e Se fr , ts Baa
facters, which is itself derived from that of the conditions of
existence. . The parts of a being possessing a mutual adapta-
tion, some traits of character exclude others, while on the
:
ma,
contrary, there are others that require them. When, there-
fore, we perceive such or such traitsin a being, we can caleu-
late before hand those that co-exist in it, or those that are
incompatible with them. ‘The parts, the properties, or the
traits of conformation, which have the greatest number of
‘these relations of incompatibility or of co-existence with others,
or, in other words, that exercise the most marked influence
upon the whole of the being, are called the important charae-
ters, dominating characters; the others are the sielong ) ioe
a ee ’
characters, all varying in degree.
This influence of characters is sometimes determined ration-
ally, by the consideration of the nature of the organ. When
this is impracticable, we have recourse to simple observations
and a sure mark by which we may recognise the important
characters, and one which is drawn from their own nature, is
their superior constancy, and that in a long series of differént_
ad
beings, approximated according to their degrees of similitude,
these characters’ are the last to vary. That they should be
preferred for distinguishing the great divisions, and that ‘in
«
a
“—_
‘
My
proportion as we descend to the inferior subdivisions, we can ~
also descend to subordinate and variable characters, is a rule
resulting equally from their influence and constancy. ,
There can be but one perfect method, which is the natural
method. We thus name an arrangement in which beings of the
same genus are placed nearer to each other than to those of the
other genera; the genera of the samevorder nearer than those
of the other orders, &c. &c. This method is the zdeal to
which natural history should tend; for it is evident that if we
ean reach it, we shall have the exact and complete expression
of all nature. _ Infact, each being is determined by its resem-
blance to others, and difference from them; and all these rela-
tions would be fully given by the arrangement in question.
In a word, the natural method would be the whole science,
and every step towards it tends to advance the science to per-:
fection. BON of
0
&
INTRODUCTION. 7
>i
Life being the most important of all the properties of be-
ae, and. the highest of all characters, it is not surprising that
‘it has in all ages been made the most general principle of dis-
tinction; and that natural beings have always been separated,
into two immense divisions, the /iving and the znanimate.
Of Living Beings, and Organization in general.
If, in order to obtain a correct idea of the essence of life, we
consider it in those beings in which its effects are the most
simple, we quickly perceive that it consists in the faculty pos-
sessed by certain corporeal combinations, of continuing for a
time and under a determinate form, by constantly attracting
into their composition a part of surrounding substances, and
rendering to the elements, portions of their own.
‘Life then is a vortex, more or less rapid, more or less com-
plicated, the direction of which is invariable, and which always
carries . along molecules of similar kinds, but into which indi-
' vidual molecules are continually entering, and from which they
are continually departing; so that the form of a living body is
f more essential to it than its matter.
As jong as this motion subsists, the body in which it takes
dine! is living—i¢ lives. When it finally ceases, it dies.
After death, the elements which compose it, abandoned.to the
ordinary chemical affinities, soon separate, from which, more
or less quickly, results the dissolution of the once living body.
It was then by the vital motion that its dissolution was arrest-
ed, and its elements were held in a temporary union.
All living bodies die after a.certain period, whose extreme
limit is fixed for each species, and death appears to be a ne-
- cessary consequence of life, which, by its own action, insensi-
bly alters the structure of the body, so as to render its conti-
» nuance impossible.
, In fact, the living body undergoes gradual, but continual
changes, during the whole term of its existence. At first, it
increases in dimensions, according to proportions, and within
“limits, fixed: for each Species and for each one of its parts 5 it
then augments in density in the most of its parts:—it is this
:
‘8 INTRODUCTION.
re
second kind of change that appears to be the cause of ee
death. ve x
If we examine . the various : living bodies more closely, we
find they possess a common structure, which a little reflection
“soon causes us to perceive is essential to a vortex such as the
vital motion.
Solids, it is plain, are necessary to these bodies, for the
maintenance of their forms; and fluids for the conservation of —
motion in them. ‘Their tissue, accordingly, is composed of
network and plates, or of fibres and solid lamine, within whose
interstices are contained the fluids; it is in these fluids that
the motion is most continued and extended. Foreign sub-
stances penetrate the body and unite with them; they nourish
the solids by the interposition of their sialniulole and also de-
tach from them those that are superfluous. It is in a liquid
or gaseous form that the matters to be exhaled traverse the
pores of the living body ; but in return, it is the solids which
contain the fluids, and by their contraction communicate to
them part of their motion.
This mutual action of the fluids and solids, this tmhsidon of
molecules, required considerable affinity in their chemical —
composition ; and such is the fact—the solids of organized bo-
dies being mostly composed of elements easily convertible an
fluids or gases.
The motion of the fluids needing also a constantly repeated
action on the part of the solids, and communicating one to
them, required in the latter both flexibility and ciiptebiligey
and accordingly we find this character nearly general in alk
organized solids.. :
This structure, common to all living baleen; this ar éolar tis-
sue, whose more or less flexible fibres or lamin intercept fluids
more or less abundant; constitutes what is called the organi~
zation. As a consequence of what we have said, it follows, _
that life can be enjoyed by organized bodies only.
Organization, then, results from a great variety of arrange.
ments, which are all conditions of life; and it is easy to con-
ceive, that if its effect be to alter either of these conditions, so
y,
a
-
“
a
INTRODUCTION, | 9
as to arrest even one of the partial motions of which it is com-
posed, the general movement of life must cease.
Every organized body, independently of the qualities com-
mon to its tissue, has a form peculiar to itself, not merely ge-
neral and external, but extending to the detail of the structure
of each of its parts; and it is upon this form, which determines
the particular direction of each of the partial movements that
take place in it, that depends the complication of the general
movement of its life—it constitutes its species and renders it
what itis. Each part co-operates in this general movement
by a peculiar action, and experiences from it particular effects,
so that in every being life is a whole, resulting from the mu-
tual action and re-action of all its parts.
Life, then, in general, pre-supposes organization in gene-
ral, and the life proper to each individual being pre-supposes
an organization peculiar to that being, just as the movement
of a clock pre-supposes the clock; and accordingly we behold
life only in beings that are organized and formed to enjoy it,
and all the efforts of philosophy have never been able to dis-
cover matter in the act of organization, neither per se, nor by
any external cause. In fact, life exercising upon the elements
which at every moment form part of the living body, and
upon those which it attracts to it, an action contrary to that
which, without it, would be produced by the usual chemical
affinities, it seems impossible that it can be produced by these
affinities, and yet we know of no other power in nature capa-
ble of re-uniting previously separated. molecules.
The birth of organized beings is, therefore, the greatest _
mystery of the organic economy and of all nature: we see _
them developed, but never being formed; nay more, all those
whose origin we can trace, have at first been attached toa _
body similar in form to their own, but which was developed
before them—in a word, to a parent. So long as the offspring
has no independent existence, but ,participates in that of: its
parent, it is called a germ.
The place to, which the germ Is - attached, and the cause
which detaches -it and gives it an pide icy life; ; vary; 3 but
Vou IB si? j
irae > ys s BY hs,
at Te Sere
> ae + (6
10 INTRODUCTION.
this primitive adhesion to a similar being, is a rule without
exception. The separation of the germ is called generation.
Every organized being re-produces others that are similar
to itself, otherwise, death being a necessary consequence of
life, the species would become extinct.
Organized beings have even the faculty of reproducing, in
degrees varying with the species, particular parts of which
they may have been deprived—this is called the power of re-
production.
The development of organized beings is more or less rapid,
and more or less extended, as circumstances are more or less
favourable. Heat, the abundance and species of nutriment,
with other causes, exercise great influence, and this influence
may extend to the whole body in general, or to certain organs
in particular: thence arises the impossibility of a perfect
similitude between the offspring and parent.
Differences of this kind, between organized beings, form
‘what are termed varieties.
There is no proof, that all the differences which now dis-
tinguish organized beings, are such as may have been pro-
duced by circumstances. All that has been advanced upon
this subject is hypothetical. Experience, on the contrary, ap-
pears to prove, that, in the actual state of the globe, varieties
are confined within rather narrow limits, and go back as far
as we may, we still find those limits the same.
Weare thus compelled to admit of certain forms, which,
from the origin of things, have perpetuated themselves with-
out exceeding these limits, and every being appertaining to
one or other of these forms, constitutes what is termed a spe-
cles. Varieties are accidental subdivisions of species.
Generation being the only means of ascertaining the limits _
to which varieties may extend, species should be defined, the
re-union of individuals descended one from the other, or from —
common parents, or from such as resemble them, as strongly
as they resemble each other. But although this definition is
» strict, it will be seen that its application to particular indivi-
duals may be very diflicult, where the necessary experiments
have not been made.
4
by
~ perception or will.
INTRODUCTION. 11
Thus then it stands—absorption, assimilation, exhalation,
development and generation are functions common to all liv-
ing bodies; birth and death the universal limits of their exist-
ence; an areolar, contractile tissue, containing within its lamine
fluids or gases in motion, the general essence of its struc-
ture; substances almost all susceptible of conversion into fluids
or gases, and combinations capable of an easy and mutual
transformation, the basis of their chemical composition. Fixed
forms that are perpetuated by generation distinguish their
species, determine the complication of the secondary functions
proper to each of them, and assign to them the parts they are
to play on the great stage of the universe. These forms are
neither produced nor changed by their own agency—life sup-
poses their existence, its flame can only be kindled in an
organization already prepared, and the most profound medita-
tion and lynx-eyed and delicate observation can penetrate no
farther than the mystery of the pre-existence of germs.
Division of Organized Beings into Animals and Vegetables.
Living or organized beings have always been subdivided
into animate beings, that is, such as are possessed of sense and
motion, and into zzanimate beings, which are deprived of
both these faculties, and are reduced to the simple faculty of
- vegetating. Although the leaves of several plants shrink
from the touch, and the roots are steadily directed towards
moisture, the leaves to light and air, and though parts of
vegetables appear to oscillate without any apparent external
cause, still these various motions have too little similarity to
those of animals, to enable us to find in them any proofs of
The spontaneity in the motions of animals required essen-
_ tial modifications even in their purely vegetative organs.
Foal
5 Pte
Their roots not penetrating the earth, it was necessary they
should be able to place within themselves a supply of aliment,
and to carry its reservoir along with them. Hence is derived _
the first character of animals, or their alimentary canal, from ~
* - -
dans
suet
“< see
12 INTRODUCTION.
which their nutritive fluid penetrates all other parts througts
pores or vessels, which are a kind of internal roots.
The organization of this cavity and its appurtenances re-
quired varying, according to the nature of the aliment, and
the operation it had to undergo, before it could furnish juices
fit for absorption; whilst the air and earth present to ve-
getables nought but elaborated juices ready for absorption.
The animal, whose functions are more numerous and varied
than those of the plant, consequently necessitated an organiza-
tion much more complete; besides this, its parts not being
capable of preserving one fixed relative position, there were
no means by which external causes could produce the motion
of their fluids, which required an exemption from atmospheric
influence; from this originates the second character of animals,
their circulating system, one less essential than that of diges-
tion, since in the more simple animals it is unnecessary. “The
animal functions required organic systems, not needed by ve-
getables—that of the muscles for voluntary motion, and nerves
for sensibility ; and these two systems, like the rest, acting only
through the motions and transformations of the fluids, it was
necessary that these should be most numerous in animals, and
that the chemical composition of the animal body be more com-
plex than that of the plant; and so it is, for one substance more
(azote) enters into it as an essential element, whilst in plants
it is a mere accidental junction with the three other general
elements of organization, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon.
This then is the third character of animals.
From the sun and atmosphere, vegetables receive for their
nutrition water, which is composed of oxygen and hydrogen ;
air, which contains oxygen and azote ; and carbonic acid; which
is a combination of oxygen and carbon. ‘To extract their
own composition from these aliments, it was necessary they
should retain the hydrogen and carbon, exhale the super-
fluous oxygen and absorb little or no azote. Such, in fact, is
vegetable life, whose essential function is the exhalation of
oxygen, which is effected through the agency of light.
Animals also derive nourishment, directly or indirectly,
from the vegetable itself, in which hydrogen and carbon form
. A
ie
Nag
cal
INTRODUCTION. 13
the principal parts. To assimilate them to their own compo-
sition, they must get rid of the superabundant hydrogen and
carbon in particular, and accumulate more azote, which is
performed through the medium of respiration, by which the
oxygen of the atmosphere combines with the hydrogen and.
earbon of their blood, and is exhaled with them in the form
of water and carbonic acid. The azote, whatever part of the
body it may penetrate, seems always to remain there.
The relations of vegetables and animals to the surrounding
atmosphere are therefore in an inverse ratio—the former re-
ject water and carbonic acid, while the latter produce them.
The essential function of the animal body is respiration, it is
that which in a manner animalizes it, and we shall see that
the animal functions are the more completely exercised, in
proportion to the greatness of the powers of respiration pos-
sessed by the animal. ‘This difference of relations constitutes
the fourth character of animals.
Of the forms peculiar to the Organic Elements of the Ani-
mal Body, and of the principal combinations of its Che-
mical Elements.
An areolar tissue and three chemical elements are essential
to every living body; there is a fourth element peculiarly re-
quisite to that of an animal; but this tissue is composed of
variously formed meshes, and these elements are variously
combined.
There are three kinds of organic materials or forms of tex-
ture, the cellular membrane, the muscular fibre, and the me-
dullary matter, and to each form belongs a peculiar combina-
~ tion of chemical elements, as well as a particular function.
i
The cellular substance is composed of an infinity of small
fibres and lamine, fortuitously disposed, so as form little cells
that communicate with each other. It is a kind of sponge,
which has the same form as the bedy, all other parts of which
traverse or fill it, and contracting indefinitely, on the removal
of the causes of its tension. It is this power that retains the
wbggy' in a given aay and within certain limits.
% ae
’ “a roby be”
14 INTRODUCTION.
When condensed, this substance forms those lamin called
membranes ; the membranes, rolled into cylinders, form those
more or less ramified tubes named vessels; the filaments called
Jibres are resolved into it, and bones are nothing but the same
thing indurated by the accumulation of earthy particles.
The cellular substance consists of a combination well known
as gelatine, characterised by its solubility in boiling water,
and forming, when cold, a trembling jelly.
We have not yet been able to reduce the medullary matter
to its organic molecules; to the naked eye, it appears like a
sort of soft bouillie, consisting of excessively small globules; it
is not susceptible of any apparent motion, but in it resides the
admirable power of transmitting to the Me the impressions
of the external senses, and conveying to the muscles the orders
of the will. It constitutes the greater portion of the brain and
the spinal marrow, and the nerves which are distributed to all
the sentient organs are, essentially, mere fasciculi of its rami-
fications.
The fleshy or muscular fibre is a peculiar sort of filament,
whose distinctive property, during life, is that of contracting
when touched or struck, or when it experiences the action
of the will through the medium of the nerve.
The muscles, direct organs of voluntary motion, are mere
bundles of fleshy fibres. All vessels and membranes which
have any kind of compression to execute are armed with these
fibres., They are always intimately connected with nervous
threads, but those which belong to the purely vegetative func-
tions contract, without the knowledge of the mr, so that, al-
though the will is truly a means of ogi the fibres to act,
it is neither general nor unique.
The fleshy fibre has for its base a particular substance
ealled fibrine, which is insoluble in boiling water, and which
seems naturally to assume this filamentous disposition.
The nutritive fluid or the blood, such as we find it in the
vessels of the circulation, is not only mostly resolvable into the
general elements of the animal body, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
and azote, but it also contains fibrine and gelatine, almost
prepared to contract and to assume: the forms of imembranes ,
f
:
;
F Be ce) , ‘
Pe it a: 6
e ‘ \ ; ty
2 he we .
*Sa> Me : 5 * iy elt a. 4
INTRODUCTION. 15
or filaments peculiar to them, all that is ever wanted for
their manifestation being a little repose. ‘The blood also con-
tains another combination, which is found in many animal fluids
and solids, called albwmen, whose characteristic property is
that of coagulating in boiling water. Besides these, the blood
contains almost every element which may enter into the com-
position of the body of each animal, such as the Jime and
phosphorus which harden the bones of vertebrated animals,
the tron from which it and various other parts receive their
colour, the fat or animal oil which is deposited in the cellular
substance to supple it, &c. All the fluids and solids of the
animal body are composed of chemical elements found in the
blood, and it is only by possessing a few elements more or
less, that each of them is distinguished; whence it is plain, that
their formation entirely depends on the subtraction of the
whole or part of one or more elements of the blood, and in
some few cases, on the addition of some element from else-
where.
These operations, by which the blood nourishes the fluid or
solid matter of all parts of the body, may assume the general
name of secretions. ‘This name, however, is often appropriated
exclusively to the production of liquids ; while that of nutrt-
tion is more especially applied to the formation and deposition
of the matter necessary to the growth and conservation of the
solids.
The composition of every solid organ, of every fluid is pre-
cisely such as fits it for the part it is to play, and it preserves
it as long as health remains, because the blood renews it as
fast as it becomes changed. The blood itself by this continued
contribution is changed every moment, but is restored by di-
gestion, which renews its matter by respiration, which delivers
it from superfluous carbon and hydrogen, by perspiration and
various other excretions, that relieve it from other superabun-
dant principles,
These perpetual changes of chemical composition form a
part of the vital vortex, not less essential than» the visible
movements and those of translation. The object of the latter
is, in fact, but to produce the former,
ait
city.
16 INTRODUCTION.
Of the forces which act in the Animal Body.
The muscular fibre is not only the organ of voluntary mo-
tion, for we have just seen that it is also the most powerful of
the agents employed by nature to produce those transmutations
so necessary to vegetative life. “Thus the fibres of the intes-
tines produce the peristaltic motion, which causes the alimen-
tary matter therein contained to pass through them; the fibres
of the heart and arteries are the agents of the circulation and
through it of all the secretions, &c.
Volition contracts the fibre through the medium of the
nerve 3 and the involuntary fibres, such as those we have men-
tioned, being also animated by them, it is probable that these
nerves are the cause of their contraction.
All contraction, and generally speaking, every change of
dimension in nature, is produced by a change of chemical
composition, though it consist merely in the flowing or ebbing
of an imponderable fluid, such as caloric; thus also are pro-
duced the most violent movements known upon earth, explo-
sions, &c.
' There is, consequently, good reason to suppose that the
nerve acts upon the fibre through the medium of an impon-
derable fluid, and the more so, as it is proved that this action
is not mechanical.
The medullary matter of the whole nervous system is ho-
mogeneous, and must be able to exercise its peculiar func-
tions wherever it is found; all its ramifications are abundantly
supplied with blood vessels.
All the animal fluids being drawn from the blood by secre-
tion, we can have no doubt that such is the case with the ner-
vous fluid, and that the medullary matter secretes it.
On the other hand, it is certain that the medullary matter
is the sole conductor of the nervous fluid; all the other or-
ganic elements restrain and arrest-it, as Stas arrests electri-
The external causes which are capable of producing sensa-
tions or causing contractions of the fibre are all chemical
INTRODUCTION. 17
agents, capable of effecting decompositions, such as light,
caloric, the salts, odorous vapours, percussion, compression,
&e. &e.
It would appear then that these causes act on the nervous
fluid chemically, and by changing its composition; this ap-
pears the more likely, as their action becomes weakened by
continuance, as if the nervous fluid needed the resumption of
its primitive composition, to fit it for a fresh alteration.
The external organs of the senses may be compared to
sieves, which allow nothing to pass through to the nerve, ex-
cept that species of agent which should affect it in that par-
ticular place, but which often accumulates it so as to increase
its effect. The tongue has its spongy papille which imbibe
saline solutions; the ear, a gelatinous pulp which is violently
agitated by sonorous vibrations; the eye, transparent lenses
which concentrate the rays of light, &c. &c.
It is probable, that what are styled irritants, or the agents
which occasion the contractions of the fibre, exert this ac-
tion by producing on the fibre, by the nerve, a similar effect
to that produced on it by the will; that is, by altering the ner-
vous fluid, in the way that is requisite to change the dimen-
sions of the fibre which it influences: but with this process
the will has nothing to do, and very often the ME is entirely
ignorant of it. The muscles separated from the body pre-
serve their susceptibility of irritation, as long as the portion
of the nerve that remains with them preserves the power of
acting on them—with this phenomenon the will has evidently
no connexion. :
The nervous fluid is altered by muscular irritation, as well
as by sensibility and voluntary motion, and the same necessity
exists for the re-establishment of its primitive composition.
The transmutations necessary to vegetable life are occasioned
by irritants; the aliment irritates the intestine, the blood irri-
tates the heart, &e. These movements are all independent
of the will, and generally (while in health) take place without
the knowledge of the me; in several parts, the nerves that
produce them are, even differently arranged from those that
are appropriated to sensation or dependent on the will, and
Vor. I.—C 8
18 INTRODUCTION.
the very object of this difference appears to be the securing
of this independence.
The nervous functions, that is, sensibility and muscular ir-
ritability, are so much the stronger at every point, in pro-
portion as their exciting cause is abundant; and as this cause
or the nervous fluid is produced by secretion, its abundance
must be in proportion to the quantity of medullary or secre-
tory matter, and the amount of blood received by the latter.
In animals that have a circulating system, the blood is pro-
pelled through the arteries which convey it to its destined
parts, by means of their irritability and that of the heart. If
these arteries be irritated, they act more strongly, and pro-
pel a greater quantity of blood; the nervous fluid becomes
more abundant and augments the local sensibility; this, in its
turn, augments the irritability of the arteries, so that this mu-
tual action may sometimes be carried to a great extent. It is
called orgasm, and when it becomes painful and permanent,
imflammation. The irritation may also originate in the nerve
when exposed to the influence of acute sensations.
This mutual influence of the nerves and fibres, either in-
testinal or arterial, is the real spring of vegetative life in ani-
mals.
As each external sense is permeable only by such or such
sensible substances, so each internal organ may be accessible
only to this or that agent of irritation. Thus, mercury irri-
tates the salivary glands, cantharides irritate the bladder, &e.
These agents are called specifics.
The nervous system being homogeneous and continuous,
local sensations and irritation debilitate the whole, and each
function, by excessive action, may weaken the others. Ex-
cess of aliment weakens the power of thought, while long con-
tinued meditation impairs that of digestion, &c.
Excessive local irritation will enfeeble the whole body, as
if all the powers of life were concentrated in one single point.
A second irritation produced at another part may diminish,
or divert, as it is termed, the first: such is the effect of blis-
ters, purgatives, &e. ;
Brief as our sketch has been, it is suflicient to establish the
INTRODUCTION. 19
possibility of accounting for all the phenomena of physical life,
from the properties it presents, by the simple admission of a
fluid such as we have defined.
Summary idea of the Functions and Organs of the Bodies of
Animals, and of their various degrees of Complication.
After what we have stated respecting the organic elements
of the body, its chemical principles and acting powers, no-
thing remains but to give a summary idea of the functions of
which life is composed, and of their appropriate organs.
The functions of the animal body are divided into two
classes :
The animal functions, or those proper to animals, that is to
say, sensibility and voluntary motion.
The vital, vegetative functions, or those common to animals
and vegetables, i. e., nutrition and generation.
Sensibility resides in the nervous system.
The most general external sense is that of touch; it is seated
in the skin, a membrane that envelopes the whole body, which
is traversed in every direction by nerves whose extreme fila-
ments expand on the surface into papillz, and are protected.
by the epidermis and other insensible teguments, such as hairs,
scales, &c. &c. ‘Taste and smell are merely delicate states of
the sense of touch, for which the skin of the mouth and nos-
trils is particularly organized: the first, by means of papille
more convex and spongy; the second, by its extreme delicacy
and the multiplication of its ever humid surface. We have
already spoken of the ear and the eye. The organ of gene-
ration is endowed with a sixth sense, seated in its internal
skin; that of the stomach and intestines declares the state of
those viscera by peculiar sensations. In fine, sensations more
or less painful may originate in every part of the body
through accident or disease.
Many animals have neither ears nor nostrils, several are
without eyes, and some are reduced to the single sense of
touch, which is never absent.
20 INTRODUCTION.
The action received by the external organs is continued by
the nerves to the central masses of the nervous system, which,
in the higher animals, consists of the brain and spinal mar-
row. ‘The more elevated the nature of the animal, the more
voluminous is the brain and the more is the sensitive power
concentrated there; the lower the animal, the more the me-
dullary masses are dispersed, and in the most imperfect genera,
the entire nervous substance seems to melt into the general
matter of the body.
That part of the body which contains the brain and princi-
pal organs of sense, is called the head.
When the animal has received a sensation, and this has oc-
casioned volition; it is by the nerves, also, that this volition is
transmitted to the muscles.
The muscles are bundles of fleshy fibres whose contractions
produce all the movements of the animal body. The exten-
sion of the limbs and every elongation, as well as every flexion
and abbreviation of parts, are the effects of muscular contrac-
tion. ‘The muscles of every animal are arranged, both as re-
spects number and direction, according to the movements it
has to make; and when these motions require force, the
muscles are inserted into hard parts, articulated one over an-
other, and may be considered as so many levers. ‘These parts
are called bones in the vertebrated animals, where they are in-
ternal, and are formed of a gelatinous mass, penetrated by par-
ticles of phosphate of lime. In the Mollusca, the Crustacea,
and Insects, where they are external, and composed of a cal-
careous or horny substance that exudes between the skin and
epidermis, they are called shells, crusts and scales.
The fleshy fibres are attached to the hard parts by means
of other fibres of a gelatinous nature, which seem to be a con-
tinuation of the former, constituting what are called tendons.
The configuration of the articulating surfaces of the hard
parts limits their motion, which are also restrained by cords or
envelopes, attached to the sides of the articulations, called
ligaments.
‘It is from the various arrangements of this bony and mus-
cular apparatus, and the form and proportion of the members
eS ae ee
INTRODUCTION. Al
therefrom resulting, that animals are capable of executing the
innumerable movements that enter into walking and leaping,
flight and natation.
The muscular fibres, appropriated to digestion and the cir-
culation, are independent of the will; they receive nerves,
however, but the chief of them are subdivided and arranged
in amanner which seems to have for its object their indepen-
dence of the Me. It is only in paroxysms of the passions and
other powerful affections of the soul, which break down these
barriers, that the empire of the mx is perceptible, and even
then it is almost always to disorder these vegetative functions.
It is, also, in a state of sickness only that these functions are
accompanied with sensations: digestion is usually performed
unconsciously.
The aliment divided by the jaws and teeth, or sucked up
when liquids constitute the food, is swallowed by the muscu-
lar movements of the hinder parts of the mouth and throat,
and deposited in the first portions of the alimentary canal that
is usually expanded into one or more stomachs; there it is
penetrated with juices fitted to dissolve it. Passing thence
through the rest of the canal, it receives other juices destined
to complete its preparation. The parietes of the canal are
pierced with pores which extract from this alimentary mass
its nutritious portion; the useless residuum is rejected as ex-
crement.
The canal in which this first act of nutrition is performed,
is a continuation of the skin, and is composed of similar lay-
ers; even the fibres that encircle it are analogous to those’
which adhere to the internal surface of the skin, called the
fleshy pannicle. Throughout the whole interior of this canal
- there is a transudation which has some connexion with the cu-
taneous perspiration, and which becomes more abundant when
the latter is suppressed; the absorption of,the skin is even
very analogous to that of the intestines. It is in the lowest
order of animals that the excrements are rejected by the
mouth, their intestines resembling a sac, with but the one
opening.
Even among those where the intestinal canal has two ori-
22 INTRODUCTION.
fices. there are many in which the nutritive juices being ab-
sorbed by the parietes of the intestine, are immediately dif-
fused throughout the whole spongy substance of the body:
such, it would appear, is the case with all Insects. But from
the Arachnoides and Worms upwards, the nutritive fluid circu-
lates in a system of closed vessels, whose ultimate ramifications
alone dispense its molecules to the parts that are nourished by
it; the vessels that convey it are called arteries, those that
bring it back to the centre of the circulation, ves. The
circulating vortex is here simple, and there double and even
triple (including that of the vena porte); the rapidity of its
motion is often assisted by the contractions of a certain fleshy
apparatus called a heart, which is placed at one or the other
centres of circulation, and sometimes at both of them.
In the red-blooded vertebrated animals, the nutritive fluid
exudes from the intestines, white or transparent, and is then
termed chyle; it is poured into the veins where it mingles
with the blood, by two peculiar vessels called /acteals. Ves-
sels similar to these lacteals, and forming with them an arrange-
ment called the lymphatic system, also convey to the venous
blood the residue of the nutrition of the parts and the pro-
ducts of cutaneous absorption.
Before the blood is fit to nourish the parts, it must expe-
rience from the circumambient element the modification of
which we have previously spoken. In animals possessing a
circulating system, one portion of the vessels is destined to
carry the blood into organs in which they spread it over a
great surface to obtain an increase of this elemental influence.
When that element is air, the surface is hollow, and is called
lungs; when it is water, it is salient, and is termed branchiz.
There is always an arrangement of the organs of motion for
the purpose of propelling the element into, or upon, the organ
of respiration. ,
In animals destitute of a circulating system, air is diffused
through every part of the body by elastic vessels called tra-
chez ; or water acts upon them, either by penetrating through
vessels, or by simply bathing the surface of the skin. The
respired, or purified blood is properly qualified for restoring
a =
INTRODUCTION. 23
the composition of all the parts, and to effect what is properly
called nutrition. This facility, which the blood possesses, of
decomposing itself at every point, so as to leave there the
precise kind of molecule necessary, is indeed wonderful; but
it is this wonder which constitutes the whole vegetative life.
For the nourishment of the solids we see no cther arrangement
than a great subdivision of the extreme arterial ramifications,
but for the production of fluids the apparatus is more complex
and various. Sometimes the extremities of the vessels simply
spread themselves over large surfaces, whence the produced
fluid exhales; at others it oozes from the bottom of little cavi-
ties. Before these arterial extremities change into veins, they
‘most commonly give rise to particular vessels that convey this
fluid, which appears to proceed from the exact point of union
between the two kinds of vessels; in this case the blood ves-
sels and these latter form, by interlacing, particular bodies call-
ed conglomerate or secretory glands.
Tp animals that have no circulation, in Insects particularly,
the parts are all bathed in the nutritive fluid: each of these
parts draws from it what it requires, and if the production of
a liquid be necessary, proper vessels floating in the fluid take
up by their pores the constituent elements of that liquid.
It is thus that the blood incessantly supports the composi-
tion of all the parts, and repairs the injuries arising from those
changes which are the continual and necessary consequences
of their functions. ‘The general ideas we form with respect
to this process are tolerably clear, although we have no dis-
tinct or detailed notion of what passes at each point, and for
want of knowing the chemical composition of each part with
suflicient precision, we cannot render an exact account of the
_transmutations necessary to effect it.
Besides the glands which separate from the blood those
fluids that are destined for the imternal economy, there are
some which detach others from it that“are to be totally eject-
ed, either as superfluous—the urine, for instance, which is
produced by the kidneys; or for some use to the animal, as the
ink of the cuttle-fish, and the purple matter of various mol-
lusca, &c.
24 INTRODUCTION.
With respect to generation, there is a process or phenome-
non, infinitely more diflicult to comprehend than that of the
secretions—the production of the germ. We have even seen
that it is to be considered as almost incomprehensible; but the
existence of the germ being admitted, generation presents no
particular difficulties. As long as it adheres to the parent, it
is nourished as if it were one of its organs, and when it de-
taches itself, it possesses its own life, which is essentially simi-
lar to that of the adult.
The germ, the embryo, the foetus, and the new-born ani-
mal have never, however, exactly the same form as the adult,
and the difference is sometimes so great, that their assimilation
has been termed a metamorphosis. ‘Thus, no one not previ-
ously aware of the fact would suppose that the caterpillar is
to become a butterfly.
Every living being is more or less metamorphosed in the
course of its growth; that is, it loses certain parts, and deve-
lopes others. The antennz, wings, and all the parts of the
butterfly were enclosed beneath the skin of the caterpillar 5
this skin vanishes along with the jaws, feet, and other organs,
that do not remain with the butterfly. The feet of the frog
are enclosed by the skin of the tadpole; and the tadpole, to
become a frog, parts with its tail, mouth, and branchie. The
child, at birth, loses its placenta and membranes; at a certain
period its thymus gland nearly disappears, and it gradually
acquires hair, teeth, and beard; the relative size of its organs
is altered, and its body augments in a greater ratio than its
head, the head more than the internal ear, &c.
The place where these germs are found, and their germs
themselves are collectively styled the ovary; the canal through
which, when detached, they are carried into the uterus, the
oviduct; the cavity In which, im many species, they are com-
pelled to remain for a longer or shorter period previous to
birth, the wferus ; and the external orifice through which they
pass into the world, the vulva. Where there are sexes, the
male impregnates, the germs appearing in the female. The
fecundating liquor is called semen; the glands that separate
he oe |
INTRODUCTION. 25
it from the blood, éesfess and when it is requisite it should be
carried into the body of the female, the introductory organ is
named a pents.
Of the Intellectual Functions of Animals.
The impression of external objects upon the me, the produc-
tion of a sensation or of an image, is a mystery into which the
human understanding cannot penetrate ; and materialism an
hypothesis, so much the more conjectual, as philosophy can
furnish no direct proof of the actual existence of matter. The
naturalist, however, should examine what appear to be the
material conditions of sensation, trace the ulterior operations
of the mind, ascertain to what point they reach in each being,
and assure himself whether they are not subject to conditions
of perfection, dependent on the organization of each species,
or on the momentary state of each individual body.
To enable the me to perceive, there must be an uninter-
rupted communication between the external sense and the
central masses of the medullary system. It is then the modi-
fication only experienced by these masses that the ME per-
—ceives: there may also be real sensations, without the exter-
nal organ being affected, and which originate either in the
nervous chain of communication, or in the central mass itself;
such are dreams and visions, or certain accidental sensations.
By central masses, we mean a part of the nervous system,
that is so much the more circumscribed, as the animal is more
perfect. In man, it consists exclusively of a limited portion
of the brain; but in reptiles, it includes the brain and the
whole of the meduila, and of each of their parts taken sepa-
_vately, so that the absence of the entire brain does not pre-
vent sensation. In the inferior elasses this extension 1s still
greater.
The perception acquired by the mx, produces the image of
the sensation experienced. We trace to without the cause of
that sensation, and thus acquire the idea of the object that has
produced it. By a necessary law of our iitelligelte all ideas
of material objects are in time and space. é
~ * Vou. I.—D
26 INTRODUCTION.
The modifications experienced by the medullary masses
leave impressions there which are reproduced, and thus re-
cal to the mind images and ideas; this is memory, a corporeal
faculty that varies greatly, according to the age and health of
the animal.
Similar ideas, or such as have been acquired at the same
time, recal each other; this is the association of ideas. ‘The
order, extent and quickness of this association constitute the
perfection of memory.
Every object presents itself to the memory with all its quali-
ties or with all its accessary ideas.
Intelligence has the power of separating these accessary
ideas of objects, and of combining those that are alike in
several different objects under a general idea; the object of
which no where really exists, nor presents itself per se—this
is abstraction.
Every sensation being more or less agreeable or disagree-
able, experience and repeated essays soon show what move-
ments are required to procure the one and avoid the other;
and with respect to this, the intelligence abstracts itself from
the general rules to direct the will.
An agreeable sensation being liable to consequences that are
not so, and vice versa, the subsequent sensations become asso-
ciated with the idea of the primitive one, and modify the
general rules framed by intelligence—this is prudence.
From the application of these rules to general ideas, result
certain formule, which are afterwards easily adapted to par-
ticular cases—this is called reasoning.
A lively remembrance of primitive and associated sensations,
and of the impressions of pleasure or pain that belong to them,
constitutes imagination.
One privileged being, man, has the faculty of associating
his general ideas with particular images more or less arbitrary,
easily impressed upon the memory, and which serve to recal
the general ideas they represent. These associated images
are styled signs; their assemblage 1 is a language. When the
language is composed of images: ‘that relate to the sense. of
hearing or of sownds, it is termed speech, and when relative
em at”
INTRODUCTION. 27
to that of sight, hieroglyphics. Writing is a suite of images
that relates to the sense of sight, by which we represent the
elementary sounds; and by combining them, all the images
relative to the sense of hearing of which speech is composed 5
it is therefore only a mediate representation of ideas.
This faculty of representing general ideas by particular
signs or images associated with them, enables us to retain dis-
tinctly, and to remember without embarrassment, an im-
mense number; and furnishes to the reasoning faculty and
the imagination innumerable materials, and to individuals
means of communication, which cause the whole species to
participate in the experience of each individual, so that no
bounds seem to be placed to the acquisition of knowledge; it
is the distinguishing character of human intelligence.
Although, with respect to the intellectual faculties, the most
perfect animals are infinitely beneath man; it is certain that
their intelligence performs operations of the same kind. ‘They
move in consequence of sensations received, are susceptible of
durable affections, and acquire by experience a certain know-
ledge of things, by which they are governed independently of
actual pain or pleasure, and by the simple foresight of conse-
quences. When domesticated, they feel their subordination,
know that the being who punishes them may refrain from so
doing if he will, and when sensible of having done wrong, or
behold him angry, they assume a suppliant and deprecating
air. In the society of man they become either corrupted or
improved, and are susceptible of emulation and jealousy: they
have among themselves a natural language, which, it is true,
is merely the expression of their momentary sensations, but
man teaches them to understand another, much more compli-
eated, by which he makes known to them his will, and causes
them to execute it. |
To sum up all, we perceive in the higher animals a certain
degree of reason; , with all its consequences, good and bad, and
7 which appears to be ‘about the same as that of children ere they
have learned to speak. ‘The lower we descend from man the
weaker these facuities become, and at the bottom of the scale
we find them reduced to signs (at times equivocal) of sensibi-
28 INTRODUCTION.
lity, that is, to some few slight movements to escape from pain.
Between these two extremes, the degrees are infinite.
In a great number of animals, however, there exists another
kind of intelligence, called instinct. This induces them to
certain actions necessary to the preservation of the species,
but very often altogether foreign to the apparent wants of the
individual; often also very complicated, and which, if attri-
buted to intelligence, would suppose a foresight and know-
ledge in the species that perform them infinitely superior to
what can possibly be granted. ‘These actions, the result of
instinct, are not the effect of imitation, for very frequently the
individuals who execute them have never seen them perform-
ed by others: they are not proportioned to ordinary intelli-
gence, but become more singular, more wise, more disinterest-
ed, in proportion as the animals belong to less elevated classes,
and in all the rest of their actions are more dull and stupid.
They are so entirely the property of the species, that all its
individuals perform them in the same way without ever im-
proving them a particle.
The working bees, for instance, have always constructed
very ingenious edifices, agreeably to the rules of the highest
geometry, and destined to lodge and nourish a posterity not
even their own. ‘The solitary bee, and the wasp also, form
highly complicated nests, in which to deposit their eggs.
From this egg comes a worm, which has never seen its parent,
which is ignorant of the structure of the prison in which it is
confined, but which, once metamorphosed, constructs another
precisely similar.
The only method of obtaining a clear idea of instinct, is by
admitting the existence of innate and perpetual images or
sensations in the sensorium which cause the animal to act in
the same way as ordinary or accidental sensations usually do.
[t is a kind of perpetual vision or dream that always pecs
it, and it may be considered, in all that has relation tov its in-
stinct, as a kind of somnambulism. nigh gy MY
Instinct has been granted to animals as a supplement: to in-
telligence, to concur with it. and with strength and fecundity,
in the preservation, to a proper degree, of each species. -
INTRODUCTION. 29
There is no visible mark of instinct in the conformation of
the animal, but, as well as it can be ascertained, the intelligence
is always in proportion to the relative size of the brain, and
particularly of its hemispheres.
Of Method, as applied to the Animal Kingdom.
From what has been stated with respect to methods in ge-
neral, we have now to ascertain what are the essential charac-
ters in animals, on which their primary divisions are to be
founded. It is evident they should be those which are drawn
from the animal functions, that is from the sensations, and mo-
tions; for both these not only make the being an animal, but in
a manner establish its degree of animality.
Observation confirms this position by showing that their
degrees of development and complication accord with those of
the organs of the vegetative functions,
The heart and the organs of the circulation form a kind of
centre for the vegetative functions, as the brain and the trunk
of the nervous system do for the animal ones. Now we see
these two systems become imperfect and disappear together.
In the lowest class of animals, where the nerves cease to be
visible, the fibres are no longer distinct, and the organs of.
digestion are simple excavations in the honogeneous mass of >
the body. In insects the vascular system even disappears
before the nervous one; but, in general, the dispersion of the
medullary masses accompanies that of the muscular agents: a
spinal marrow, on which the knots or ganglions represent so
many brains, corresponds to a body divided into numerous’
rings, supported Wy pairs of limbs longitudinally distributed,
&e. ith as £ mt p
This correspondence of cane forms, which feagie from ~
the arrangement of the organs of motion, the distribution of the
neryous masses, and the energy of the circulating system,
should then be the basis of the primary divisions of the animal
‘kingdom. We will afterwards ascertain, in each of these
divisions, what char acters should succeed immediately to those,
and form the basis of the primary subdivisions.
30 INTRODUCTION.
General distribution of the Animal Kingdom into Four Great
Divisions.
If, divesting ourselves of the prejudices founded on the
divisions formerly admitted, we consider only the organization
and nature of animals, without regard to their size, utility,
the greater or less knowledge we have of them, and other ac-
cessary circumstances, we shall find there are four principal
forms, four general plans, if it may be so expressed, on which
all animals seem to have been modelled, and whose ulterior
divisions, whatever be the titles with which naturalists have
decorated them, are merely slight modifications, founded on
the development or addition of certain parts, which produce
no essential change in the plan itself.
In the first of these forms, which is that of man, and of the
animals most nearly resembling him, the brain and principal
trunk of the nervous system are enclosed in a bony envelope,
formed by the cranium and vertebre; to the sides of this in-
termedial column are attached the ribs, and bones of the
limbs, which form the frame work of the body; the muscles
generally cover the bones, whose motions they occasion, while
the viscera are contained within the head and trunk. Ani-
mals of this form we shall denominate
Animalia Vertebrata.
They have, all, red blood, a muscular heart, a mouth fur-
nished with two jaws situated either above or before each
other, distinct. organs of sight, hearing, smell and taste placed
in the cavities of the face, never more than four limbs, the
sexes always separated, and a very similar distribution of the
medullary 1 mee and the principal branches of the nervous
system. 1 Qs @ :
Bya closer examination of each of the parts of this great
series of animals, we always discover some analogy, even in,
species the most remote from each. other and may trace the
gradations of one same plan from man to the Jast of the fishes.
In the second form there is no skeleton; the muscles are
Pi
INTRODUCTION. ol
merely attached to the skin, which constitutes a soft contrac-
tile envelope, in which, in many species, are formed stony
plates, called shells, whose position and production are ana-
logous to those of the mucous body. ‘The nervous system is
contained within this general envelope along with the viscera,
and is composed of several scattered masses connected by ner-
vous filaments; the chief of these masses is placed on the
cesophagus, and is called the brain. Of the four senses, the
organs of two only are observable, those of taste and sight, the
latter of which are even frequently wanting. One single
family alone presents organs of hearing. ‘There is always,
however, a complete system of circulation, and particular or-
gans for respiration. ‘Those of digestion and secretion are
nearly as complex as in the vertebrata. We will distinguish
the animals of this second form by the appellation of
Animalia Mollusea.
Although, as respects the external configuration of the
parts, the general plan of their organization is not as uniform
as that of the vertebrata; there is always an equal degree of
resemblance between them in the structure and the functions.
The third form is that remarked in worms, insects, &c.
Their nervous system consists of two long cords, running lon-
gitudinally through the abdomen, dilated at intervals into
knots or ganglions. The first of these knots, placed over the —
cesophagus, and called brain, is scarcely any larger than those |
that are along the abdomen, with which they communicate by
filaments that encircle the cesophagus like a necklace. The
covering or envelope of the body is divided by transverse
_ folds into a certain number of rings, whose teguments : are ‘
sometimes soft, and sometimes hard; the muscles, however,
‘being always situated internally. Articulated limbs are fr ia
quently attached to the trunk ; but very often there ar
We will call these animals
‘ Animalia ee v4 hing Aidt
a cay Hyatt
Or articulated animals, in hem is observed the transition
oe INTRODUCTION.
from the circulation in closed vessels to nutrition by imbibi-
- tion, and the corresponding one of respiration in circumscribed
organs, to that effected by trachex or air-vessels distributed
throughout the body. In them, the organs of taste and sight
are the most distinct; one single family alone presenting that
of hearing. Their jaws, when they have any, are always
lateral.
The fourth form, which embraces all those animals known
by the name of zoophytes, may also properly be denominated
Animaha Radiata,
Or radiated animals. We have seen that the organs of
sense and motion in all the preceding ones are symmetrically
arranged on the two sides of an axis. ‘There is a posterior
and anterior dissimilar face. In this last division, they are
disposed like rays round a centre; and this is the case even
when they consist of but two series, for then the two faces
are similar. They approximate to the homogeneity of plants,
having no very distinct nervous system or particular organs of
sense; in some of them, it is even difficult to discover a ves-
tige of circulation; their respiratory organs are almost univer-
sally seated on the surface of the body, the intestine in the
a _ greater number is a mere sac without issue, and the lowest of
fee 7 the series are nothing but a sort of homogeneous pulp, endow-
ae co with motion and peda (1)
a) Before my time, modern naturalists divided all invertebrated animals into |
? ‘two classes, me and Worms. I was the first who attacked this method ; and
‘Voted te the characters and limits of the ane Crustacea, Insects
.chinodermata and Zoophytes. In a memoir read before the Insti-
the e Sst of December 1801, I ascertained the red-blooded worms or Anne-—
' a ly, ina memoir read before the Institute in July 1812, and printed
du Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, tome xix, I distributed these
= diviions, each of which is pipe to a branch of Pa @
$
*
-— ‘ ty * . ®
FIRST GREAT DIVISION OF THE ANIMAL
KINGDOM.
ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA.
The bodies and limbs of vertebrated animals being sup-
ported by a frame-work or skeleton composed of connected
pieces that are movable upon each other, their motions are
certain and vigorous. ‘The solidity of this support enables
them to attain considerable size, and it is among them that
the largest animals are found.
The great concentration of the nervous system, and the
volume of its central portions, give energy and stability to
their sentiments, whence result superior intelligence and per-
fectibility. ,
Their body always consists of a head, trunk and members.
The head is formed by the cranium which contains the
brain, and by the face which is composed of two jaws and of
the receptacles of the senses.
The trunk is supported by the spine and the ribs.
The spine is formed of vertebra, the first of which sup-
- ports the head, that move upon each other, and are perforated
by an annular opening, forming together a canal, in which is
lodged that medullary production from which arise the nerves,
called the spinal marrow.
_ The spine, most commonly, is continued into a tail, extend-
ing beyond the posterior members.
The ribs are a kind of semicircular hoops which protect
Vou. l.—E
34 ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA.
the sides of the cavity of the trunk, they are articulated at
one extremity with the vertebra, and most generally at the
other with the sternum; sometimes, however, they do not
encircle the trunk, and there are genera in which they are
hardly visible.
There are never more than two pairs of hichibess but some-
times one or the other is wanting, or even both. ‘Their forms
vary according to the movements they have to execute. The
superior members are converted into hands, feet, wings or
fins, and the inferior into feet or fins.
The blood is always red, and appears to be so composed as
to sustain a peculiar energy of sentiment and muscular strength,
but in various degrees, corresponding to their quality of re-
spiration : from which originates the subdivision of the verte-
brata into four classes.
The external senses are always five in number, and reside
in two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the teguments of the
tongue, and those of the body, generally. In some species,
however, the eyes are obliterated.
The nerves reach the medulla through the foramina of the
vertebre or those of the cranium; they all seem to unite with
this medulla, which, after crossing its filaments, spreads out
to form the various lobes of which the brain is composed, and
terminates in the two medullary arches called hemispheres,
whose volume is m proportion to the extent of the intelligence.
There are always two jaws, the greatest motion is in the
lower one, which rises and falls; the upper jaw is sometimes
immovable. Both of these are almost always armed with
teeth, excrescences of a peculiar nature, which in their chemi-
cal composition are very similar to that of bone, but which
" grow by layers and transudations one whole class, however,
that of birds, has the jaws invested with horn, and the genus
Testudo, in the class of reptiles, is in the same case, %
_ The intestinal canal traverses the body from the mouth to
the anus, experiencing various enlargements and contractions
having appendages and receiving solvent fluids, one.of which,”
the saliva, is discharged into the mouth. The others, which
are poured into the intestine only, have various names: the
ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA. 35
two principal ones are the juices of the gland called the pan-
creas, and bile, a product of another very large gland named
the liver.
While the digested aliment is traversing its canal, that por-
tion of it which is fitted for nutrition, called the chyle, is ab-
sorbed by particular vessels styled lacteals, and carried into
the veins; the residue of the nourishment of the parts is also
carried into the veins by vessels analogous to these lacteals,
and forming with them one same system called the lymphatic
system.
The blood which has served to nourish the parts, and which
has just been renewed by the chyle and lymph, is returned to—
the heart by the veins—but this blood is obliged, either
wholly or in part, to pass into the organ of respiration, in or-
der to regain its arterial nature, previous to being again sent
through the system by the arteries. In the three first classes
this respiratory organ consists of lungs, that is, a collection of
cells into which air penetrates. In fish only, and in some
reptiles, while young, it consists of branchie or a series of
lamin, between which water passes.
In all the vertebrata, the blood which furnishes the liver
with the materials of the bile is venous blood, which has eir-
culated partly in the parietes of the intestines, and partly in
a peculiar body called the spleen, and which, after being
united in a trunk called the vena porta, is again subdivided
at the liver.
All these animals have a particular secretion; the wine,
which is produced in two large glands, attached to the sides
of the spine of the back, called Azdneys—the liquid they
secrete is most commonly poured into a reservoir, named
bladder.
_ The sexes are separate, and the female has always one or
two ovaries, from which the eggs are detached at the instant
of conception. ‘The male fecundifies them with the seminal
_ fluid, but the mode varies greatly. In most of the genera of
the three first classes, it requires an intromission of the fluid ;
in some reptiles, and in most of the fishes, it takes place after
the exit of the egg.
36 ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA.
Subdivision of the Vertebrata into Four Classes.
We have just seen how far vertebrated animals resemble
each other; they present, however, four great subdivisions or
classes, characterised by the kind or power of their motions,
which depend themselves on the quantity of their respiration,
inasmuch as it is from this respiration that the muscular fibres
derive the strength of their irritability.
The quantity of respiration depends upon two agents: the
first is the relative amount of blood which is poured into the
respiratory organ in a given instant of time; the second is the
relative amount of oxygen which enters into the composition
of the surrounding fluid. The quantity of the former de-
pends upon the disposition of the organs of circulation ‘and
respiration.
The organs of the circulation may be double, so that all the
blood which is brought back from the various parts of the
body by the veins, is forced to circulate through the respi-
ratory organ, previous to resuming its former course through
the arteries; or they may be simple, so that a part only of
the blood is obliged to pass through that organ, the remainder
returning directly to the body.
The latter is the case with reptiles. The quantity of their
respiration, and all their qualities which depend on it, vary
with the amount of blood thrown into the tS at each pul-
sation.
Fishes have a double circulation, but their organ of respi-
ration is formed to execute its function through the medium
of water; and their blood is only acted on by the portion of
oxygen it contains, so that the quantity of their respiration is
perhaps less than that of reptiles.
In the mammalia the circulation is double, and the aerial
respiration simple, that is, it is performed in the lungs only ;
their quantity of respiration is, consequently, superior to that
of reptiles, on account of the form of their respiratory organ,
and to that of fishes from the nature of their surrounding ele-
ment.
_)
ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA. 37
The quantity of respiration in birds is even superior to that
of quadrupeds, not only because they have a double circula-
tion and an aerial respiration, but also because they respire
by many other cavities besides the lungs, the air penetrating
throughout their bodies, and bathing the branches of the
aorta, as well as those of the pulmonary artery.
Hence result the four different kinds of motion for which
the four classes of vertebrated animals are more particularly
designed: guadrupeds, in which the quantity of respiration is
moderate, are generally formed to walk and run, both motions
being characterized by precision and vigour; birds, which
have more of it, possess the muscular strength and lightness
requisite for flight; reptiles, where it is diminished, are con-
demned to creep, and many of them pass a portion of ‘their
lives in a kind of torpor; fishes, in fine, to execute their mo-
tions, require to be supported in a fluid whose specific gravity
is nearly as great as their own.
All the circumstances of organization peculiar to each of
these four classes, and those especially which regard motion
and the external sensations, have a necessary relation with
these essential characters.
The mammalia, however, have particular characters in their
viviparous mode of generation, in the manner by which the
foetus is nourished in the uterus through the medium of the
placenta, and in the mammez by which they suckle their
young.
The other classes, on the contrary, are oviparous, and if we
compare them to the first, we shall find such numerous points
of resemblance as announce a peculiar system of or ganization
in the great general plan of the vertebrata.
¥
38 ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA.
CLASS I.
MAMMALIA.
The mammalia are placed at the head of the animal kingdom,
not only because it is the class to which man himself belongs,
but also because it is that which enjoys the most numerous
faculties, the most delicate sensations, the most varied powers
of motion, and in which all the different qualities seem com-
bined in order to produce a more perfect degree of intelli-
gence, the one most fertile in resources, most susceptible of
perfection, and least the slave of instinct.
As their quantity of respiration is moderate, they are de-
signed in general for walking on the earth, but with vigorous
and continued steps. ‘The forms of the articulations of their
skeleton, are, consequently, strictly defined, which deter-
mines all their motions with the most rigorous precision.
Some of them, however, by means of limbs considerably
elongated, and extended membranes, raise themselves in the
air; others have them so shortened, that they can move with
facility in water only, though this does not deprive them of
the general characters of the class.
The upper jaw, in all of these animals, is fixed to the cra-
nium; the lower is formed of two pieces only, articulated by a
projecting condyle to a fixed temporal bone; the neck con-
sists of seven vertebr, one single species excepted which has
nine; the anterior ribs are attached before, by cartilage, to a
sternum consisting of several vertical pieces; their anterior
extremity commences in a shoulder-blade, that is not articu-
lated, but simply suspended in the flesh, often resting on the
sternum by means of an intermediate bone, called a clavicle.
$
MAMMALIA. 39
This extremity is continued by an arm, a fore-arm, and a
hand, the latter being composed of two ranges of small bones
called the carpus, of another range called the metacarpus, and
of the fingers, each of which consists of two or three bones,
~ termed phalanges.
With the exception of the cetacea, the first part of the pos-
terior extremity, in all animals of this class, is fixed to the
spine, forming a girdle or pelvis, which, in youth, consists of
three pairs of bones, the ilium which is attached to the spine,
the pubis which forms the anterior part of the girdle, and the
ischium, the posterior. At the point of union of these three
bones is situated the cavity with which the thigh is articulated,
to which, in its turn, is attached the leg, formed of two bones,
the tibia and fibula; this extremity is terminated by parts
similar to those of the hand, i. e. by a tarsus, metatarsus and
toes.
The head of the mammalia is always articulated by two con-
dyles, with the atlas, the first vertebra of the neck.
The brain is always composed of two hemispheres, united by
a medullary layer, called the corpus callosum, containing the
ventricles, and enveloping four pairs of tubereles, ‘named the
corpora striata, or striated bodies, the thalami nervorum op-
ticorum, or beds of the optic nerves, and the nates and testes.
Between the optic beds is a third ventricle, which communi-
cates with a fourth under the cerebellum, the crura of which
always form a transverse prominence under the medulla ob-
longata, called the pons Varolit, or bridge of Varolius.
The eye, invariably lodged in its orbit, is protected by
two lids and a vestige of a third, and has its crystalline fixed
by the ciliary processes—its sclerotic is simply cellular.
The ear always contains a cavity called the tympanum, or
~ drum, which communicates with the mouth by the L'ustachian
tube; the cavity itself is closed externally by a membrane call-.
ed the membrana tympani, and contains a chain of four little
- bones, named the ineus or anvil, malleus or hammer, the os
_ orbiculare or circular bone, and the stapes or stirrup; a ves-
tibule, on the entrance of which rests the stapes, and which
communicates with three semicircular canals; and, finally, a
40 MAMMALIA.
cochlea, which terminates by one canal in the vestibule, and
by the other in the tympanum.
Their cranium is subdivided into three portions; the ante-
rior is formed by the two frontal and ethmoidal bones, the
middle by the two ossa parietalia and the os ethmoides, and
the posterior by the os occipitis. Between the ossa parietalia,
the sphenoidalis and the os occipitis, are interposed the two
temporal bones, part of which belong properly to the face.
In the feetus, the occipital bone is divided into four parts:
the sphenoidal into two halves, which are again subdivided
into three pairs of lateral wings; the temporal into three, one
of which serves to complete the cranium, the second to close
the labyrinth of the ear, the third to form the parietes of the
tympanum, &c. ‘These bony portions, still more numerous in
the earliest period of the foetal existence, are united more or
less promptly, according to the species, and the bones them-
selves finally become consolidated in the adult.
Their face consists of the two maxillary bones, between
which pass the nostrils; the two intermaxillaries are situated
before, and the two ossa palati behind them; between these
descends the vomer, a bony process of the os ethmoides; at
the entrance of the nasal canal are placed the ossa nasi; to its
external parietes adhere the inferior turbinated bones, the
superior ones which occupy its upper and posterior portion
belonging to the os ethmoides. The jugal or cheek bone
unites the maxillary to the temporal bone on each side, and
frequently to the os frontis; 3; finally, the os unguis, and pars
plana of the ethmoid bone occupy the internal angle of the
orbit, and sometimes a part of the cheek. In the embryo
state these bones also are much more subdivided.
Their tongue is always fleshy, connected with a bone called
the hyoides, which is composed of several pieces, and sus-
pended from the cranium by ligaments.
Their lungs, two in number, divided into lobes, and com-
posed of an infinitude of cells, are always enclosed, without —
any adhesion, in a cavity formed by the ribs and diaphragm
and lined by the pleura; the organ of voice is always at the
MAMMALIA. Al
upper extremity of the trachea; a fleshy curtain, called the
velum palati, establishes a direct communication between their
larynx and nasal canal.
Their residence on the surface of the earth rendering them
less’ exposed to the alternations of cold and heat, their tegu-
ment, the hair, is but moderately thick, and in such as inhabit
warm climates, even that is rare.
The Cetacea, which live exclusively in water, are the only
ones that are altogether deprived of it.
The abdominal cayity is lined with a membrane called the
peritoneum, and the intestinal canal is suspended to a fold or
it called the mesentery, which contains numerous conglobate
glands in which the lacteals ramify: another production of
the peritoneum, styled the epiploon, hangs in front of and un-
der the intestines.
‘The urine which is retained for a time in the bladder finds
an exit in both sexes, with very few exceptions, by orifices
in the organs of generation.
In all the Mammalia, generation is essentially viviparous;
that is, the foetus, directly after conception, descends into the
uterus enveloped in its membranes, the exterior of which is
called chorion and the interior amntos; it fixes itself to the
parietes of this cavity by one plexus, or more of vessels called
the placenta, which establishes a communication between it
and the mother, by which it receives its nourishment, and most
probably its oxygenation, notwithstanding which, the foetus
of the Mammalia, at an early period, has a vesicle analogous
to that which contains the yolk in the Ovipara, receiving in
like manner vessels from the mesentery. It has also another
external bladder named the allantoid, which communicates
with the urinary one by a canal called the wrachus.
Conception always requires an effectual coitus, in which the
semen masculinum is thrown into the uterus of the female.
The young are nourished for some time after birth by a
fluid (milk) peculiar to animals of this class, which is pro-
duced by the mamme at the time of parturition, and continues
to be so as long as is necessary. It is from the mamme that
Vou. I.—F 28 .
42 MAMMALIA.
this class derives its name, and being a character peculiar to
it, they distinguish it better than any other that is external.(J)
Division of the Mammalia into Orders.
The variable characters which form essential differences
among the Mammalia are taken from the organs of touch, on
which depends their degree of ability or address, and from
the organs of manducation, which determine the nature of
their aliment, and are all closely connected, not only with
every thing relative to the function of digestion, but also with
a multitude of other differences relating even to their intelli-
gence. .
The degree of perfection of the organs of touch is esti-
mated by the number and the pliability of the fingers, and
from the greater or less extent to which their extremities are
enveloped by the nail or the hoof.
A hoof which completely envelopes the end of the toe,
blunts its sensibility, and renders the foot incapable of seizing.
The opposite extreme is when a nail, formed of one single
lamina, covers only one of the faces of the extremity of the
finger, leaving the other possessed of all its delicacy.
The nature of the food is known by the grinders, to the
form of which the articulation of the jaws universally corres-
ponds.
To cut flesh, grinders are required as trenchant as a saw, and
jaws fitted like scissars, having no other motion than a verti-
cal one.
For bruising roots or grains, flat-crowned grinders are ne-
cessary, and jaws that have a lateral motion; in order that
inequalities may always exist on the crown of these teeth, it
is also requisite that their substance be composed of parts of
unequal hardness, so that some may wear away faster than
others.
Hoofed animals are all necessarily herbivorous, and have
(1) We shall find, however, in the sequel some doubts on this subject, arising
from certain points in the family of the Monotremata.
MAMMALIA. 43
flat-crowned grinders, inasmuch as their feet preclude the
possibility of their seizing a living prey.
Animals with unguiculated fingers were susceptible of more
variety; their food is of all kinds, and independently of the
form of their grinders, they differ greatly from each other in
the pliability and delicacy of their fingers. There is one
character with respect to this, which has immense influence
on their dexterity and greatly multiplies its powers; it is the
faculty of opposing the thumb to the finger for the purpose
of seizing minute objects, constituting what is properly called
a hand; a faculty which is carried to its highest perfection in
- man, in whom the whole anterior extremity is free and capable
of prehension.
These various combinations which strictly determine the
nature of the different Mammalia, have given rise to the fol-
lowing orders:
Among the unguiculated animals, the first is Man, who, in
addition to privileges of other descriptions, possesses hands at
the anterior extremities only, the posterior being designed to
support him in an erect position.
In the order next to man, that of the guADRUMANA, we
find hands at the four extremities.
In another order, that of the CARNARIA, the thumb is not
free, and cannot be opposed to the anterior extremities.
Each of these orders has the three sorts of teeth, grinders,
canini, and incisors or cutting teeth.
In a fourth order, that of the RopENTTA, the toes differ but
little from those of the Carnaria, but there are no canine teeth,
and the incisors are placed in front of the mouth, and adapted
to a very peculiar sort of manducation.
Then come those animals whose toes are much cramped,
and deeply sunk in large nails, which are generally curved;
they have no incisors, and in some the canines disecmeaiat
while others have none of any description. We comprise
- them all under the title of the EDENTATA.
This distribution of the unguiculated animals would be per-
fect, and form a very regular series, were it not that New
Holland has lately furnished us with a little collateral one,
44 MAMMALIA.
consisting of animals with pouches, the different genera of
which are connected by a general similarity of organization;
some of them, however, in the teeth and nature of their diet
corresponding to the Carnaria, others to the Rodentia, and a
third to the Edentata.
The hoofed animals are less numerous, and have likewise
fewer irregularities.
The RUMINANTIA, by their etovel foot, the absence of true
incisors in their upper jaw, and their four stomachs, form an
order that is very distinct.
The remaining hoofed animals may all be united in a single
order, which I shall call PACHYDERMATA or JUMENTA, the H/e-
phant excepted, which might constitute a separate one, and
which is remotely connected with that of the Rodentia.
In the last place, we find those of the Mammalia which
have no posterior extremities, whose piscatory form and aqua-
tic mode of life would induce us to form them into a particu-
lar class, were it not that in every thing else their economy is
similar to that im which we leave them. ‘These are the hot-
blooded fishes of the ancients, or the ceTacna, which, uniting
to the vigour of the other mammalia the advantage of being
sustained by the watery element, present to our wondering
sight the most gigantic of animals.
ORDER I.
BIMANA.
" : -
Man forms but one genus, and that genus the only one of its
order. As his history is the more dir ectly interesting to our-
selves, and forms the point of comparison to which we refer
that of other animals, we will speak of it more in detail.
We will rapidly sketch every thing that is peculiar in each
of his organic systems, amidst all that he shares in common
with other mammalia; we will examine the advantages he
Sa
=
BIMANA, 45
derives from these peculiarities over other species; we will
describe the principal varieties of his race and their distin-
euishing characters, and finally point out the natural order in
which his individual and social faculties are developed.
Peculiar Conformation of Man.
The foot of Man is very different from that of the Monkey; it is
large; the leg bears vertically upon it; the heel is expanded beneath;
the toes are short, and but slightly flexible; the great toe, longer
and larger than the rest, is placed on the same line with, and can-
not be opposed to them. This foot, then,is peculiarly well adapted
to support the body; but cannot be used for seizing or climbing, and
as the hands are not calculated for walking, Man is the only true
bimanous and biped animal.
_*The whole body of Man is arranged with a view to a vertical po-
sition. His feet, as just mentioned, furnish him with a base more
extensive than that of any other of the Mammalia. The muscles
which extend the foot and thigh are more vigorous, whence pro-
ceeds the projection of the calf and buttock; the flexors of the leg
are inserted higher up, which allows full extension of the knee, and
renders the calf more apparent. The pelvis is wider, hence a greater
separation of the thighs and feet, and that pyramidal form of the
body so favourable to equilibrium. The necks of the thigh bones
form an angle with the body of the bone, which increases, still
more, the separation of the feet, and augments the basis of the
body. Finally, the head in this vertical position is in equilibrium
on the body, because its articulation is exactly under the middle of
its mass. ,
Were he to desire it, Man could not, with convenience, walk on
all fours; his short and nearly inflexible foot, and his Jong thigh,
would bring the knee to the ground; his widely separated shoulders
and his arms, too far extended from the median line, would ill sup-
port the upper portion of his body. The great indented muscle,
which, in quadrupeds, suspends, as in a girth, the body between the
scapulz, is smaller in Man than in any one among them. The head
is also heavier, both from the magnitude of the brain and the small-» »
ness of the sinuses or cayities of the bones; and yet, the means of
supporting it are weaker, for Be has neither cervical me onan nor
are his vertebre so ar ranged ‘as to prevent their flexure forwards;
the result of this wo ld be, that he could only keep his head in the
same line with the spine, and then his eyes and mouth being directed
towards the earth, he could not see before’ him;—in the erect posi-
ys
46 MAMMALIA.
tion, on the contrary, the arrangement of these organs is every way
perfect.
The arteries which are sent to his brain, not being subdivided as
in many quadrupeds, and the blood requisite for so voluminous an
organ being carried into it with too much violence, frequent apo-
plexies would be the consequence of a horizontal position.
Man, then, is formed for an erect position only. He thus pre-
serves the entire use of his hands for the arts, while his organs of
sense are most favourably situated for observation.
These hands, which derive such advantages from their liberty, re-
ceive as many more from their structure. The thumb, longer in
proportion than that of the Monkey, increases its facility of seizing
small objects. All the fingers, the annularis excepted, have sepa-
rate movements, a faculty possessed by no other animal, not even‘by
the Monkey. The nail, covering one side only of the extremity of
the finger, acts as a support to the touch, without depriving it of an
atom of its delicacy. The arms to which these hands are attached,
are strongly and firmly connected by the large scapula, the strong
clavicle, &c.
Man, so highly favoured as to dexterity, is not at all so with
respect to force. His swiftness inrunning is greatly inferior to that
of other animals of his size. Having neither projecting jaws, nor
salient canine teeth, nor claws, he is destitute of offensive weapons;
and the sides and upper parts of his body being naked, unprovided
even with hair, he is absolutely without defensive ones. Of all ani-
mals, he is also the longest in attaining the power necessary to
provide for himself.
This very weakness, however, is but one advantage more—it com-
pels him to have recourse to that intelligence within, for which he
is so eminently conspicuous.
No quadruped approaches him in the magnitude and convolutions
of the hemispheres of the brain, that is, in the part of this organ
which is the principal instrument of the intellectual operations. The
posterior portion of the same organ extends backwards, sovas to
form a second covering to the cerebellum; the very form of his cra-
nium announces this magnitude of the brain, while the smallness of
his face shows how slightly that portion of the nervous system
which influences the external senses predominates in him.
These pee sensations, moderate as they all are in Man, are
nevertheless extremely delicate and well balanced. ¢
His two eyeglare directed forwards; he does not see on two sides
at once, like many quadrupeds, which produces more unity in
the result of his sight, and concentrates, his attention more closely on
sensations of this kind.. ‘The ball and iris of his eye vary but little;
BIMANA. 47
this restrains the activity of his sight to a limited distance, and a
determined degree of light. His external ear, possessing but little
mobility or extent, does not increase the intensity of sounds, and
yet, of all animals, he best distinguishes the various degrees of in-
tonation. His nostrils, more complicated than those of the Monkey,
are less so than those of all other genera; and yet he appears to be
the only animal whose sense of smell is sufficiently delicate to be
affected by unpleasant odours. Delicacy of smell must have some
influence on that of taste, and independently of this Man must have
some advantage in this respect over other animals, those, at least,
whose tongues are covered with scales. Lastly, the nicety of his
tact results, both from the delicacy of his teguments, and the ab-
sence of all insensible parts, as well as from the form of his hand,
which is better adapted than that of any other animal for suiting
itself to every little superficial inequality.
Man is pre-eminently distinguished in the organ of his voice; of
all the Mammalia, he alone possesses the faculty of articulating
sounds, its probable causes being the form of his mouth and the
great mobility of his lips. From this results his most invaluable
mode of communication, for of all the signs which can be conveniently
employed for the transmission of ideas, variations of sound are those
which can be perceived at the greatest distance, and are the most
extensive in their sphere of operation.
The whole of his structure, even to the heart and great vessels,
appears to have been framed with a view to a vertical position. The
heart is placed obliquely on the diaphragm, and its point inclines to
the left, thereby occasioning a distribution of the aorta, differing
from that of most quadrupeds.
The natural food of man, judging from his structure, appears to
consist of the fruits, roots, and other succulent parts of vegetables:
his hands offer him every facility for gathering them; his short, and
but moderately strong jaws on the one hand, and his canini being
equal in length to the remaining teeth, and his tubercular molares
on the other, would allow him neither to feed on grass nor to deyour
flesh, were these aliments not previously prepared by cooking.
Once, however, possessed of fire, and those arts by which he is
aided in seizing animals or killing them at a distance, every living
being was rendered subservient to his nourishment, thereby giving
him the means of an infinite multiplication of his species.
His organs of digestion are in conformity with those of manduca-
tion; his stomach is simple, his intestinal canal of moderate length,
the great intestines well marked, his cecum short and thick and
augmented by a small appendage, and his liver diyided | only into two
e %
48 MAMMALIA. :
large lobes and one small one; his epiploon hangs in front of the
intestines, and extends into the pelvis.
To complete the hasty sketch of the anatomical structure of Man
requisite for this introduction, we will add, that he has thirty-two
vertebrz, of which seven belong to the neck, twelve to the back, five
to the loins, five to the sacrum, and three to the coccyx. Seven
pairs of his ribs are united with the sternum by elongated cartilages,
and are called true ribs; the five following pairs are denominated
false ones. His adult cranium is formed of eight bones; an occipi-
talis, two ossa temporis, two parietalia, and the frontal, ethmoidal
and sphenoidal bones. The bones of his face are fourteen in number,
two maxillaries, two ossa malz, each of which joins the temporal
to the maxillary bone of its own side by a kind of handle called the
zygomatic arch; two nasal bones, two ossa palati behind the palate,
a vomer between the nostrils, two turbinated bones of the nose in
the nostrils, two lachrymals (unguis) in the internal angles of the
orbits and the single bone of the lower jaw. Each jaw has sixteen
teeth; four cutting incisors in the middle, two pointed canines at
the corners, and ten tuberculated molares, five on each side. At
the extremity of the spine of his scapula, is a tuberosity called the
acromion, to which the clavicle is attached, and over its articulation
is a point called the coracoid process with which certain muscles
are connected. The radius revolves upon the ulna, owing to the
mode of its articulation with the humerus. The carpus has eight
bones, four in each range; the tarsus has seven; those of the remain-
ing parts of the hand and foot may be easily counted by the number
of fingers and toes.
Enjoying uniform and regular supplies of nourishment, the fruit
of his industry, Man is at all times inclined to the ‘* plaisirs
d’amour,”’ without ever experiencing that irresistible and violent
impetus which marks the passion in quadrupeds. His organ of
generation is not upheld by a bony axis; the prepuce does not tie it
down to the abdomen, and it hangs loosely in front of the pubis.
Numerous and large veins which effect a rapid transfer of the blood
of his testes to the general circulation, appear to contribute to the
moderation of his desires.
The uterus of woman is a simple oval cavity; her mammz, only
two in number, are placed upon her breast, and correspond with the
facility she possesses of supporting her child upon her arm.
Physiealyand Moral Development of Man.
Age ¢
The term of gestation in the human species is nine months, aie
but one child is usually produced at a birth, as in five hundred
«
2
BIMANA. 49
cases of parturition there is but one of twins; more than the latter
is extremely rare. The foetus, a month old, is generally about one
inch in height; when two months, it is two inches and a half; when
three, five inches; in the fifth month, it is six or seven inches; in the
seventh, it is eleven inches; in the eighth, fourteen, and in the ninth,
eighteen inches. Those which are born prior to the seventh month
usually die. The first or milk teeth begin to appear in a few months,
commencing with the incisors. ‘The number increases in two years
to twenty, which, about the seventh year; are successively shed to
make room for others. Of the twelve posterior molares which are
permanent, there are four which make their appearance at four
years and a half, and four at nine; the last four are frequently not
cut until the twentieth year. The growth of the foetus is propor-
tionably increased as it approaches the time of birth—that of the
child, on the contrary, is always less and less. It has more than
the fourth of its height when born; it attains the half of it at two
years and a half, and the three-fourths at nine or ten years; its
growth is completed about the eighteenth year. Man rarely ex-
ceeds the height of six feet, and as rarely remains under five. Woman
is usually some inches shorter.
Puberty is announced by external symptoms, from the tenth to the
twelfth year in girls, and from the twelfth to the sixteenth in boys;
it arrives sooner in warm climates, and neither sex, (very rarely at
least,) is productive before or after that manifestation.
Scarcely has the body gained the full period of its growth in
height, before it begins to increase in bulk; fat accumulates in the
cellular tissue, the different vessels become gradually obstructed, the
solids become rigid, and, after a life more or less long, more or less
agitated, more or less painful, old age arrives with decrepitude, de-
cay, and death. Man rarely lives beyond a hundred years, and most
of the species, either from disease, accident, or old age, perish long
before that term.
The child needs the assistance of its mother much longer than her
milk, from this it obtains an education both moral and physical, and
a mutual attachment is created that is fervent and durable. The
nearly equal number of the two sexes, the difficulty of supporting
more than one wife, when wealth does not supply the want of power,
all go to prove that monogamy is the mode of union most natu-
ral to our species, and, as wherever this kind of tie exists, the father
participates in the education of his offspring, the length of time re-
quired for that education allows the birth of others—hence the na-
tural permanence of the conjugal state. From the long period of
infantile weakness springs domestic subordination, and the order of
society in general, as the young people which compose the new
Voy. LG
50 MAMMALIA.
families continue to preserve with their parents those tender rela- .
tions to which they have so long been accustomed. This disposi-
tion to mutual assistance multiplies to an almost unlimited extent
those advantages previously derived by insulated man from his in-
telligence; it has assisted him to tame or repulse other animals, to
defend himself from the effects of climate, and thus enabled him to
cover the earth with his species.
In other respects, man appears to possess nothing resembling in-
stinct, no regular habit of industry produced by innate ideas; his
knowledge is the result of his sensations and of his observation, or
of those of his predecessors. Transmitted by speech, increased by
meditation, and applied to his necessities and his enjoyments, they
have originated all the arts of life. Language and letters, by pre-
serving acquired knowledge, are a source of indefinite perfection to
his species. Itis thus he has acquired ideas, and made all nature
contribute to his wants.
There are very different degrees of development, however, in man.
The first hordes, compelied to live by fishing and hunting, or on
wild fruits, and being obliged to devote all their time to search for
the means of subsistence, and not being able to multiply greatly,
because that would have destroyed the game, advanced but slowly.
Their arts were limited to the construction of huts and canoes, to
covering themselves with skins and the fabrication of arrows and
nets. They observed such stars only as directed them in their jour-
neys, and some few natural objects whose properties were of use to
them. They domesticated the Dog, simply because he had a natu-
ral inclination for their own kind of life. When they had succeeded
in taming the herbivorous animals, they found in the possession of
numerous flocks a never failing source of subsistence, and also some
leisure, which they employed in extending the sphere of their ac-
quirements. Some industry was then employed in the construction
of dwellings and the making of clothes: the idea of property was
admitted, and consequently that of barter, as well as wealth and
difference of conditions, those fruitful sources of the noblest emula-
tion and the vilest passions: but the necessity of searching for fresh
pastures, and of obeying the changes of the seasons, still doomed
them to a wandering life, and limited their improvement to a very
narrow sphere.
The multiplication of the human species, and its improvement in
the arts and sciences, have only been carried to a high degree since
the invention of agriculture and the division of the soil into heredi-
tary possessions. By means of agriculture, the manual labour of a
portion of society is adequate to the maintenance of the whole, and
allows the remainder time for less necessary occupations, at the same
BIMANA. Si
time that the hope of acquiring, by industry, a comfortable exist-
ence for self and posterity, has given a new spring to emulation.
The discovery of a representative of property or a circulating me-
dium, by facilitating exchanges and rendering fortunes more inde-
pendent and susceptible of being increased, has carried this emula-
tion to its highest degree, but by a necessary consequence it has
also equally increased the vices of effeminacy and the furies of ambi-
tion.
The natural propensity to reduce every thing to general principles,
and to search for the causes of every phenomenon, has produced re-
flecting men, in every stage of society, who have added new ideas to
those already obtained, nearly all of whom, while knowledge was
confined to the few, endeavoured to convert their intellectual supe-
riority into the means of domination, by exaggerating their own
merit, and disguising the poverty of their knowledge by the propa-
gation of superstitious ideas.
An evil still more irremediable, is the abuse of physical power :
now that man only can injure man, he is continually seeking to do
so, and is the only animal upon earth that is for ever at war with his
own species. Savages fight for a forest, and herdsmen for a pasture,
and as often as they can, break inupon the cultivators of the earth
to rob them of the fruits of their long and painful labours. Even
civilized nations, far from being contented with their blessings, pour
out each other’s blood for the prerogatives of pride, or the monopoly
of trade. Hence, the necessity for governments to direct the
national wars, and to repress or reduce to regular forms the quarrels
of individuals.
The social condition of man has been restrained, or advanced by »
oe
circumstances more or less favourable.
The glacial climates of the north of both continents, and the im-
penetrable forests of America are still inhabited by the savage hun-
ter or fisherman. The immense sandy and salt plains of central
Asia and Africa are covered with a pastoral people, and innumerable
herds. These half civilized hordes assemble at the callvof every
enthusiastic chief, and rush like a torrent on the cultivated coun-
tries that surround them, in which they establish themselves, but to,
be weakened by luxury, and in their turn to become the prey of
,
others. This is the true cause of that despotism which has always
crushed and Bees cy ed the industry of Persia, India, and China.
Mild climates, soils naturally irrigated and rich in vegetables, are
the cradles of agriculture and civilization, and when so situated as
to be sheltered from the incursions of barbarians, every species of
talent is excited; such were (the first in Europe) Italy and Greece,
and such is, at present, nearly all that happy portion of the earth.
52 MAMMALIA.
There are, however, certain intrinsic causes which seem to arrest
the progress of particular races, although situated amidst the most
favourable circumstances.
Varieties of the Human Species.
Although the promiscuous intercourse of the human species,
which produces individuals capable of propagation, would seem to
demonstrate its unity, certain hereditary peculiarities of conforma-
tion are observed which constitute what are termed races.
Three of them in particular appear very distinct—the Caucasian
or white, the Mongolian or yellow, and the Ethiopian or negro.
The Caucasian, to which we belong, is distinguished by the beauty
of the oval formed by his head, varying in complexion and the
colour of the hair. To this variety, the most highly civilized nations,
and those which have generally held all others in subjection, are in-
debted for their origin.
The Mongolian is known by his high cheek bones, flat visage,
narrow and oblique eyes, straight black hair, scanty beard and olive
complexion. Great empires have been established by this race in
‘China and Japan, and their conquests been extended to this side of
the Great Desert. In civilization, however, it has always remained
stationary.
The Negro race is confined to the south of mount Atlas; it is
marked by a black complexion, crisped or woolly hair, compressed
cranium, and a flat nose. The projection of the lower parts of the
face, and the thick lips, evidently approximate it to the monkey
tribe: the hordes of which it consists have always remained in the .
most complete state of utter barbarism.
The race from which we are descended has been called Caucasian,
because tradition and the filiation of nations seem to refer its origin
to that group of mountains situated between the Caspian and Black
seas, whence, as from a centre, it has been extended like the radii of
-acircle. Various nations in the vicinity of Caucasus, the Georgians
and Circassians, are still considered the handsomest on earth. The
» principal ramifications of this race may be distinguished by the ana-
logies of language. The Armenian or Syrian branch, stretching
_to the south, produced the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the hitherto
“untameable Arabs, who, after Mahomet, were near becoming mas-
ters of the world; the Phenicians, Jews and Abyssinians, which
were Arabian colonies ; and most probably the Egyptians. It is
from this branch, always inclined to mysticism, that have. sprung
the most widely extended forms of religion—the arts and literature
BIMANA,. 53
have sometimes flourished among its nations, but always enveloped
in a strange disguise and figurative style.
The Indian, German, and Pelasgic branch is much more extend-
ed, and was much earlier divided: notwithstanding which, the most
numerous affinities may be observed between its four principal lan-
guages—the Sanscrit, the present sacred language of the Hindoos,
and the parent of the greater number of the dialects of Hindostan;
the ancient language of the Pelasgi, common mother of the Greek,
Latin, many tongues that are extinct, and of all those of the south of
Europe; the Gothic or Teutonic, from which are derived the lan-
guages of the north and north-west of Europe, such as the German,
Dutch, English, Danish, Swedish, and other dialects; and finally,
the Sclavonian, from which spring those of the north-east, the Rus-
sian, Polish, Bohemian, &c.
It is by this great and venerable branch of the Caucasian stock,
that philosophy, the arts, and the sciences have been carried to the
greatest perfection, and remained in the keeping of the nations
which compose it for more than three thousand years.
It was preceded in Europe by the Celts, who came from the north,
whose tribes, once very numerous, are now confined to its most
eastern extremity, and by the Cantabrians, who passed from Africa
into Spain, now confounded with the many nations whose posterity
have intermingled in that peninsula.
The ancient Persians originate from the same source as the In-
dians, and their descendants to the present hour bear great marks
of resemblance to the people of Europe.
The predatory tribes of the Scythian and Tartar branch, extending
at first to the north and north-east, always wandering over the im-
mense plains of those countries, returned only to devastate the happier
abodes of their more civilized brethren. The Scythians, who, at so
remote a period, made irruptions into upper Asia; the Parthians,
who there destroyed the Greek and Roman domination; the Turks,
who there subverted that of the Arabs, and subjugated in Europe
the unfortunate remnant of the Grecian people, all swarmed from
this prolific branch. The Finlanders and Hungarians are tribes of
‘the same division, which have strayed among the Sclavonic and
Teutonic nations. Their original country, to the north and north-
east of the Caspian sea still contains inhabitants who have the same
origin, and speak similar languages, but mingled with other petty
“nations, variously descended, and of different languages. The Tar-
tars remained unmixed longer than the others in the country in-
cluded between the mouth of the Danube to beyond the Irtisch,
from which they so long menaced Russia, and where they have
finally been subjugated by her. The Mongoles, however, have
54 MAMMALIA.
mingled their blood with that of those they conquered, many traces
of which may still be found among the inhabitants of lesser Tartary.
It is to the east of this Tartar branch of the Caucasian race that
the Mongolian race begins, whence it extends to the eastern ocean.
Its branches, the Calmucs, &c. still wandering shepherds, are con-
stantly traversing the desert. Thrice did their ancestors under
Attila, Genghis, and Tamerlane, spread far the terror of their’name.
The Chinese are the earliest and most civilized branch not only of
this race, to which they belong, but of all the nations upon earth.
A third branch, the Mantchures, recently conquered, and still
govern China. The Japanese, Coreans, and nearly all the hordes
which extend to the north-east of Siberia, subject to Russia, are also
to be considered, in a great measure, as originating from this race;
and such also is esteemed the fact, with regard to the original inha-
bitants of various islands of that Archipelago. With the exception
of a few Chinese literati, the different nations of the Mongoles are
universally addicted to Buddism, or the religion of Fo.
- The origin of this great race appears to have been in the moun-
- tains of Atlai, but it is impossible to trace the filiation of its diffe-
rent branches with the same certainty as we have done those of the
Caucasian. The history of these wandering nations is as fugitive as
their establishments, and that of the Chinese, confined exclusively to
their own empire, gives us nothing satisfactory with respect to their
neighbours. The affinities of their languages are also too little
known to direct us in this labyrinth.
The languages of the north of the Peninsula beyond the Ganges,
as well as that of Thibet, are somewhat allied to the Chinese, at
least in their monosyllabic structure, and the people who speak
them have features somewhat resembling other Mongoles. The
south of this Peninsula, however, is inhabited by Malays, whose
forms approximate them much nearer to the Indians, whose race
and language are extended over all the coasts of the islands of the
Indian Archipelago. The innumerable little islands of the southern
ocean are also peopled by a handsome race, nearly allied to the In-
dians, whose language is very similar to the Malay; in the interior
‘of the largest of these islands, particularly in the wilder portions of
it, is another race of men with black complexions, crisped hair, and
negro faces, called Alfourous. On the coast of New Guinea, and in
the neighbouring islands, we find other negroes, nearly similar to
those of the eastern coast of Africa, named Papuas ;(1) to the latter,
(1) With respect to the various nations of the Indian and Pacific oceans, see
the dissertation of Messrs Lesson and Gartigt in the Zoologie du Voyage de la —
eo . Ce rn is ,
i
Pie.
BIMANA. 5D
are generally referred the people of Van-Diemen’s land, and those
of New Holland to the Alfourous.
These Malays, and these Papuas are not easily referable to either
of the three great races of which we have been speaking, but can
the former be clearly distinguished from their neighbours, the Cau-
casian Hindoos and the Mongolian Chinese? As for us, we confess
we cannot discover any sufficient characteristics in them for that
purpose. Are the Papuas Negroes, which may formerly have strayed
into the Indian ocean? We possess neither figures nor descriptions
sufficiently precise to enable us to answer this question. '
The northern inhabitants of both continents, the Samoiédes, the
Laplanders, and the Esquimaux spring, according to some, from the
Mongolian race, while others assert that they are mere degenerate
offsets from the Scythian and Tartar branch of the Caucasian stock.
We have not yet been able to refer the Americans to any of the
races of the eastern continents still, they have no precise nor con-
stant character which can entitle them to be considered as a par-
ticular one. Their copper coloured complexion is not sufficient;
their generally black hair and scanty beard would induce us to
refer them to the Mongoles, if their defined features, projecting
nose, large and open eye, did not oppose such a theory, and corres-
pond with the features of the European. Their languages are as
numberless as their tribes, and no demonstrative analogy has as yet
been obtained, either with each other, or with those of the old
world.(1)
ORDER I.
QUADRUMANA.
Independently of the anatomical details which distinguish
“it from man, and which have been given, this family differs:
from our species in a very remarkable way. All the animals
belonging to it have the toes of the hind feet free and oppo-
ae
Coquille, p. 1—113. For the languages of the Asiatics and their affinities, con-
‘sult the Asia Polyglotta of M. Klaproth.
‘() See the Voyage de M. de Humboldt, and the dissertations of Vater and
Mitchill.
56 MAMMALIA.
sable to the others, and the toes are all as long and flexible as
fingers. In consequence of this, the whole species climb
trees with the greatest facility, while it is only with pain and
difficulty they can stand and walk upright; their foot then
resting on its outer edge only, and their narrow pelvis being un-
favourable to an equilibrium. ‘They all have intestines very
similar to those of man; the eyes directed forwards, the mam-
mz on the breast, the penis pendent. ‘The brain has three
lobes on each side, the posterior of which covers the cerebel-
lum, and the temporal fosse are separated from the orbits by
a bony partition. In every thing else, however, they gradu-
ally lessen in resemblance to him, by assuming a muzzle more
and more elongated, a tail and a gait more like that of quad-
rupeds. Notwithstanding this, the freedom of their arms and
the complication of their hands allow them all to perform
many of the actions of man as well as to imitate his gestures.
They have long been divided into two genera, the Monkeys
and the Lemurs, which, by the multiplication of secondary
forms, have now become two small families, between which
we must place a third genus that of the Oudstitis, as it is not
conveniently referable to the one or the other.
Simta. ~ Lin.
The monkeys are all quadrumana, which have four straight incisors
in each jaw, and flat nails on all the extremities; two characters
which approximate them more nearly to man, than the subsequent
genera; their molares have also blunt tubercles like ours, and their
food consists chiefly of fruits. Their canine teeth, however, being —
longer than the rest, supply them with a weapon we do not possess,
and which require a hollow in the opposite jaw, to receive them
when the mouth is closed.
They may be divided, from the number of their molar teeth, into
‘two principal subgenera, which are again subdivided into nu-
merous groups.(1) The
(1) Buffon subdivided the monkeys into five tribes: the true monkeys without —
tails ; the baboons with short tails ; the gwenons with long tails and callous buttocks ;
the sapajous with long prehensile tails and no callus ; the sagouins with long tails,
not prehensile and without callus. Erxleben, adopting this division, translated
these names by simia, papio, cercopithecus, cebus and callithrix. Thus it is, that |
_ the names cebus and callithriz, by which the ancients designated monkeys of Af- “4
QUADRUMANA. 57
Moykeys, properly so called,
Or those of the eastern continent, have the same number of grin-
ders as Man, but otherwise differing from each other by characters,
which have formed the grounds of the following subdivisions. The
Sita, Erxl.—Pitruecus, Geoffr.
The Ourangs(1) are the only monkeys of the ancient continent
which have no callus on the buttock; their hyoid bone, liver and
czcum resemble those of Man. Their nose is not prominent, they
have no cheek-pouches, nor a vestige of a tail. Some of them have
arms long enough to reach the ground when standing—their legs,
on the contrary, are very short.
S. satyrus, L.; Audeb., pl..23; Fr. Cuv. pl. 2.. (The Ourang-
Outang.)(2) Of all animals, this Ourang is considered as ap-
proaching most nearly to Man in the form of his head, height
of forehead, and volume of brain; but the exaggerated descrip-
tions of some authors respecting this resemblance, are partly to
be attributed to the fact of their being drawn from young in-
dividuals only; and there is every reason to believe, that with
age, their muzzle becomes much more prominent. The body
is covered with coarse red hair, the face bluish, and the hinder
thumbs very short compared with the toes. His lips are sus-
ceptible of a singular elongation, and possess great. mobility.
His history has been much disfigured by mingling it with that
' of the other great monkeys, that of the Chimpansé in particu-
lar. After a strict and critical examination, I have ascertained
rica and India, have been transferred to those of America. The genus Papio,
founded solely on the shortness of the tail, could not be retained, as it violated
natural. affinities, and all the others required subdividing. It was also necessary
to abolish the genus Ouistitis, which was comprised in that of the Sagouins, but
which does not altogether correspond with the common characters of the other
monkeys.
(1) Orang is a Malay word signifying reasonable being, which is applied to man,
the ourang-outang, and the elephant. Outang means wild, or of the woods; hence,
Wild Man of the Woods.
(2) The only good figure of the Ourang-Outang we had for a long time was that
of Vosmaer, taken from a living specimen at the Hague. That of Buffon, Suppl.
VIII, pl. 1, is every way erroneous ; that of Allamand (Buff. d’Holl. XV, pl. 11,) is
somewhat better—it was copied in Schreber, pl. 2, B. That of Camper, copied ib.,
pl. 2, C, is tolerably exact, but is easily discovered to have been taken from the
dead body. Bontius, Med. Ind. 84, givesa completely ideal one, although Linnzus
took it for the type of his troglodyte (Amen. Ac. VI, pl. 1,41). There are some
good ones in Griffith, and in Krusenstern’s Voyage, pl. 94 and 95, but all of them
from young subjects.
Vou. I1.—H
58 MAMMALIA.
that the Ourang-Outang inhabits the most eastern countries
only, such as Malabar, Cochin China, and particularly the great
island of Borneo, whence he has been occasionally brought to
Europe by. the way of Java. When young, and such as he ap-
pears to uS in his captivity, he isa mild and gentle animal,
easily rendered tame and affectionate, which is enabled by his
conformation to imitate many of our actions, but whose intel-
ligence doesnot appear to be as great as is reported, not much
surpassing even that of the Dog. Camper discovered, and has
well described two membranous sacs in this animal which com-
municate with the glottis, that produce a hoarseness of his voice
—he was mistaken, however, in imagining that the nails are
always wanting on his hinder thumbs.
There is a monkey in Borneo, hitherto known only by his
skeleton, called the Pongo,(1) which so closely resembles the
Ourang-Outang in the proportions of all his parts, and by the ar-
rangement of the foramina, and sutures of the head, that, not-
withstanding the great prominence of the muzzle, the small-
ness of thé cranium, and the height of the branches of the lower’
jaw, we are tempted to consider him an adult—if not of the
species of the Ourang-Outang, at least of one very nearlyvallied
to it. The length of the arms, that of the apophyses of the
cervical vertebra, and the tuberosity of his calcaneum, may
enable him to assume the vertical position, and walk upon two
feet. He is the largest monkey known, and in size is nearly
equal to Man. ,
Mr J. Harwood, in the Trans. Tan Soc. XV, p: 471, es
scribes the feet of an ourang, fifteen English inches in length.
This announces a very great stature in the animal to which
they belonged, and would have led him to the belief that the
Pongo is the adult Ourang-Outang, were it not that the skele-
ton of the Pongo in the College of Surgeons, at London, has
one lumbar vertebra more than those of the Ourangs. This,
‘ep
o
(1) Audeb. Singes, pl. anat. 2. This name of Pongo, a corruption of Boggo,
which is given in Africa to the Chimpansé, or to the Mandrill, was applied by
Buffon to a pretended large species of Ourang-Outang—the mere imaginary pro-
duct of his combinations. Wurmb, a naturalist of Batavia, has transferred it to
this animal, which he was the first to describe, and of which Buffon never had
any idea. See Mem. of the Soc. of Batavia, vol. ii, p. 245. The thought, that it
might be an adult Ourang, struck me on examining the head of an ordinary’
Ourang, whose muzzle pr ojected much more than those of the very young speci-
mens hitherto described. Idescribed it ina memoir read before the Acad. des
Sciences in 1818. Tilesius and Rudolphi appear also to haye had it. See the
Mem. of the Acad. of Berlin, 1824, p. 131. ’
QUADRUMANA. 59
however, is no objection—the same variation is frequently
observed in the human subject. |
The arms of the remaining Ourangs reach only to the knee. They
have no forehead, and the cranium retreats from the crest of the
eye-brow. The name of CurmpansEs might be exclusively applied
to them.
S. troglodytes, L. (The Chimpansé)(1) is covered with black
or brown hair. Could any reliance be placed on the accounts
of travellers, this animal must be equal or superior to man
in stature, but no part of it hitherto seen in Europe indicates
this extraordinary size. It inhabits Guinea and Congo, lives
in troops, constructs huts of leaves and sticks, arms itself with
clubs and stones, and thus repulses men and elephants; pur-
sues and abducts, as is said, negro women, &c. Naturalists
have generally confounded it with the Ourang-Outang. When
domesticated he soon learns to walk, sit, and eat like a man.
We now separate the Gibbons from the Ourangs.
Hirosates, Illig.
"The Gibbons have the long arms of the true Ourangs, and the
low forehead of the Chimpansé, along with the callous buttocks of
the Guenons, differing however from the latter.in having no tail
* or cheek-pouch. » They all inhabit the most remote parts of India.
S. lars L.; Buff. XIV, 2; Onko, Fred. Cuv. pl. 5 and 6, (The
Black Gibbon) is covered with coarse black hairs, ae has a
whitish circle round his face.
' H. agilis, Fred. Cuy. pl. 3 and 4; Petit Gibbon of Buffon,
XIV, 3, (The Brown Gibbon) is brown—the circle round the
face is of a pale red; the lower part of the back is of the same
colour. The young are of a uniform yellowish white—it is
very agile, and lives in pairs—its Malay name, Wouwou, is
taken from its cry.
S. leucisca, Schreber, pl. 3, B, (The Cinereous Gibbon)
is covered with a soft and ash-coloured wool. The visage is
(1) This is the Quojas morou or the Sutyr of Angola of Tulpius, who gives a bad
figure of it, (Obs. Med., p. 271) and the Pygmy, much better represented by
Tyson, (Anat. of a Pygmy, pl. 1,) copied by Schreber, pl. 1, B. Scotin had given
a tolerable drawing of it, copied Amen, Acad. VI, pl. 1, fig. 3, and Schreber, 1, C.
An individual that lived with Buffon, and which is still preserved in the Museum,
is represented, though badly, in the Hist. Nat. XIV, 1, where he is called Jocko.
The same specimen is much better in Lecat (Traite du Mouv. Muscl. pl. 1, fig. 1),
under the name Quimpese. Audebert gives the -° but from the stuffed speci-
men only—he calls it Pongo. *
60 MAMMALIA.
black—lives among the reeds, and climbs to the tops of the
highest branches of the bamboos, where it_ balances itself by
its long arms. We might separate from the other Gibbons the
Siamang. ,
S. syndactila, Raff., Fred. Cuv., pl. 2, (The Siamang) has the
second and third toes of the hind foot united by a narrow mem-
brane, the whole length of the first phalanx. It is black—the
chin and eyebrows red—lives in numerous troops, which are
led by courageous and vigilant chiefs, which, at sunrise and
sunset, make the forest ring with the most frightful cries.
Their larynx has a membranous sac connected with it.
All the ensuing monkeys of the eastern continent have the liver
divided into several lobes; the cecum thick, short, and without
any appendage; the hyoid bone has the form ae a shield.
Crercorrrnecus, Erxl., partim.
The long-tailed monkeys(1) have a moderately prominent muz-
zle (of 60°) ; cheek-pouches; ‘tail; callosities on the buttocks ; the
last of the inferior molares with four tubercles like the rest. Nu-
merous species, of every variety of size and colour, abound, in
Africa, live in troops, and do much damage to the gardens and
fields under cultivation. They are easily tamed.
Simia rubra, Gm.; Buff. XIV, 30; Fred. Cuv. 24 (The
- Patras.) Red fawn colour above, whitish below; a black band
over the eyes, sometimes surmounted with white—from Sene-
gal.
Simia zxthiops, L.; Buff. XIV, 32; Fred. Cuv. 24.% (The
Collared Mangabey.) A chocolate brown above; below and
the nape of the neck, whitish ; on the head a cap or coif of a
lively red; eye-lids white. Buffon says it is from Madagascar,
‘and Hasselquist from Senegal; and in fact Sonnerat doglares,
there are no monkeys in Madagascar. .
Simia fuliginosa, Geoff.; Buff. XIV, 8253 Fred. Cuv. 25.
(The Mangabey.) A chocolate brown, unghen above, fawn-
coloured below; eye-lids white. Buffon says it is from Mada-
gascar, and he believes it to be a variety of the preceding.
Simia sabea, Lin.; Buff. XIV, 37; Fred. Cuv. 19. (The
Green Monkey.)(2) It is greenish above, whitish beneath; face
(1) Cercopithecus, i. e. tailed monkey, a name used by the Greeks.
(2) Callithriz, Pliny, 1. 8, c. 54, is the name of an Ethiopian Monkey, furnished
with a beard and a tufted tail, probably the Ouanderow. Buffon arbitrarily applied
it to this species. *
QUADRUMANA. 61
black ; the tufts on the cheeks yellowish; tip of the tail yellow.
From Senegal.
Simia faunus, Gm.; Malbrouc, Buff. XIV, 293 Stmia cy-
nosuros, Scopol.s; Schr. pl. 14, C3; Fred. Cuv. pl. 22, var.
of the callithrix; Audeb. 4th fam. 2d sect. pl. 5.(1) Greenish
above ; limbs ash-coloured ; face flesh-coloured ; no yellow on the
tail; one black, and one white band over the eye-brows 3 scro-
tum of a beautiful ultramarine.
Simia erythropyga, Fred. Cuv. pl. 21, (The Vervet) differs
from the Malbrouc in the scrotum, which is surrounded with
white hairs, the anus with red ones; and from the Grivet,
(S. grisea) Fred. Cuy. 21, by a green scrotum, encircled with
fawn-coloured hairs.
Simia melarhina, Fred. Cuv. pl. 18.3; Buff. XIV, pl. 10. (The
Talapoin.) Greenish above; tufts of the cheek yellowish; a
black nose, in the middle of a flesh-coloured face.
Sim. mona and S. monacha, Schreb.; Buff. XIV, 36; Fred.
Cuv. 138. (The Mona.) Body brown, limbs black, the breast,
insides of the arms, and circumference of the head whitish ;
black band across the forehead ; a white spot at each side of the
root of the tail.
Sim. diana, Lin.; Exquima, Marcgr.3;(2) Audeb. 4th fam. sec.
2, pl. 6, and Buff. Supp. VII, 20. (The Roloway.) Blackish,
speckled with white above, beneath white ; crupper of a pur-
plish red; face black, surrounded with white; a little white
beard on, the chin.
Sim. cephus, Lin.; Buff. XIV, 34; Fred. Cuv. 17. (The
» Moustache.) Ashy-brown; a yellow tuft before each ear; a
clear blue band, resembling a reversed chevron, on the upper lip.
S. petaurista, Gm.; Audeb. 4th fam. sec. 2, pl. 133 Fred.
Cuv. pl. 16. (The Vaulting Monkey.) Olive-brown above,
grey below; visage blue; nose white ; a white tuft before each
earg a black moustache.
S. nictitans, Gm.;, Audeb. ib. XIV; Fred. Cuv. 13. (The
White-nosed Monkey.) Black or brown, speckled with white ;
‘white nose; face black; circumference of the lips and the eyes
reddish.
These last five species, all small, beautifully variegated in
(1) The Cercop. barbatus of Clusius, which Linn. cites as an example of his fawnus,
is rather an Ouanderow than a Malbrouc.
(2) The figure annexed to the description of the Haquima in Marcgrave is that
of an Ouarine, and that of the Lxguima is joined to the description of the Owarine
or Guariba. This transposition has produced many errors in synonymes,
62 MAMMALIA.
colour, and of a mild and gentle disposition, are very common
in Guinea.(1)
SemnopiTHEcus, Fred. Cuv.
Differs from the Long-tailed Monkeys, by having an additional
small tubercle on the last of the inferior molares. They inhabit
eastern countries, and their long limbs and very long tail give them
a very peculiar appearance. ‘Their muzzle projects very little more
than that of the Gibbons, and like them, they have callosities on the
buttocks. They appear, likewise, to have no cheek-pouches ; their
larnyx is furnished with a sac. The one longest known is the
Sim. nemzus, L.; Buff. XIV, 413 Fred. Cuv. pl. 12. Re-
markable for its lively and varied colouring ; body and arms
grey 3 hands, thighs and feet black; legs of a lively red; the
tail and.a large triangular spot upon the loins, white; face
orange; he has a black and red collar, and tufts of yellow hairs
on the sides of the head; inhabits Cochin China.(2)
Another species is remarkable for the very extraordinary form
of the nose—it is the
S. nasica, Schr.; Buff. Supp. VII, 11 and 12. (The Kahau.)
Yellow, tinted with red; nose extremely long and projecting,
in the form of a sloping spatula. This monkey inhabits Borneo,
lives in great troops, which assemble morning and evening, on
the branches of the great trees on the banks of the rivers—its
cry is kahau. It is also said to be found in Cochin China.
S. entellus, Dufres.; Fred. Cuy. pl. 8 and 9., (The Entel-
lus.) A light yellowish grey; black hairs on the. eye- -brows a
and sides of the head, directed forwards. From Upper Bengal.
Is one of the species held in veneration by the Brahmins.
S. melalophos, Raff.; F. C. pl. 7. (The Simpai.) © Fur of °
‘a yery lively red; beneath white; face blue; a crest of peor 2
hairs reaching from one ear to the other. ”
S. comata, Desm.; S. cristata, Raff.; Fr. Cuv. pl. 2. Presbitis r
mitrata, Kotzeb. (The Croo.) Fine ash colour below, and the
~ ae %
(1) Pennant has described certain Guenons without thumbs, Sim. Balsa and
Sim. ferruginea, from which Illiger has constructed his genus Colobus, but I have not
yet been able to see them, and for this reason have not mentioned them. M.
Temminck assures us that their head and teeth resemble those of a Semnopithecus.
(2) M. Diard having transmitted to the Museum several Doucs from Cochin Chi-
na, it has been proved that they have callosities on the buttocks; a fact denied
by. Buffon, on account of his having seen but one specimen injured by stuffing.
The genus Lasiopyga of Mliger must consequently be suppressed, as if is based on
this error.
° .
QUADRUMANA. 63
tuft of the tail white; black crest on the eye-brows, and the
hairs of the top of the head long and turned up, forming a tuft.
S. maura, L.3 F. Cuy. pl. 10. (The Negro Monkey.) All
black, the young of a brownish yellow. The three latter species
are from the straits of Sunda.(1) |
Macacus.(2)
All the animals of this denomination have a fifth tubercle on their
last molares, and callosities and cheek-pouches like a Guenon. The
limbs are shorter and thicker than in a Semnopithecus ; the muzzle
more projecting, and the superciliary ridge more inflated than in
either the one or the other. Though docile when young, they be-
come unmanageable when old. They all have asac which commu-
nicates with the larynx under the thyroid cartilage, and which, when
they cry out, becomes filled with air. Their tail is pendent, and
takes no part in their motions: they produce early, but are not
completely adult for four or five years. ‘The period of gestation is
seven months—during the rutting season the labia pudendi, &c. of
the females are excessively distended.(3) They are generally brought
from India.
Sim. silenus and leonina, L. and Gm.3; Ouanderou, Buff. ;
« » Audeb. 2d fam. sect. 1, pl. 3. (The Maned Macaque.) Blacks;
_ ash coloured mane and whitish beard which surround the head.
From Ceylon. '
Sim. sinica, Gm.; Buff. XIV, 303; Fr. Cuv. 30. (The Chinese
Monkey.) Aa 5
- * VESPER TILIO, Lin. yi
The arms, fore-arms and fingers of the Bats are Picessimely length-—
ened, forming, with the membrane that occupies their intervals,
true wings, possessing even a greater extent of surface than those
of Birds—they consequently fly very high, and with great rapidity.
The thickness of their pectoral muscles is proportioned to the mo-
tions they have to execute, and there isa ridge in the middle of the
sternum like that of Birds, to which they are attached. The thumb’.
is short and armed with a claw, by which they are enabled ‘to creep
and to suspend themselves. Their hind feet are weak and are divided.
‘into five toes, almost always of equal length, armed with ‘trenchant
and pointed nails. They have mo cecum. Their eyes are exc
sively small, but their ears are frequently very large, and ‘ogetl
with the wings form a vast membranous surface, which is almost |
ee
CARNARIA. he
naked, and so extremely sensible that it is probable they guide them-
selves through all the sinuosities of their labirynths, even after their
. eyes have been plucked out, solely by the diversity of the impres-
sions of the air. They are nocturnal, and in our climate pass the
winter in a state of stupor. During the day they suspend them-
selves in obscure places. They generally produce two young ones
at a birth, which cling to their mammez, and whose size is con-
siderable in proportion to that of the mother. This genus is very
numerous, and offers many subdivisions. We must begin by sepa-
rating from it the :
Prerorus, Briss.
Trenchant incisors in each jaw, and grinders with flat crowns 3(1)
the food, consequently, consists chiefly of fruit, of which it destroys
considerable quantities ; it also successfully pursues birds and small
quadrupeds. It is the largest Bat known, and the flesh is eaten.
It inhabits the East Indies.
The membrane is deeply notched between the legs; it has no
tail, or nearly none ; the index finger, which is but half the length
of the medius has a third phalanx, and a little nail which is want-
ing in the other Bats; each of the following fingers, however, has
but two phalanges. The muzzle is simple, the nostrils are widely
separated, the ears are of a middling size, but without a tragus, and
the tongue is bristled with points that curve backwards; the sto-
mach is an elongated sac, unequally inflated. They have never been
found out of the south of Asia or the Indian Archipelago.
“a a. Without tails, and four incisors in each jaw.(2)
P. edulis, Geoff. (The Black Roussette.) Blackish brown,
deepest beneath, wings nearly four feet from tip to tip. From
the Moluccas and the straits of Sunda, where they are found in
. great numbers during the day suspended tothe trees. ‘To pre-
serve fruit from their attacks, it is necessary to cover it with
nets. Their cry resembles that of the goose. They are taken
by holding to them a bag fastened to the end of a rod; the flesh.
» as esteemed a delicacy by the natives, but Europeans dislike
_ it on account of its musky scent.(3)
(a) The gr miler have two longitudinal and parallel projections separated by a
groove, which wear away by attrition. .
(2) Linnzus confounded them under his Vespertilio vampirus.
(3) The Pier. Edwardsii of Geoff., Edw. 103, fawn-coloured, with a dark brown
. is the young of this species. ¥
“ahs
Slee!
e.
78 MAMMALIA.
Pter. vulgaris, Geoff.; Buff. X, 14. (The Common Rous-
sette.) Brown, face and sides of the back fawn-coloured. From
the Isle of France and Bourbon, where it is found on the trees
in the forests. Its flesh has been compared to that of the hare
and partridge. mF
Pter. rubicollis, Geoff.; Buff. X, 17. (The Red-collared Rous-
sette.) Greyish brown, the neck red. From the same islands,
where it lives in the hollows of trees and in caverns.(1)
b. With a small tail and four incisors in each jaw, —
M. Geoffroy was the first who described the species of this
subdivision. One of them grey and woolly, Pter. eg¢ypticus, is
found in the caves of Egypt. A second is reddish, and has a
somewhat longer tail, half involved by the membrane—Peéer.
amplexicaudus, Ann. du Mus. tom. XV, pl. 4. From/the Indian
Archipélago, &c.(2)
ce. According to the indicia of M. Geoffroy, we also separate from
the Pteropi the Crpnatores which have the same kind of grinders, |
but whose index, short, and consisting of three phalanges, like t
of the preceding, has no nail. The membranes of their wings, in-
stead of meeting at the flank, are joined to each other on the middle
of the back, to which they adhere by a vertical and longatygdinal par-
tition. Very often they have but two incisors.
C. Peronii, Geoff; Ann. du Mus., oT pl. 4. Biten or red.
From Timor. . te
The Pteropi being taken away, we have the true Bars left, which
are all insectivorous, and have three grinders on each side in each ~
jaw, bristled with conical points, that are preceded by a variable
number of false molars. Their index never has a nail, anne
‘I
un
: #
(1) Add Pter. medius;—Pter. ian :—Pter. b cliobephaluss Phen! dasymalhed,
Temm., Mamm., pl. 10.—Pter. pallidus; »—Pier. Keraudrenius, Quoy and Gaym.,
Voy. de Freycinet; -—Pter.. griseus, Geoff. Ann. Mus. pl. 3, XV, v1, cop. Temm. bye
pl. 11;—Pter. personatus;—Pter. melanocephalus, Temm. pl. 12. #
(2) Add Pter. stramineus;—Pter. | marginatus, Geoff. loc. cit. pl.) 5; :—Pter, 4
minimus, id. or the Ki iodote, Fr. Cuy., or the Pter. rostratus, Horsf. eee
M. Isidore Geoffroy—Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat. article Rovsserm, gives ts a a
monography of this genus, in which he forms the Pter. personatus of Temm., and —
some neighbouring species into the subgenus Pacuisoma, which has four molars
less than the others, and the zygomatic arches more projecting; the Pter. minimus
or rostratus into the subgenus Macroexossa, in which the muzzle is longer and
more slender, and where there are spaces between the grinders. Its tongue is
thought to be extensible. He, finally, separates the Céphalote of Peron from that
of Pallas, and gives to the first the name of HypopEermis, on account of the tg
plete dorsal i insertion of the membrane of its wings. ; a r 4 A
> @)
CARNARIA. 79
subgenus excepted, the membrane is always extended between the
two legs. yy
They should be divided into two principal tribes. The first has
three ossified phalanges in the middle finger of the wing, but the re-
mainder, including the index itself, consists of but two.
To this tribe, which is almost exclusively foreign, belong the fol-
lowing subgenera.
Motossus, Geoff.—Dysopres, Illig.
The muzzle simple; ears broad and short, arising near the angle
of the lips, and uniting with each other on the muzzle; the tragus
short, and not enveloped by the conch. The tail occupies the whole
length of their inter-femoral membrane, and, most generally, eyen
extends beyond it. They have very seldom more than two incisors
in each jaw, though, according to Temminck, several of them have
at first six below, of which four are successively lost.
The Drvors of M. Savi belong to this Molossus, with six inferior
incisors. There is one species in Italy—Dinops castor, Savi,
Giorn. de Metter., No. 21, py 2308
M. Geoffroy calls those in which he has counted four inferior in-
cisors Nyctinomus.(1)— a5
The Molossi, at first, were only found in America; 3(2) at present:
however, we know several of both continents.(3), Some of them have
the hinder thumb placed at a greater distance from the first finger
than the fingers are from each other, and endowed with a separate
motion, a character on which, in a species where it is very strongly
marked, M. Horsfield has established his.genus CurrroMELes. (4)
It is here, perhaps, that we should also place the Tuirorrera of
Spix, which appear. to have several characters of the Molossi, and |,
bh
Pd. a Aa
(1) 7 he Nyctinome d’Egypte, Geoff., Eg. Mammif., pl. 2, f. 2, and Temm.,
Monog. des Mammif. pl. 19;—the Wyctinome du Brésil, Isid. Geoff., Ann. des Sc.
Nat., I, pl. 22, or Mol. nasutus, Spix, pl. 35, f. 7;—the JV. tenuis, Horstield,
Java, No. 5, and Temm. Monog. pl. 19, bis.
(2) Buffon has three of them confounded by Gmel., under the common name of
Vespertilio, molossus; M. longicaudatus, Buff. X, xix, 2;—M. fusciventer, ib. 1 ;—l.
guyanensis, id. Su p. VII, Ixxy. Sincethen they have beenincreased. M. rufus,
‘Geoff., Ann. Mus, VI, 155;—M@M. alecto,{ Temm., Monog., pl. xx;—M. abrasus,
Temm., ib., ph: xxi; M velox, Natterer, Temm., pl. xxii, 1;—M. obscurus,
Geoff., Temm., ib., pl. )xxii, 2. These species, however, have not, been suffi-
Gently compared with those of Buffon, nor with the M. ursinus, Spix, Bis XXXV,
f. 4, and the M. fumarius, ib., f. 5 and 6,
(3) M. plicatus; Vespert. plicatus, Buchan.; Lin.,Trans., V. pl. sli; Dyes
ruppelii; Temm., Monog., pl. xviii.
(4) Chetromeles Fe a Horsf., Jay. or Dysopes cheiropus, Tati, »» Monog.,
pl. xvii.
80. » MAMMALIA,
“whose thumb has a little concave palette peculiar to them, and by
which they are enabled to cling more closely.(1)
~ Nocrizio, Lin. Ed. XII.
Muzzle short, inflated, and split into a double hare- -lip, covered
with odd looking warts and seams; ears separate; four incisors
above, and two below; tail short, and free above the inter-femo val
membrane. te,
The species best known is from America. It is ofau if iform
fawn- colour—Vespert. leporinus, Gin , schreb. LX,(2) e 4
‘The ihe Wegular 1 number of incisors is four to each j jew, but a wast of
the lower ones frequently fall, being forced out by the growth of the
canini. They are moreover distinguished by a membrane resembling
a doubled leaf, that is placed crosswise on the end of the nose. The
een of us, ear resembles a small leaf, more or less denticulated,
The tongue, which is very extensible, terminates in papille, whith
nm '-~ Puytiosroma, Cuy. and Geoff.
oe to be so arranged as to form an organ of suction—the lips.
_ also are furnished with tubercles, symmetrically arr anged. They
" -are all from America, run along the ground with more facility than
the other bats, and have a habit of sucking the blood nf animals.
e a. Without a tail. —Vasenvs, Sy.
SYP; spectrum; V. spectrum, Ain. adiras -guacu of the he Brazi-
lians; Seb. LVITI; Geoff. Ann. Mis. XV peK 11," 4:4 The Vam-
pire.) Theleaf funnel- -shaped ; colour a reddish brown ; size,
that of a Magpie. From South America. It is accused of
causing the death of men and animals by sucking their blood;
the wound, howeyer, is small, though it may occasionally prove
serious from the effects of the elimate:(3)
b. The tail involved in the inter femoral membrane.
;
ff hastatus, L,. gout’; XIN, XXX1ii. (The javelin Bat. de The
leaf shaved ike the head of a javelin, the edges pire)
5 % . Tz
>
(1) Thir. tricolor, Spix, 36,f.9. It is with some hesitation that we have thus
placed this subgenus, ‘its description being incomplete. — oft
(2) The W. dorsatus, Geoff., or the WV. vittatus, Pr. Max., hasa white stripe down
the back —The W. albiventer, Spix, 35, 2 and 4, is fawn-coloured above, white be-
neath, and rather smaller. Add, JV. rufus, Spix, 353%
(3) Add la Lunette; Vesp. perspicillatus, Lx, Buff., Rvp: VU, Ixxiy; and the
three species from Azzara, by Geoff., Ann. du Mus., VI, 181—182. _
(4) Add Philost. elongutum, Geoff., » Ann, Mus., XV, ix. i ee
CARNARIA,. 81
c. The tail free above the membrane.
P. crenulatum, Geoff. Ann. du Mus. XV, pl. 10. (The In-
dented Javelin Bat.) The leaf denticulated on the edges.
M. Geoffroy, Mem. du Mus. IV, p. 418, separates from the Phyl-
lostomz those species whose tongues are narrow, susceptible of elon-
gation, and furnished with papille resembling hairs—he calls them
GLossopHAGa.
These species are likewise from America.(1)
In the second great tribe of Bats the index has only one bony
phalanx, while all the other fingers have two. __
This tribe is also divided into several subgenera.
Mercaperma, Geoff. Ann. du Mus. XV.
The membrane on the nose, or the leaf, more complicated than
that of the Phyllostomz; the tragus large and most commonly
bifurcated ; the conchs of the ear ample and soldered together on
the top of the head ; tongue and lips smooth ; the inter-femoral mem-
brane entire, and no tail. They have four incisors below; but there
are none above, and their inter-maxillary bone remains cartilaginous.
They are all from the eastern continent, either from Africa,
the Leaf from Senegal for instance, (Meg. Frons., Geoff.) whose
nasal membrane is oval and nearly as large as the head; or
from the Indian Archipelago, as the Spasma of Ternate, Ves-
pert. Spasma, L., Seb. I, rv1.—La Lyre, Geoff. Ann. Mus. XV,
ph 12.—Le Tréfle de Java, Id. ib., &c: They are distinguished
from each other by the figure of the leaf, like the Phyllostome.
Rutno.topnus, Geoff. and Cuy.
The nose of the Horse-shoe Bats, as they are vulgarly called, is
furnished with very complex crests and membranes laid upon the
chanfrin, presenting the figure of a horse-shoe; the tail long and
placed in the inter-femoral membrane. ‘There are four incisors be-
low, and two very small ones above in a cartilaginous inter-maxillary
bone.
There are two species of them in France which are very com-
mon, discovered by Daubenton.
R. bifer, Geoff., Ann. Mus. XX, pl. 5; Vesp. ferrum equt-
num, L.3 and the small one, Vesp. hipposideros, Bechst.
(1) Véespertilio soricinus, Pall. Spicil. Fascic. II, pl. 3 and 4, copied Buff. Supp.
Ul, pl. 53.—Glossoph. amplexicaudatus, Geoff. Mem, Mus. 1V, pl. 18, F. C.—G@zZ.
caudifer, Id. ib. pl. 17, fig. A and B.
Vou. L—L
82 MAMMALIA.
Buff. VIII, xvi, 2 and 20; Geoff. loc. cit., both of which in-
habit quarries solitarily, and suspended by their feet, envelop-
ing themselves with their wings so that no part of the body is
visible.(1)
Nycreris, Cuy. and Geoff.
The forehead furrowed by a longitudinal groove, which is even
marked upon the cranium, bordered by a fold of the skin which par-
tially covers it; nostrils simple ; four incisors without intervals
above and six below; ears large and separated; tail involved in the
interfemoral membrane. They are African species. Daubenton
has described one by the name of the Campagnol volant, Buff. X,
pl. xx, fig. 1 and 2, the V. hispidus, Lin., Schreb. LVI. M. Geoff-
roy has found others in Egypt.(2)
Rurtvoroma, Geoff.
The pit on the forehead less strongly marked ; nostrils at the end
of the muzzle with a little leaf above, somewhat resembling a cur-
rier’s knife; ears united ; tail extending far beyond the membrane.
One is known in Egypt, where it is principally found in the pyra-
mids.(3)
Taruozous, Geoff.
A small round pit on the nose; no recurved leaf to the nostrils ;
head pyramidal ; only two incisors above, and very often none; four
trilobate incisors below; ears wide apart, and the tail free above the
membrane. The males have a transverse cavity under the throat.
A little prolongation of the membrane of the wings forms a sort of
sac near the carpus.(4) One species was discovered in the cata-
combs of Egypt by M. Geoffroy.(5)
(1) Add the other four species figured, Geoff. Ann. Mus. XX, pl. 5, of which
one is the Vesp. speoris, Schreb. LIX, B. and Peron, Voy. aux Terres, Aust. pl. 35. |
(2) Nyctére de la Thébaide, 29, Mammif. 1, 2, 2; and Ann. Mus. XX, pl. 1.—/.
de Java, Geoff. Ann. Mus. XX, pl. 1.
(3) Rhinopome microphylle, Geoff.; Vesper. microphyllus, Schr.
(4) lt was this that caused Illiger to name the genus which contained the Ta-
phiens Saccopteriz.
(5) The Tuphien filet, Eg. Mammif. I, 1, 1.—The Taphien perforé, ib. W1,4, which
does not appear to differ from the Lerot volant, Daub.; 7! senegalensis, G.—Add the
Vesp. lepturus, Gm., Schr. LVUI.—The T: of India; V. brachmanus, G.—The T:
of the Isle of France; T. mauritianus, G.—The T. rufus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. yol.
VI, pl. 50, No. 4.—The 7. longimanus, Hardw. Lin, Trans. yol. and pl. XVII.
CARNARIA. 83
Mormoors, Leach.
Four incisors in each jaw, the superior tolerably large, the
inferior trilobate ; cranium singularly raised like a pyramid above
the muzzle; on each side of the nose is a triangular leaf which ex-
tends to the ear.(1)
VEsPERTILIO, Cuv. and Geoff.
Muzzle without leaf or other peculiar appendage 5 ears separate 5
four incisors above, of which the two middle ones are apart, and
six trenchant incisors slightly denticulated below; the tail contained
in the membrane. This subgenus is the most numerous of the
whole, its species being found in every part of the world. France
alone has six or seven.
The tragus of some is shaped like an awl, and to this division be-
longs the most commonly known species.
Vesp. murinus, L.; V. myotis, Kuhl, Buff. VIII, xvi. (The
Common Bat.) Tragus oblong, the length of the head; hair
brown; maronne above, grey beneath; the young of an ashy
erey.
Some other smaller but neighbouring species have lately
been observed in Europe.(2)
In others again the tragus is angular, such as the
Vesp. serotinus, L.; Buff. VIII, xvitr, 2. (The Serotine Bat. )
A deep maronne ; wings and ears blackish ; the conch triangu-
lar and shorter than the head. The female is paler than the
male. Found under the roofs of churches, uninhabited build-
ings, &c.(3)
A third kind has a crescent shaped tragus.
V. noctula, L.; Buff. VIII, xvu1,13 V. proterus, Kuhl; VP.
lasiopterus, Schreb., 58, B. Fawn coloured; ears triangular,
shorter than the head ; tragus rounded, a little larger than the
preceding. Found in the hollows of old trees, &c.
V. pipistrellus, Gm.; Buff. VIII, xrx, 1. (The Pipistrelle.)
The smallest one in France; a blackish brown; ears triangu-
lar. (4)
(1) The species—Mormoops Blainvillii, Leach, 1 Lin. Trans. X1I—is from Jaya.
(2) The V. Bechsteinii, Leisler, Chauves. d’Allem., pl. 22.—The V. mystacinus,
ib. 18—V. Daubentoni, Leisler, Kuhl, pl. xxv, 2.—V. Nattereri, Kuhl, pl. 23,
&ec.—Add foreign species, V. emarginatus, Geoff. Ann. Mus. VIII, pl. 46.—V. pic-
tus, L. or the Kirivoula of Java, Seb. I, pl. 56, f. 23.—V. polythriz, Isid. Geoff.
Ann. des Sc. Nat. III, p. 440.—V. levis, Id. ib. &c.
(3) Add PV: carolinensis, Geoff. Ann. Mus. VIU, pl. 47. [See Append. I. of Am.
Ed.)
(4) Add the V. Kuhlii, Natterer, Kuhl, Chauves. d’Allem. p. 55.
2
54 MAMMALIA.
M. Geoffroy also separates from Vespertilio the
Piecotus, Geoff.
Ears larger than the head, and united on the cranium as in
Megaderma, &c.; the tragus large and lanceolate—an operculum
on their auditory passage.
The common species—Vesp. auritus, L. 3 Buff. VII, xvu, 1.
(The Long-eared Bat.) Still more abundant in France than the
Bat. Its ears are nearly as large as the rest of the body. It
lives in kitchens, houses, &c. There is also another discovered
by Daubenton—Vesp. barbastellus, Gm., Buff. VII, 19, 2.
Brown, with much smaller ears.(1)
Finally, the Nyericrus, Rafinesque, has only two incisors in the
upper jaw, along with the moderate ears and simple muzzle of the
Vespertilio. The species known are from North America. (2)
GALEoPITHECuS, Pall.
The Galeopitheci differ generically from the Vespertilios, in the
fingers, all armed with trenchant nails, which are not longer than
the toes, so that the membrane which occupies their intervals, and
extends to the sides of the tail, can only act as a parachute. The
canini are denticulated and short like the molars. There are two
upper denticulated incisors widely separated from each other; below
there are six, split into narrow strips, like a comb, a structure alto-
gether peculiar to this genus. The animals belonging to. it are
found in the Indian Archipelago, on the trees, among which they
pursue insects, and perhaps birds. If we can judge by the injury
the teeth sustain from age, they use fruit also. Their cecum is
very large.
One species only is well ascertained, the Flying Lemur.
Audeb., Galzop., pl. 1 and 2. Fur greyish red above, reddish
(1) Add the Plee. timoriensis, Geoff.—PI. velatus, Isid. Geoft.—P1. mauget, Desm.
—Plec. cornutus, Fab.—Vesp. megalotis, Rafin. [See Append. IT. of Am. Ed.
N.B. As our plan permits us to class those animals only whose characters we
have ascertained either from personal observation or from very complete descrip-
tions and figures, we have been compelled to omit several of the genera of MM.
Leach, Rafinesque, &c.; and while on this subject, we must observe that there is
no family which stands more in need of revision than that of the Bats—a revision
_ from nature and not by compilation.
(2) Pespertilio lasiurus, Schreb., LXU, B.—V. noveboracensis, Penn. Quadr., pl.
51, fig. 2.—Vesp. borbunicus, Geoff., Ann. Mus. VIII, pl. 46. .
These three are the same. [See Append. IIT. of Ams Ed. |
CARNARIA. ’ 85
below; spotted and striped with various shades of grey when
young. From the Molucca islands, straits of Sunda, &c.
All the other Carnaria have the mamme situated under the
abdomen.
FAMILY II.
INSECTIVORA. '
The animals of this family, like the Cheiroptera, have
grinders studded with conical points, and lead a nocturnal or
subterraneous life. ‘Their principal food is Insects, and in
cold climates many of them pass the winter in a torpid state.
Unlike the Bats, they have no lateral membranes, although
they always have clavicles. Their feet are short, and their
motions feeble; the mammzx are placed under the abdomen,
and the penis in a sheath. None of them have a cecum, and
in walking they all place the whole sole of the foot on the
ground.
They differ from each other by the relative position and
proportions of their incisors and canini.
Some have long incisors in front, followed by other incisors
and canini, all, even shorter than the molares, a kind of den-
tition of which the ‘Tarsiers, among the Quadrumana, have
already given us an example, and which somewhat approx-
imates these animals to the Rodentia. Others have large sepa-
‘rated canini, between which are placed small incisors, the
most usual disposition of these parts among the Quadrumana
and the Carnaria; and these two systems of dental arrangement
are found in genera, otherwise very similar in the teguments,
shape of the limbs, and mode of life.
Erinacevus, Lin.
The body of the Hedgehog is covered with spines instead of hairs.
The skin of the back is furnished with such muscles, as, by inclin-
ing the*head and feet towards the abdomen, enable the animal to
shut himself up in it, as in a purse, presenting his spines on all sides
to the enemy. The tail is very short, and there are five toes to each
foot. There are six incisors in cach jaw, the middle ones being the
86 MAMMALIA.
longest, and on each side three false molars, three bristled with
points, and a small one studded with tubercles.(1)
E. europxus, L.; Buff. VII, vi. (The Common Hedgehog. )
Ears short; common in the woods and hedges ; passes the win-
ter in its burrow, whence it issues in the spring with an ampli-
tude and complication of the vesicule seminales that is almost
incredible. To insects, which constitute its ordinary diet, it
adds fruit, by which at a certain age its teeth become worn.
The skin was formerly used to dress hemp.
E. auritus, Pall.; Schreb. CLXIII. (The Long-eared Hedge-
hog.) Smaller than the preceding; ears as large as the two-
thirds of the head, otherwise similar to the europeus in form
and habits. It is found from the north of the Caspian sea, as
far as Egypt inclusively.
CenTENES, Illig.
The body of the Tenrec is covered with spines like the Hedge-
hog. It does not however possess the faculty of rolling itself so
completely into a ball: there is no tail; the muzzle is very pointed,
and the teeth are very different. There are four or six incisors, and
two great canini in each jaw. Behind the canini are one or two
small teeth, and four triangular and bristled molars. Three species
are found in Madagascar, the first of which has been naturalized in
the Isle of France. It is a nocturnal animal, which passes three
months of the year ina state of lethargy, although inhabiting the
torrid zone. Brugicre even assures us that it is during the greatest
heats that they grow torpid.
Erinaceus ecaudatus, L.; Buff. XII, lvi. (The Tenrec.) Co-
vered with stiff spines ; only four notched incisors below. Itis
the largest of the three, and exceeds the hedgehog in size.
Erinaceus setosus, L.; Buff. XII, lvii. The spines more.
flexible and setaceous ; six notched incisors in each jaw.
Erinaceus semi-spinosus. Covered indiscriminately with
spines and setz; striped with yellow and black; its six incisors
and canini are all slender and hooked ; size hardly that of a
Mole.(2)
(1) Pallas has noted as an interesting fact, that the Hedgehog eats hundreds: of
Cantharides without inconvenience, while a single one produces the most horrible
agony in the Dog and the Cat.
(2) Buff., Suppl. Il, pl. 37, has mistaken it for a young Tenrec. Voy. a la
Chine, I, p. 140, gives a wrong description of the teeth.
CARNARIA. bs 37
\
CiapopaTEs, Fr. Cuv.—Turpaia, Raff.
This is a new genus from the Indian Archipelago. The teeth
have much affinity with those of the Hedgehog ; their middle upper
incisors, however, are proportionably shorter, and the four lower
ones elongated ; there is also no tubercular one behind. The animal
is covered with hair, has a long shaggy tail, and, contrary to the
habits of other Insectivora, climbs trees with the agility of a Squir-
rel; the pointed muzzle, however, makes the animal easily distin-
guishable even at a distance.(1)
Sorex, Lin.
The Shrews are generally small, and covered with hair. Under
this, and upon each flank, there is a small band of stiff, thickly
set setz, from between which, in the rutting season, oozes an
odorous fluid, the product of a peculiar gland.(2) The two middle
upper incisors are hooked and dentated at their base, the lower
ones slanting and elongated: five small teeth on each side follow the
first, and two only the second. There are moreover in each jaw
three bristled molars, and in the upper one, the last is a small tuber-
culous tooth. This animal lives in holes it excavates in the earth,
which it seldom leaves till evening, and lives on worms and insects.
One species only was for a long time known in France; the
Sor. araneus, L.; Buff. VII, x, 1. (The Common Shrew.)
Grey above ; ash-coloured beneath ; tail square, and not so long
as the body by one-third; teeth white; ears naked and ex-
posed ; common in the fields, &c. This little animal has been
accused of producing a disease in horses by its bite; the impu-
tation however is false, and arises, perhaps, from the fact, that
though Cats kill the Shrew, they will not eat it on account of its
unpleasant odour.
Daubenton has discovered the
Sor. fodiens, Gm.; S. Daubenionii, Blumenb.; Buff. VIII, xi.
(The Water Shrew.) Rather larger than the common one;
black above ; white beneath ; tail compressed at the end, and not
so long as the body by one-fourth ; the incisors red at the ends 5
(1) The banzring ; Cladob. javanica, Fr. Cuv.; Twpaia javanica, Horsf. Jav.;—
Cl. tana, Fr. Cuv.; Tup. tana, Horsf.;—Clad. ferruginea, Fr. Cuv.; Tup. ferrugi-
‘nea, Raff, The genus Gymnvra of Vigors and Horsfield—Zoolog. Journ. ILI, pl. 8,
appears to approximate to Cladobates by the teeth, and to the Shrew by its point-
ed snout and scaly tail. There are five unguiculated toes to each foot, and tolera-
bly stiff sete growing among woolly hairs. It can only be properly classed when
its anatomy is known.
(2) See Geoff, Mem. du Mus., vol. 1, p. 299.
88 MAMMALIA.
the ear surrounded with white, and almost hidden in the hair ;
it has the faculty of hermetically closing when the animal dives,
while the stiff bristles which fringe its feet give it a facility in
swimming, in consequence of which it prefers the banks of
creeks and rivulets. :
Several Shrews have been observed in Europe, somewhat dif-
fering from the preceding ones; but as in this genus the age _
and season materially affect the colours of the fur, it is by no
means certain they are distinct species.(1)
Other countries also have their own, the most remarkable of
which is the S. myosurus, Pall., Act. Petrop. 1781, part II, pl.
4; Mus musquée del Inde, Buff. Supp. VII, 71. (The Rat-tailed
Shrew.) In its form and colour it resembles our common Shrew,
and also has its large naked ears, but the tail is round, furnished
with scattering hairs, and is almost as large as that of our
Long-tailed Field-mouse. It gives out a strong musky scent
which impregnates every thing it touches. It is found through-
out India and part of Africa, and is one of the animals the an-
cient Egyptians were in the habit of embalming.(2)
Myeats, Cuv.
The Desmans differ from the Shrews in two very small teeth
placed between the two great lower incisors, and in their two upper
(1) The S. leucodon, Schreb. 159, D, does not appear to me to differ from the
common Shrew. I strongly suspect the S. fedragonurus and constrictus, Herm.,
Schreb. 159, B and C, or Geoff. Ann. Mus. XVII, pl. 2, f. 3, and pl. 3, f 1, and
even the S. remifer, Geoff. Ann. Mus. XVII, pl. 2, f. 1, to be different ages of the
Water-Shrew; the remifer particularly, whose belly is sometimes white, sometimes
black ; the S. dineatus, Geoff. ib. 181, is an accidental variety of the tetragonurus
arising from age. The S. minutus, Laxmann, Schreb. 161, B, is merely a muti-
Jated specimen of the S. pygmaeus, Pall.
Such is not the case however with the S. eiruscus, Savi, which is but half the
size of our common species, is blackish, has naked ears, white muzzle and paws,
round tail, &c. It is a true and distinct species.
(2) I consider the S. myosurus, Pall. and Geoff. Ann. du Mus. XVII, pl. 3, f.
2; the S. capensis, id. ib. pl. ii, f.2; the S. zndicus, id. Mem. du Mus. I, pl. 15, f.
1, as ages or varieties of one same species, to which I also refer the S. giganteus,
Isid. Geoff. Mém. du Mus. XV, pl. 4, fig. 3; perhaps even the S. /lavescens, Isid.
Geoff. ib. Seba figures it, Mus. I, pl. 31, f 7 and 11—pl. 63, fig. 5, and the
white variety, I, pl. 47, f. 4.—Add the S. murinus, Lin. of Java, of the size of a
mouse ; grey ; ears naked ; tail round and nearly as long as the body.—The S. bre-
vicaudus, Say, from North America; blackish, ears concealed, tail one-fourth the
length of the body. —S. parvus, id. with naked ears.—The S. suaveolens, Pall., and
the other species pointed out by him in his Zoography of Russia. This genus
needs revision as much as that of the Bats. N.B. There are several species in
the United States which have not yet been sufficiently examined. Am. Ed.
CARNARIA. 89
incisors which are flattened and triangular. Behind these incisors
are six or seven small teeth and four bristled molars. Their snout
is drawn out into alittle flexible proboscis, which they keep constantly
in motion. Their long tail, scaly, and flattened on the sides, with
their feet of five fingers all united by membranes, evidently proclaim
them to be aquatic animals. Their eyes are very small, and they have
no external ears.
Sorex moschatus, L.; Buff. X; Pall. Act. Petrop. 1781, part
Il, ph. 5. (The Russian Muskrat.) Nearly as large as a Shrew;
above blackish, beneath whitish ; tail not so long as the body |
by one-fourth. Very common along the rivers and lakes of
southern Russia, where it lives on Worms, the larve of Insects,
and particularly on Leeches, which, by means of its flexible
snout, it easily withdraws from the mud. Its burrow, which is
made in the bank, commences under water, and ascends to such
a height as to be above its level in the greatest floods. This
animal never comes voluntarily on shore, but numbers of them
are taken in the nets of the fishermen. Its musky odour arises
from a kind of pomatum that is secreted in small follicles un-
der the tail, and it is so powerful as to be communicated to the
flesh of the Pike which feeds on the Desman.
A small speciés of this genus is found in the rivulets of the
Pyrenees, whose tail is longer than its body; ascertained by M.
Geoff. Ann. du Mus. tom. XVII, pl. iv, f. 1, Myg. pyrenaica, H.
CurysocuLoris, Lacep.
Animals of this genus, like those of the preceding one, have two in-
cisors above and four below; but their grinders are long, distinct
and almost all shaped like triangular prisms. Their muzzle is
short, broad and recurved, and their fore-feet have only three nails,
of which the external, that is very large, much arcuated and
pointed, serves them as a powerful instrument for excavating and
piercing the earth ; the others regularly decrease insize. The hind
feet have five of an ordinary size. They are subterraneous animals,
whose mode of life is similar to that of Moles. To enable them to
dig the better, their fore-arm is supported by a third bone placed
under the cubitus.
C. asiaticus ; Talpa joke L.; Schreb. CLVII ; and better,
Brown, Ill. XLV. (The Golden Mole.) A little smaller than
the European Mole; no apparent tail; is the only known quad-
ruped that presents any appearance of those splendid metallic
tints which brighten and adorn so many Birds, Fishes and In-
sects. Its fur is a green, changing to a copper or bronze ;
Vou. IL—M ©
90 MAMMALIA.
there is no conch to the ear, and the eye is not percepti-
ble. (1)
Tapa, Lin.
No one is ignorant of this curious animal, the Mole, whose form so
perfectly qualifies it for a subterraneous mode of life. A very short
arm attached to a long scapula, supported by a powerful clavicle
and furnished with enormous muscles, sustains an extremely large
hand, the palm of which is always directed either outwards or back-
wards ; the lower edge of this hand is trenchant, the fingers are
scarcely perceptible, but the nails in which they terminate are long,
flat, strong and sharp. Such is the instrument employed by the
Mole to tear the earth and throw it behind it. Its sternum, like
that of Birds and Bats, has a process which gives to the pectoral
muscles the size that is required for their functions. To pierce and
raise up the earth, it makes use of its long pointed head, whose muz-
zle is armed at its extremity with a peculiar little bone, and whose
muscles are extremely powerful. There is even an additional bone
in the cervical ligament. It has but little power behind, and moves
as slowly above ground as it advances rapidly under it. Its sense of
hearing is very acute, and the tympanum very large, although there
is no external ear ; its eyes are so small and so hidden by the hair, that
for a long time their existence was positively denied. In the genital
organs there is this peculiarity—the bones of the pubis are not
united, a circumstance which permits it to produce tolerably large
young ones, notwithstanding the narrowness of the pelvis. The
urethra of the female passes through the clitoris. She has six teats.
The jaws are weak, and the food consists of Worms, Insects, and
some soft roots. There are six incisors above and eight below.
The canini have two roots, which causes them to partake of the na-
ture of false molars ; back of them are four false molars above and
three below, after which are three bristled molars.
T. europea, L.; Buff. VIII, xiii. (The Common Mole.)
Pointed muzzle; hair soft and black; individuals are found
white, fawn coloured and piebald—a vexatious animal in culti-
vated grounds.
This species, according to Dr Harlan, is also found i in North
Americas (2) %
(1) The Red Mole of America, Seba, J, pl. xxxii, £1, (Talpa rubra, Lin.) is
most probably a Chryso asiaticus, drawn from a dried specimen of that species,
for then the hair appears purple ; the ¢ucan of Fernandez, App. XXIV, which is
considered as synonymous with it, from its two Bas teeth in each jaw and its
vegetable diet, appears to be a Spalax.
Ee A mistake : the europza is not found here. Am. Ed. ~ q
CARNARIA. 91
M. Savi has found a Mole(1) in the Appennines that is per-
fectly blind, although otherwise similar to the common one;
he calls it Z'alpa ceca.
ConpyLura, Illig.
In the animals belonging to this genus, the two kinds of dentition .
peculiar to the Insectivora seem to be combined. In the upper jaw
are two large triangular incisors, two extremely small and slender
ones, and on each side a strong canine. In the lower one are four
incisors slanting forwards, and a pointed but small canine. The
superior false molars are triangular and separated, the inferior
trenchant and denticulated.
In their feet and the whole of their exterior they resemble the Mole,
but their tail is longer, and what more particularly serves to distin-
guish them from the former, is, that their nostrils are surrounded
with little movable cartilaginous points, which, when they separate,
radiate like a kind of star.’
One species particularly is found in North America Somlte
eristatus, L.(2) (The Radiated Mole.) Similar to the Mole of
Europe, the nose excepted, but having a tail more than double
the length of that of the latter.
Scaxoprs, Cuv.
Teeth very similar to those of the Desmans, except that the small
or false molars are less numerous; the muzzle is simply pointed,
like that of the Shrew; their hands are widened, armed with strong
nails fitted to excavate the earth, and exactly similar to those of
Moles: in fact'their mode of life isthe same; their eyes are equally as
small, and their ears quite as much hidden. The only species
known is the
S. aqguaticus; Sorex aquaticus, L.; Schreb. CLVIII. It ap-
pears to inhabit a great part of North America, along rivers,
(1) It is not perfectly blind ; the eye-lids have an opening, miough smaller than
_in the common one.
The existence of the optic nerve in the common Mole has been denied. I
think I can demonstrate it throughout its entire course.
(2) This is the Convyzuna of Iliger, but the characters he indicates, taken
from the figure of La Faille, copied Buff.. Supp. VI, xxxvi, J, and on which he ~
_ composed the name of the genus, are false. M. Desmarets was the first who cor-
rectly described the teeth of this animal.
Dr Harlan describes a species; Cond. macroura, which has but very short points
about the nostrils, and a scaly compressed tail. He associates with it as a third
“ee the Tulp. longicaudata, Penn, Hist., No, 443, which he appears however
no 'y Say MW
i
Ps
92 MAMMALIA.
&e. Its external resemblance to the common Mole of Europe (1)
is so great, that it is easy to mistake the one for the other.
FAMILY III.
CARNIVORA.
Although the term carnivorous is applicable to all unguicu-
lated animals, not quadrumanate, that have three sorts of
teeth, inasmuch as they all use more or less animal aliment,
there are, however, many of them, the two preceding families
especially, which are compelled by weakness and the conical
tubercles of their grinders to live almost entirely on Insects.
It is in the present family that the sanguinary appetite for
flesh is joined to the force necessary to obtain it. There are
always four stout, long, and separated canini, between which
are six incisors in each jaw, the root of the second of the
lower ones being placed a little more inwards than the others.
The molars are either wholly trenchant, or have some blunted
tuberculous parts, but they are never bristled with conical
points.
These animals are so much the more exclusively carnivo-
rous, as their teeth are the more completely trenchant, and
the proportions of their regimen may be calculated from the
extent of the tuberculous surface of their teeth, compared with
that which is trenchant. The Bears, which can live altoge-
ther on vegetables, have nearly all their teeth tuberculated.
The anterior molars are the most trenchant; next comes a
molar, larger than the others, usually furnished with a larger
or smaller tuberculous’heel; then follow one or two small teeth,
that are perfectly flat. It is with these small teeth in the
back part of the mouth that the dog chews the grass he some-
times swallows. We will call, with M. Fr. Cuvier, this large
upper molar, and its corresponding one below, carnivorous
teeth; the anterior pointed ones, false molars; and the poste-
rior blunted ones, tuberculous teeth. :
: . : " y * an “ ‘* al
(1) Itis the Common Mole of the United States. Am, Hd. fi 4
¥ , 7
»
é ‘ ball
gi a
CARNARIA. 93
It is easy to conceive that those genera which have the
fewest false molars, and whose jaws are the shortest, are those
best adapted for biting.
It is upon these differences that the genera can be most
surely established.
It is necessary, however, that the consideration of the hind
foot should be added to them.
Several genera, like those of the two preceding families, in
walking, or when they stand erect, place the whole sole of the
foot on the ground, a fact proved by the total want of hair on
that part of it.
Others, and by far the greater number, walk on the ends of
the toes, by raising up the tarsus.. They are much swifter,
and to this first difference are added many others of habits,
and even of internal conformation. In both the clavicle is a
mere bony rudiment suspended in the muscles. The
PLANTIGRADA
Form this first tribe, in which the whole sole of the foot is
placed on the ground in walking, a circumstance which gives
them a greater facility in standing vertically upon their hinder
feet. They partake of the slowness and nocturnal life of the
Insectivora, and, like them, have no cecum: most of those
that inhabit cold countries pass the winter in a state of torpor.
They all have five toes to each foot.
Ursus, Lin.
Bears have three large molars on each side(1) in each jaw, alto-
gether tuberculous, and of which the posterior upper, and anterior
lower are the longest. They are preceded by a tooth a little more
trenchant, which is one of the carnivorous teeth of this genus, and by
a variable number of very small false molars, which are sometimes
shed at a very early period. This almost frugivorous sort of denti-
tion is the reason why, notwithstanding their great strength, shew
seldom eat flesh unless from necessity.
They are large stout-bodied animals, with thick limbs, and a very
(1) We shall hereafter omit the repetition of the words ‘‘ on each side,” &c., it
being understood that we speak of the molars on one side only, those of the other
being the same.
@
94 MAMMALIA.
short tail: the cartilage of the nose is clongated and’ movable.
They excavate dens or construct huts, in which they pass the winter
in a state of somnolency more or less profound, and without food.
It is in these retreats that the female brings forth.
The species are not easily distinguished by apparent characters.
We have the a
U. arctos, L., Buff. VIII, XXXi. (The Brown Bear of Eu-
rope.) Forehead convex; fur brown, more or less woolly when
young, and growing smoother with age. Some of them are
greyish, others almost yellow, and a third kind is brown, with
shades bordering on silver. The relative height of their legs is
equally variable, and all without any fixed relation to age or
sex. They have most commonly, when young, a whitish col-
lar, which, in some varieties, remains for a longer or shorter
period, and even for life.. This animal inhabits the lofty moun-
tains, and great forests of Europe, and of a great part of Asia; the
coupling season is in June, and the young are produced in Janua-
ry. It sometimes lodges very high up in trees; when young its
flesh is esteemed a delicacy—the feet are considered good at all
ages.
It is thought that the Black. Bear of Europe is a distinct spe-
cies: those which have been described as such had a flat fore-
head, and the fur woolly and blackish; their origin, however,
does not appear to us to be very authentic.(1)
U. americanus, Gm.; Fr. Cuv. Mammif.; Schreb. pl. 141, B.
(The North American Black Bear.) A very distinct species,
with.a flat forehead, smooth and black fur, and fawn-coloured
muzzle. We have always found the small teeth behind the
canini more numerous in this Bear than in the European spe-
cies. Individuals have been seen that were entirely fawn-co-
loured. Its usual food is wild fruits; it devastates the fields,
(1) Weare not yet satisfied that the Grisly Bear of North America differs speci-
fically from the Brown Bear of Europe.
P.S. Since the above note was written, General La Fayette has presented a
Grisly Bear to the Menagerie du Jardin duRoi. In form and hair, some shades of
colouring excepted, it closely resembles the Brown Bear; its nails, however, are
much longer and more trenchant. It appears to be a distinct species.
M. Horsfield, Lin. Trans., XV, 332, describes a Bear from Nepaul, of a light
bay colour, whose nails are less trenchant than those of the other Bears of India,
and which appears to him a distinct species. .
I have neglected stating in the text that we have recovered. many fossil bones of
lost species. of Bears, the most remarkable of which are the UW. spelaus, Blumenb.,
with a rounded forehead, and ofa very large size; and the J. eat in Cuv. See
thefourth vol. of my “ Ossemens Fossiles.”, 4
%
Pot ~~»
CARNARIA. 95
and, where fish is abundant, proceeds to the shores for the
purpose of catching it. It is only for want of other aliment
that it attacks quadrupeds. The flesh is held in great esteem.
There is another Black Bear found in the Cordilleras, with a
white throat and muzzle, and large fawn-coloured eye-brows,
that unite on the forehead—U. ornatus, Fr. Cuv. Mammif.
The East Indies also produce severai Bears of a black colour,
such as the
U. malaianus, Horsf. Java. (The Malay Bear.) Smooth ;
black ; fawn-coloured muzzle ; a heart-shaped spot of the same
colour on the breast. From the Peninsula beyond the Ganges
and the islands of the straits of Sunda. It is very injurious to
the cocoa nut trees, which it climbs in order to deyour their tops
and drink the milk of the fruit.
U. thibetanus, Fr.Cuy. Mammif. (The Thibet Bear.) Black 5
the under lip and a large mark in the form of a Y on the breast
white ; profile straighter and claws weaker. From the moun-
tains in the north of India.
The most remarkable however of these Bears of India is the
U. labiatus, Blain.; L’Ours jongleur, Fred. Cuy. Mammif.;
U. longirostris, Tied. (The Thick-lipped Bear.) The cartilage
of the nose dilated ; the tip of the under lip elongated, both be-
ing movable; when old, very thick, bushy hairs round the
head. The incisors being easily lost, occasioned it for a long
time to be considered as a Sloth.(1) It is black; the muzzle
and tips of the paws fawn-coloured or whitish, and a half collar
or spot in the form of a Y under the neck and breast. This
animal is a favourite with the Indian jugglers on account of its
deformity.
U. maritimus, L.; Cuv. Ménag. du Mus., 8vo, p. 683; copied,
Schreb. pl. cxli. (The Polar Bear.) This is another species,
very distinguishable by its long and flattened head and its white
and smooth fur. It pursues Seals and other marine animals.
Exaggerated accounts of its ferocity have rendered it highly
celebrated.
Procyon, Storr. vi
The Raccoons have three back tuberculous molars, the superior of
which are nearly square, and three pointed false molars in front,
forming a continuous series to the canines, which are straight and
(1) It is the Bradypus ursinus of Shaw, and the genus Procuiius, Illig. See
Jour. de Phys. of 1792, vol. xl, p; 136.
96 MAMMALIA.
compressed. The tail is long, but the remainder of the exterior is
that of a Bear in miniature. They rest the whole sole of the foot
on the ground only when they are stopped; when they walk, they
raise the heel.
P. lotor; Ursus lotor, L.; Mapach of the Mexicans ; Buff.
VIII, xliii. (The Raccoon.) Greyish brown; muzzle white ;
a brown streak across the eyes; tail marked with brown and
white rings. This animal is about the size of a Badger, is
easily tamed, and remarked for a singular habit of eating
nothing it has not previously dipped in water. From North
America—lives on eggs, Birds, &c.
P. cancrivorus; Ursus cancriv., L.3; Buff. Supp. VI, xxxii.
(The Raccoon Crab-eater.) A uniform light ash-brown; the
rings on the tail less distinct. From South America.
Aruurus, Fred. Cuv.
The Panda appears to approximate to the Raccoon in its canini,
“and what is known of its other teeth ; with this exception, that it has
only one false molar. The head is short; tail long; walk planti-
grade ; five toes with retractile claws.(1) One species only is known,
the
A. refulgens, Fred. Cuv. Mammif.; Hardwick, Linn. Trans.
XV, p- 161. Size of a large Cat; fur soft and thickly set;
above of the most brilliant cinnamon red; behind more fawn-
coloured ; beneath of a deep black. The head is whitish, and
the tail marked with brown rings. This most beautiful of all
known quadrupeds, and which inhabits the mountains of the
north of India, was sent to Europe by my son-in-law the late
_M. Alfred du Vaucel.
IcripEs, Valen.
The Benturong is somewhat related to the Raccoon by its teeth, but
the three upper back molars are much smaller and less tuberculous,
the last one in each jaw particularly, which is very small and nearly
simple. It is covered with long hair, and has a tuft at each ear.
The tail is long, hairy, and has a propensity to curl, as if prehensile.
This animal is also one of those from India, for the knowledge of
which we are indebted to the late M. du Vaucel. One species, is the
Ict. albifrons, Fr. Cuv., Ann. des Sc. Nat. IV, pl. i. Grey;
tail and sides of the muzzle black; size, that of a large Cat.
From Bootan.
* (1) General Hardwick has described the upper teeth of the Panda, Lin. Trans.
XV, pl. ii. There are four square and tuberculous grinders, and one false tren-
chant molar in front, at a short distance from the canine.
CARNARIA. 97
Ict. ater, Fr. Cuy. Mammif. Black; muzzle whitish; size
that of a stout Dog. From Malacca.(1)
Nasvua, Storr.
The Coatis, to the teeth, tail, nocturnal habit, and slow dragging
gait of the Raccoon, add a singularly elongated and flexible snout.
The feet are semi-palmate, notwithstanding which they climb trees.
Their long claws are used for digging. They inhabit the warm cli-
mates of America, and their diet is nearly the same as that of the
Marten of Europe.
Viverra naswa, L.3; Buff. VIII, xlviii. (The Red Coati.)
Reddish fawn colour; muzzle brown ; tail with brown rings.
Viv. narica, L.; Buff, VIII, xlviii. (The Brown Coati.)
Brown, white spots over the eye and snout.
This is perhaps the only proper place for the singular genus of
the Kinxasous or Porro, Cuv.—Crrcotepres, Illig.—which, to a
plantigrade walk, adds a long prehensile tail like that.of the Sapa-
jous, a short muzzle, a slender and extensible tongue, two pointed
grinders before, and three tuberculous ones behind.
Only one species is known, Viverra caudivolvula, Gm.; Buff.
Supp. III, 1; and better, Fr. Cuv. Mammif. From the warm
parts of America and from the great Antilles, where it is called
Potto; size of a Polecat; hair woolly, and of a grey or yel-
lowish brown; habits nocturnal, of a mild disposition, and lives.
on fruit, milk, honey, blood, &c.
ME Es, Storr.
The Badgers, which Linnzus placed with the Raccoons in the genus
Ursus, have a very small tooth behind the canine, then two pointed
molars followed in the upper jaw by one that we begin to recognize
as carnivorous from the trenchant vestige it exhibits on its outer
side ; behind this is a square tuberculous one, the largest of all. Be-
low, the penultimate begins to show a resemblance to the inferior
carnivorous teeth, but as there are two tubercles on its internal
border as elevated as its trenchant edge, it acts as a tuberculous
one; the last below is very small.
The slow movements of the Badgers and their nocturnal habits are
like those of the preceding animals; their tails are short, the toes
are much enveloped in the skin, and they are otherwise peculiarly
distinguished by a sac under the tail, from which oozes a fatty,
(1) Add Pictide doré, Fred. Cuv.
Vor. L—N
98 MAMMALIA.
fetid humour. The long claws of their fore-feet enable them to dig
with great effect. ‘
M. europea ; Ursus meles,L.; Buff. VII, vii. (The Badger.)
Greyish above, black beneath, a blackish band on each side of
the head. The American Badger (Mel. hudsonius) is not
very different. {See App. 1V. of Am. Ed.)
GuLo, Storr.
Linnzus also placed the Gluttons among the Bears, but they ap-
proximate much nearer to the Weasels in their teeth as well as
in their habits, the only relation they have to the former consisting
in their plantigrade motion. They have three false molars above
and four below, immediately antecedent to the carnivorous teeth,
which are well characterized, and behind them two small tubercu-
lous ones, the upper being more broad than long. Their superior
carnivorous tooth has only one small tubercle on the inner side, and
in fact, the whole dental system is nearly the same as that of the
Weasels. The tail is of a middling size, with a plait or fold be-
neath in place of a sac, and the port of the animal is very similar to
that of the Badger.
The most celebrated species is the Glutton of the north, the
Ursus gulo, L., Buff. Supp. ILI, xlviii.s (The Common Glut-
ton.) About the size of the Badger; usually of a fine deep
maronne colour, with a disk on the back of a darker brown ;
sometimes, however, the shades are lighter. It inhabits the
most glacial regions of the North, is considered very sanguinary
and ferocious, hunts during the night, does not become torpid.
during the winter, and masters the largest animals by leaping
upon them from the top of a tree. Its voracity has been ridi-
culously exaggerated by some authors. The Wolverene of North
America (Ursus luscus, Lin. Edw. 103) does not appear to dif-
fer from it in any constant character—its colours, however, are
generally lighter. |
Hot climates produce some species which can only be placed near
the Gluttons, as they differ from them merely in having one false
molar less in each jaw, and ina long tail. Such are the animals,
termed by the inhabitants of South America Ferrets, which, having the
teeth of our Ferrets and Polecats, have, in fact, similar habits—they
are distinguished from them, however, by their plantigrade motion.
Viverra vittata, L., Buff. Supp. VIII, xxiii and xxv. (The
Grison.) Black; top of the head and neck grey; a white band,
reaching from the forehead to the shoulders.
Mustela barbara, L., Buff. Supp. VII, Ix. (The Taira.)
CARNARIA. 99
Brown; top of the head grey; a large white spot under the
throat.
These two animals are found in all the warm climates of
America, and smell strongly of musk. Their feet are some-
what palmated, and it appears they have sometimes been taken
for Otters.(1)
RatTetus, F. C.
The Ratels have a false molar in each jaw less than the Grison,
and their upper tuberculous tooth is but slightly developed, so that
in the teeth they approach the Cat, while their whole exterior is
that of the Grison or Badger. The legs are short ; feet plantigrade,
and five toes to each; nails very strong, &c. kc.
One species only is known, the Viverra mellivora, Sparm.;
rand Viv. capensis, Schreb. pl. 125. Size of the European Bad-
ger; grey above; black beneath, with a white line that sepa-
rates the two colours; sometimes it is nearly all white above.
It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and digs up the earth with
its long claws, in search of the honey-combs of the wild bees.
The
DIGITIGRADA
Form the second tribe of the Carnivora. The animals
which compose it walk on the ends of their toes.
In the first subdivision there is only one tuberculous tooth
behind the upper carnivorus ; these animals, on account of the
length of their body, and the shortness of their legs, which
permit them to pass through the smallest openings, have been
styled vermiform, Like the preceding ones, they have no
cecum, but they are not torpid during the winter. Linnus |
placed them all in one genus, that of
Musreta, Lin.,
- Or the Weasels, which we will divide into four subgenera.
-Purortius, Cuy.
The Polecats are the most sanguinary of all; the lower carnivo-
rous tooth has no inner tubercle, and the superior tuberculous one
(1) {t is supposed by the description given by Marcgrave of his cariqueibeiu,
which name Buffon has applied to his saricovienne, Vol. XIII, p. 319, that he
meant to speak of the Taira.
100 MAMMALIA.
is more broad than long; there are only two false molars above and
three below. These animals are externally recognised by their
muzzle, which is shorter and thicker than that of the Weasel. They
all diffuse a most horrible stench.
Mustela putorius, L.., Buff. VII, xiii. (The Common Pole-
cat.) Brown; flanks yellowish; white spots on the head; the
terror of poultry-yards and warrens.
M. furo, L., Buff. VII, xxv and xxvi. (The Ferret.) Yel-
lowish, with rose-coloured eyes, and is perhaps a mere variety
of the Polecat. It is only found in France in a domesticated
state, and is employed to ferret out the rabbits from their holes.
It comes from Spain and Barbary.
M. sarmatica; The Perouasca; Pall. Spic. Zool. XIV, iveks
Schreb. CXXXII. (The Sarmatian Weasel.) Brown; every-
where spotted with yellow and white. So beautifully is the skin
mottled, that it is in high request among furriers. It is found
throughout all southern Russia, Asia Minor, and the coast of
the Caspian sea.
M. sibirica, Pall. Spic. Zool. XIV, iv, 2. (The Siberian
Polecat.) A uniform light fawn colour; nose and circumfe-
rence of the eyes brown; end of the muzzle and the under part
of the lower jaw white.
It is also to this subdivision that we must refer two small
European species:
M. vulgaris, L., Buff. VII, xxix, 1. (The Weasel.) Ofa
uniform red, and the
M. erminea, L., Buff. VII, xxix, 2, and xxxi, 1. (The Stoat.)
Red in summer, white in winter; end of the tail always black.
Skin much used by furriers.
We should also place near it the
M. lutreola, Pall. Spic. Zool. XI, 1; Leche, Stock. Mem.,
1739, pl. xi; Schreb. CX XVII. (The Mink or Norek.) It
frequents the shores of rivers, &c., in the north and east of Eu-
rope from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and lives on
frogs and crabs. The feet are slightly palmated at the base of
the toes, but the teeth and round tail approximate it nearer
to the Polecat than the Otter. It is of a reddish brown; the
circumference of the lips and the under part of the jaw white 5 3
it exhales a musky odour, and is much esteemed for its #laig
known fur. ©
The above animal is considered by some to be the same as the
Polecat of the North American rivers, also called the Mink,
whose feet are likewise semi-palmated ; but the only white
>:
CARNARIA. 101
about it is on the point of the chin, and sometimes a narrow
line under the throat—it is a different species.(1)
Warm climates also have their Polecats or Weasels.
Put. nudipes, Fred. Cuy. Mammif. (The Javanese Ferret.)
Golden-yellow; head and tip of the tail white.
Put. africanus, Desm. (The African Ferret.) Reddish
fawn colour above; yellowish white below; a red band reach-
ing longitudinally along the middle of the belly from the fore to
the hind legs.
Put. striatus, Cuv. (The Striped Madagascar Ferret.)
Size of the European Weasel; reddish brown, with five longi-
tudinal white stripes; beneath and the tail nearly all white.
Put. zorilla; Zorille, Buff.; Viverra zorrilla, Gm.; Buff. XII,
xl, 1. (Cape Polecat.) Irregularly striped with black and white;
an animal that has been so far confounded with the mephitic
weasels as to receive the name of Zorillo, or little Fox, which
the Spaniards have applied to those fetid American animals.
It approaches them in its claws, which are fitted for digging,
‘but in every thing else resembles the Polecats. They indicate
a subterraneous habit, which might induce us to separate it
from the other species.
Musreza, Cuy.
The true Weasels differ from the Polecats in having an additional
false molar above and below, and in the existence of a small internal
tubercle on their inferior carnivorous tooth, two characters which
somewhat diminish the cruelty of their nature.
There are two species in Europe closely allied to each other,
the .
M. martes, L.; Buff. VII, xviii. (The Common Marten.)
Brown; a yellow spot under the throat. Inhabits the woods.
M. foina, L.3 Buff. VII, xviii. (The Beech Marten.) Brown;
the whole under part of the throat and neck white. Inhabits
houses. Both species are very destructive. Siberia. produces
the
M. zibellina, Pall. Spic. Zool. XIV, iii, 2; Schreb. CRXXVI.
(The Sable.) Highly valued for its rich furs; brown, spot-
(1) When this page was written, I had no other knowledge of the Norek, or
Mink of Europe, than what the description of Pallas afforded me. Having since
then procured some specimens, I have ascertained that the white about the jaws
is not permanent, and that very frequently the only white to be seen is at the end
of the lower jaw, as in the American Mink. TI now think they are both one spe-
cies.
102 MAMMALIA,
ted with white about the head, and distinguished from
the preceding ones by the extension of the hair to the under
surface of the toes. It inhabits the coldest mountains, and the
hunting to obtain it, in the midst of winter and tremendous
snows, is a perilous and painful undertaking. It is to the pur-
suit of this animal that we owe the discovery of the eastern
countries of Siberia.
North America also possesses several Martens indicated by
naturalists and travellers, under the indefinite names of Pekan,
Vison, Mink, &c.
One of them, the White Vison of the furriers, Mus. leutreoce-
phala, Harl., has as hairy feet and almost as soft a fur as the
Sable, but is of a light fawn colour, and almost white about the
head.
That which we call the Pekan; Must. canadensis, Gm., and
which comes from Canada and the United States, is of a brown-
ish colour, mixed with white on the head, neck, shoulders and
top of the back ; nose, crupper, tail and limbs blackish.(1)
Mepuitis, Cuv.
The Skunk, like the Polecat, has two false molars above and three
below, but the superior tuberculous one is very large, and as long
as it is broad, and the inferior carnivorus has two tubercles on its
internal side, circumstances which ally it to the Badger just as the
Polecat approximates to the Grison and Glutton. Independently
of this, the anterior nails of the Skunk, like those of the Badger, are
long and fitted for digging ; they are moreover semi-plantigrade, and
the resemblance extends even to the distribution of their colours.
The whole family are remarkable for their fetid exhalations, but the
Skunk is pre-eminently distinguished by its most horrible and suf-
focating stench.
Skunks are generally marked with white stripes on a black
ground, but the number of stripes appears to vary in the same
species. The most common species of North America is the
M. putorius.; Viverra putor., Gm.; Catesb. Carol. I, Ixii.
Schreb. CXXII. (The American Skunk.) Black, with stripes
of white, larger or smaller, and more or less numerous $ the tail
is black, and the tip white. The odour it produces resembles
(1) It is the Pékan of Daubenton, but it has not always the white under the
throat. [See Append. V. of Am. Ed.)
There are several other species of Polecats or of Martens indicated by MM.
Molina, Humboldt and Harlan ; but they require re-examination.
v4
CARNARIA. 103
that of the Polecat, mingled with a strong smell of garlic—
nothing is more nauseous.
It would seem that in South America the species most usu-
ally encountered has a white tail. The stripes on the back
sometimes occupy its whole breadth; it is the Viverra mephitis,
Gm.; Buff. XIII, xxxix, or the Chinche.(1)
We may make a distinct subgenus of the Mypaus, Fred. Cuv.
whose teeth, feet, and even colours are similar to those of the
Skunk, but whose truncated muzzle resembles a Hog’s snout ;
the tail being reduced to a small pencil. One species only is
known, the
M. meliceps, Fred. Cuv., and Horsf. Java. (The Teledu.)
Black; the nape of the neck, a stripe along the back and the
tail white ; the dorsal stripe sometimes interrupted in the mid-
dle ; not surpassed in stench by any of the Skunks.
Lutra, Storr.
The Otters have three false molars in each jaw, a strong heel to
the superior carnivorus, a tuberculus on the inner side of the inferior
one, and a large tuberculous tooth above that is nearly as long as it
is broad. The head is compressed, and the tongue demi-asperate.
They are otherwise distinguished from all the preceding subgenera
by palmated feet, and a horizontally flattened tail, two eee ars
which render them aquatic. Their food is fish. °
L. vulgaris; Mustela lutra, L.; Buff. VIL, xi. (The Com-
«mon Otter.) Brown above, whitish round the lips, on the
cheeks and the whole inferior surface of the body. It is some-
times found spotted and whitish. rom the rivers of Europe.
Several Otters differ but little from the above. That of Ca-
rolina, LZ. lataxina, Fr. Cuy., becomes a little larger, is some-
times more deeply coloured, and has a brownish tint beneath ;
very frequently, however, there is no difference even in the
shades of colour. In Brazil there are others similar in every
respect to those of Carolina. That of the East Indies the Z.
nair, Fr. Cuv., (The Pondicherry Otter) appears a little
smoother, and is somewhat pale about the eye-brows, but it is
scarcely perceptible. The Indians employ it for fishing, as we
(1) It is better figured, Hist. des Mammif. of Fr.Cuv. The Chili Skunk, Buff.
Supp. VII, pl. lvii, appears to be a mere badly Pipearved variety of the same. See
my Ossemens Foss. LV, 469.
‘N.B. This is the same animal with the immediately preceding species, and has
been called the V. conepatl and V. chinche. No two individuals of this species are
alike, being sometimes even wholly white or the reverse. Am. Ed.
104 MAMMALIA.
do the Dog for hunting. That of Java, LZ. leptonyx, Horsf.
(The Javanese Otter) has a whiter throat, and this whiteness
ascends on the sides of the head so as to surround the eye. In
that of the Cape, Z. capensis, Fr. Cuv. the white on the throat,
sides of the head and neck is purer and more extended ; the end
of the nose is even marked with it: what particularly distin-
guishes it, however, is that, at least at a certain age, it has no
nails, a character on which M. Lesson has founded his genus
Aonyx. Young individuals however have been brought from
the Cape that have nails ; it remains to be ascertained whether
or not they are of the same species.
Mustela lutra brasiliensis, Gm. (The American Otter.)
Brown or fawn-coloured ; throat white or yellowish; a little
larger than the European Otter; the body is also longer, and
the hair shorter. It is distinguished by the end of the nose,
which is not naked as in most animals, but is covered with
hair like the rest of the chanfrin. From the rivers of both
Americas.
Mustela lutris, L.; Schreb. CKXVIIL(1) (The Sea-Otter.)
Size, double that of the European species ; body much elon-
gated ; tail one-third the length of the body; the hind feet very
short. There is sometimes white about the head. It has only
four incisors below, but the molars are like those of the other
Otters. Its blackish velvet looking fur is extremely valuable,
to obtain which the English and Russians hunt the animal
throughout the northern parts of the Pacific ocean. ,
In the second subdivision of the Digitigrada there are two
flat tuberculous teeth, behind the superior carnivorus tooth,
which is itself furnished with a large heel. They are car-
nivorous, but do not exhibit a courage proportioned to their
powers, and frequently feed on carrion. The cxeum is al-
ways small.
Canis, Lin.
Dogs have three false molars above, four below, and two tuber-
culous teeth behind each of the carnivori; the first of these upper
tuberculous teeth is very large. Their superior carnivorus has
only a smal] inner tubercle, but the posterior portion of the inferior
(1) This figure, x psentlf drawn from a badly prepared specimen, a an
exaggerated resemblance 9H the Seal, a circumstance by which some naturalists
have been induced to believe it should be placed near that genus—its whole or-
ganization, however, is that of the Otter. See Ev. Home, Phil. Trans. 1796.
CARNARIA. 105
is altogether tuberculous. The tongue is soft; the fore-feet have
five toes, and the hind ones four.
C. familiaris, L. (The Domestic Dog.) Distinguished by
his recurved tail, otherwise varying infinitely, as to size, form,
colour and quality of the hair. He is the most complete, sin-
gular and useful conquest ever made by man3; the whole spe-
cies has become his property; each individual is devoted to his
particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his
possessions, and remains his true and faithful friend till
death—and all this, neither from constraint nor want, but solely
from the purest gratitude and the truest friendship. The swift-
ness, strength and scent of the Dog have rendered him Man’s
powerful ally against all other animals, and were even, perhaps,
necessary to the establishment of society. Of all animals, he
is the only one which has followed Man through every region
of the globe.
Some naturalists think the Dog is a Wolf, and others that he
is a domesticated Jackal, and yet those dogs which have become
wild again in desert islands resemble neither the one nor the
other. The wild dogs, and those that belong to savages, such
as the inhabitants of New Holland, have straight ears, which has
occasioned a belief that the European races, which approach the
most to the original type, are the Shepherd’s Dog and Wolf
Dog; but the comparison of the crania indicates a closer affinity
in the Mastiff and Danish Dog, subsequently to which comethe ~~
Hound, the Pointer, and the Terrier, differing between themselves
only in size and the proportions of the limbs. The Greyhound
is longer and more lank, its frontal sinuses are smaller, and its
scent weaker. The Shepherd’s Dog and the Wolf Dog resume
the straight ears of the wild ones, but with a greater cerebral
development, which continues to increase together with the
intelligence in the Barbet and the Spaniel. The Bull Dog, on
the other hand, is remarkable for the shortness and strength of.
his jaws. ‘The small pet-dogs, the Pugs, . Spaniels, Shocks, &c.
are the most degenerate productions, and exhibit the most strik-
ing marks of that power to which man subjects all nature.(1)
The dog is born with his eyes closed ; he opens them on the
tenth or twelfth day ; his teeth commence changing in the fourth
month, and his full growth is attained at the expiration of the
second year. The period of gestation is sixty-three days, and
from six to twelve pups are produced at a birth. The dog is
?
(1) See Fr. Cuy. Ann. Mus. XVIII, p.333 et seq.
Vou. 1.—O
‘ -
106 MAMMALIA.
old at fifteen years, and seldom lives beyond twenty. His vigi-
lance, bark, singular mode of copulation, and susceptibility of
education are well known to every one.
C. lupus, L.; Buff. VII, i. (The Wolf.) A large species,
with a straight tail; legs fawn-coloured, with a black stripe on
the fore-legs when adult;(1) the most mischievous of all the
carnaria of Europe. Itis found from Egypt to Lapland, and
appears to have passed into America. ‘Towards the north, in
winter, its fur becomes white. It attacks all our animals, yet
does not exhibit a courage proportioned to its strength. It
often feeds on carrion. Its habits and physical development
are Closely related to those of the dog.
C. lycaon, L.; Buff. 1X, xli. (The Black Wolf.) Also inha-
bits Europe, and is sometimes, though rarely, found in France.(2)
The fur is of a deep and uniform black, with a little white at the
end of the muzzle, and a small spot of the same colour under the
breast. It is said to be more ferocious than the common wolf.
C. mexicanus, L. (The Mexican Wolf.) Reddish grey,
mixed with black; circumference of the muzzle, under part of
the body and the feet white ; size that of the Common Wolf.(3)
C. jubatus, Cuv.; Agoura-Gouazou, Azzar. (The Red Wolf.)
A fine cinnamon-red ; a short black mane along the spine.
From the marshes of South America.
~ C. aureus, L.3 Schreb. XCIV. (The Chacal or Jackal.)
Less than the preceding ; the muzzle more pointed ; of a grey-
ish brown; thighs and legs of a light fawn colour; some red
on theear; the tail scarcely reaching further than the heel. It
is a voracious animal, which hunts like the Dog, and in its con-
formation and the facility with which it is tamed, resembles the
latter more closely than any other wild species. Jackals are
found from the Indies and the environs of the Caspian sea, as
far as, and in Guinea; it is not certain, however, that they are
(1) This stripe is more or less strongly marked on the Jackal, Mexican Wolf,
&e.
(2) We have seen four individuals taken and killed in France. It must not be
confounded with the Black Fox, among whose synonymes Gmelin has placed it.
[See Append. VI of Am. Ed.) Ww!
(3) This character is taken from a specimen brought from bene” i and pre-
sented to the Cabinet du Roi by M. de Humboldt. Those which have beendrawn
by authors from the bad figure of Recchi inserted in Hernandez, p. 479, must be —
rejected. Messrs Say and Harlan, Faun. Amer., mention two other species of
Wolves, Can. latrans and Can. nubilus, which require to be examined and com-
pared. [See Append. ut sup. of Am. Ed.)
~
CARNARIA: 107
all of one species. Those of Senegal for instance, C. anthus, Fr.
Cuv. Mammif., stand higher, appear to have a sharper muzzle,
and the tail a little longer.
Foxrs may be distinguished from the Wolf and Dog by a longer
and more tufted tail, by a more pointed muzzle, by pupils, which,
during the day, form a vertical fissure, and by the upper incisors
being less sloping. They diffuse a fetid odour, dig burrows, and
attack none but the weaker animals. ‘ This subgenus is more nume-
rous than the preceding one.
C. vulpes, L.3 Buff. VII, vi. (The Common Fox.) More or
less red; tip of the tail white; found from Sweden to Egypt.
Those of the north have merely a more brilliant fur. There is
no constant difference to be observed between those of the East-
ern continent and those ef North America. The C. alopex,
Schreb. XCI, or the Collier, which has the end of the tail black,
and is found in the same countries as the common one; the
Renard croisé, Id. XCI, A, or the Cross Fox, which is only
distinguished by a streak of black along the spine and across the
shoulders ; the Fox the French furriers call the Turk, which is
of a yellowish grey, with the end of the tail white, are, perhaps,
mere varieties of the common one. The following species how-
ever are very distinct. [See App. VII of Am. Ed.]
C. Azare, Pr. Max.; Aguarachai, Azz. (The Brazil Fox.)
Grey; sides of the neck reddish; a black line commencing on
the nape of the neck, and extending along the middle of the tail.
C. corsac, Gm.; Buff. Supp. III, xvi, under the name of
Aldive. (The Corsac.) A pale yellowish grey ; a few blackish
waves at the base of the tail; tip of the tail black ; jaw white.
Common on the vast heaths of central Asia, from the Volga to
India. It has the habits of the Fox, and never drinks. I sus-
pect the 4bouvhossein of Nubia—Canis pallidus, Ruppel, pl. xi—is
the same animal.
There is also in the prairies of North America, a little Fox,
C. velox, Har. and Say; F. Am., 91, which lives in bur-
rows, but which appears to differ from the Corsae by the
colours: a blackish tail, &c.
C. cinereo-argenteus, Schreb. XCII, A. (The Tri-coloured
FoxofAmerica.) Ash-coloured above; white beneath ; acinna-
mon-red band along the flanks. From all the warm and tem-
perate parts of the two Americas.
C. argentatus, (The Silver or Black Fox.)(1) Black; tips
(1) Gmel. has confounded it with the Black Wolf, under the name of Canis
lycaon.
P iy sh wae « if
108 MAMMALIA.
of the hairs white, except on the ears, shoulders, and tail, where
they are ofa pure black. Theend of the tail is all white. From
North America. Its fur is most beautiful, and very costly.
C. lagopus, L.; Schreb. XCIII. (The Blue Fox or Isatis.)
Deep ash-colour ; the under surface of the toes hairy;(1) often
white in winter. From the north of both continents, particu-
larly from Norway and Siberia; much esteemed for its fur.
C. mesomelas,(2) Schreb. XCV. (The Cape Fox.) Fawn-
coloured on the flanks; middle of the nose black, mixed with
white, terminating in a point behind; the ears red as well as
the feet; the two posterior thirds of the tail black, &c.
The interior of Africa produces Foxes remarkable for the size of
their ears, and the strength of the hairs of their mustachios ; they
are the Mrcatoris of illiger. There are two known, the
C. megalotis, Lalande; a Cape species, something smaller
than our common Fox, higher on its feet ; yellowish grey above,
whitish beneath; the feet, tail and a dorsal line black.
C. zerda, Gm., or Fennec of Bruce; Buff. Supp. III, xix.
Ears still larger; a small species of an almost white fawn co-
lour, which burrows in the sands of Nubia3(3) its hair is
woolly, and extends under the toes.
Finally, we may place after the Dogs, as a fourth subgenus, dis-
tinguished by the number of toes, which is four to each foot, the
_ Hyzna venatica, Bursch.; H. picta, Temm., An. Gen. des Sc.
Phys. III. (The Wild Dog of the Cape.) It has the dental
_ system of the Dog and not that of the Hyena; a long and thin
form; the fur mottled, with white and fawn colour, grey and
black ; size of the Wolf, large ears with black tips, &c. It is
gregarious, and frequently approaches Cape Town, devastating
its environs.
VIVERRA.
»
The Civets have three false molars above and four below, the an-
terior of which sometimes fall out ; two tolerably large tuberculous
teeth above, one only below, and two tubercles projecting forwards
on the inner side of the inferior carnivorus, the rest of that tooth
Sayed
(1) Several of the Foxes, and even the g@emmon one, have hair under their
feet in the north. in
(2) Gmelin has confounded it with the adit of Buffon, w hiehi isa factitione spe-
cies, and does not differ from the Jackal.
(3) Bruce’s figure, copied by Buffon, and michoga fei by all his ‘compi-
lers, greatly exaggerates the size of the ears. We have at last a good figure
and exact description of this animal in the Voy. of Ruppel, aenBa: pl. lil.
s z
EF 5 % "4 Sal
¢
'
CARNARIA. 109
being more or less tuberculous. The tongue is bristled with sharp
and rough papille. Their claws are more or less raised as they
walk, and near the anus is a pouch more or less deep, where an
unctuous and frequently an odorous matter oozes from peculiar
glands. They are divided into four subgenera. |
Viverra, Cuv.
In the true Civets the deep pouch situated between the anus and
the organ of generation, and divided into two sacs, is filled with
an abundant pommade of a strong musky odour, secreted by glands
which surround the pouch. This substance is an article of com-
merce, and is used by the perfumers. It was more employed when
musk and ambergrease were unknown. The pupil of the eye re-
mains round during the day, and their claws are only semi-retrac-
tile.
V. civetta, L.; Buff. 1X, xxxiv. (The Civet.) Ash-coloured,
irregularly barred and spotted with black ; the tail less than the
body, black towards the end, with four or five rings near its
base; two black bands encircling the throat, and one surround-
ing the face ; a mane along the whole length of the spine and
tail that bristles up at the will of the animal. From the hot-
test parts of Africa.
V. zibetha, L.; Buff. 1X, xxxi. (The Zibet.) Ash-coloured,
spotted with black; black half-rings on the whole tail; black
bands on the sides of the neck; no mane. From the East In-
dies.
GEnNeETTA, Cuv.
In the Genets the pouch is reduced to a slight depression formed |
by the projection of the glands, and has scarcely any visible excre-
tion, although an odour is diffused from it that is very perceptible.
In the light the pupil forms a vertical fissure, and the nails are com-
pletely retractile, as in the Cat.
V. genetta, L. (The Common Genet.) Grey, spotted with
brown or black, the muzzle blackish; white spots on the eye-
brows, cheeks and each side of the end of the nose; tail the
length of the body, annulated with black and white, the black
rings being from nine to eleven in number. Found from the
south of France to the Cape of Good Hope, differing in the size
~-and number of the spots in the bands along the shoulder and
. neck, as well as in the lines on the nape of the neck, SE C1) It
Be?) The best figure of a Genet is” ‘that given by Pennant, Synops. No. 172,
dist. No. 280, under the improper name of Fossane. It is the variety most fre-
§
~
110 MAMMALIA.
frequents the edges of brooks, near springs, &c. The skin
forms an important article of trade.
V. linsang, Hardwick, Lin. Trans. XII, pl. xxiv; Felis gra-
cilis, Horsf. Java. (The Javanese Genet.) Several irregular,
brown, transverse bands on the body, and seven rings round the
tail.
V. fossa, Buff. XIII, xx. (The Fossane of Madagascar. )
Tail, flanks, and all above fawn colour ; the legs and all beneath
a yellowish white; reddish brown spots, those on the back
forming four longitudinal bands ; tail semi-annulated with red,
and only half the length of the body.(1)
V. rasse, Horsf. Jav. (The Rasse.) Legs brown; body
greyish brown, with small brown spots united on the crupper,
and forming five longitudinal lines. Tail shorter than the
body, annulated with black and white, the black rings six or
seven innumber.(2) The hair is harsher than in the preceding
species. The
Parapoxurus, Fr. Cuy.
Has the teeth and most of the characters of the Genets, with
which it was a long time confounded; it is however more stout-
limbed ; the feet are semi-palmate, and the walk nearly plantigrade,
but what particularly distinguishes it is the spiral inclination of the
tail, which is not prehensile. Only one species is known, the
P. typus, Fr. Cuv. (The Pougouné of India.) A yellowish-
brown, with some spots of a deeper brown than the rest; the
feet, muzzle and part of the tail blackish ; eye-brows white, and
quently brought from the Cape. There is another taken from a young specimen,
Brown, Ill. pl. xliii, still under the name of Fossane. Itis distinguished by its whi-
tish and not brown legs, and we have seen a similar one from Senegal. That of
Buff. IX, xxxvi, has not the bands on the neck and shoulders sufficiently
marked. The number of black rings on the tail varies from nine to eleven.
The Civette de Malacca of Sonnerat, Voy. II, pl. xxxix, which is the same as the
Genette du Cap, Buff. Supp. VU, pl. lviii, and the Chat bisaam of Vosmaer, of
which Gmelin has made as many species, appear to be common Genets. 2
(1) Description taken from the original sent to Buffon by Poivre, and engraved,
Hist. Nat. XIII, pl. xx. The description of Daubenton is correct so far as Te-
gards the distribution of the spots; but he calls them black, whereas they are red-
dish. Besides, this animal can hardly be the fossa of Flacourt, which that author
states is the size of the Badger. . The Fossane has the same furrow as the Genet,
notwithstanding the assertion of Poivre to the contrary.
(2) Itis probably Panimal du muse of La Peyronie, Acad. des Se. 1728, pl-
xxiv, p. 464, which had been confounded with the Zibeth—but that animal is
larger, and has other colours. To this division we must refer the Viv. . fusciata,
Gm.; Buff. Supp. VU, Ivii. sf ” . si ‘ >> Rie
q
CARNARIA. 111
a white spot under the eye. The French of Pondicherry call it
the Palm Martin or Marte des palmiers.(1)
Maneusta, Cuy.—HeErpssteEs, Illig.
The pouch voluminous and simple ; the anus pierced in its depth.
The hairs are annulated with light and obscure tints, which deter-
mine their general colour on the eye.
The Mangouste of Egypt, so celebrated among the ancients
under the name of J/chneumon; Viverra ichneumon, L.; Buff.
Supp. III, xxvi, is grey, with a long tail terminated with -a
black tuft; it is larger than our Cat, and as slender as a Mar-
ten. It chiefly hunts for the eggs of the Crocodile, but also
feeds on all sorts of small animals; brought up in houses, it
hunts Mice, Reptiles, &c. By the Europeans at Cairo it is
called Pharaoh’s Rat ; by the natives, Nems. The ancient tra-
dition of its jumping down the throat of the Crocodile to de-
stroy it, is entirely fabulous.
The Mangouste of India; Viv. mungos, Lin.; Buff. XIII, xix,
and that of the Cape, Viv. cafra, Gm.; Schreb. CXVI, B, are
smaller, both having a pointed tail, and a grey or brown fur,
the latter being more of an ashy, and the former more of a fawn
colour, having besides some red about the cheeks and jaws.
The Mangouste of India is celebrated for its combats with
the most dangerous serpents, and for having led us to the
knowledge of the Ophiorhiza mongos as an antidote to their
poison.
There is also the Mangouste of Java—H. Javanicus, red-
dish brown; cheeks of a chesnut-red ; throat more fawn co-
loured : a large one from the marshes of the Cape—H. palu-
dinosus, of an almost uniform reddish-brown, verging to a
black, a little lighter on the chin: a third from the Cape—JH.
penicillatus, of a greyish fawn colour, tip of the tail white: one
from Senegal—Z. albicaudus, grey, tail all white: it is difficult,
however, to establish very specific differences between these
animals.
‘Ryzena, Illig.
The Surikates te a strong resemblance to the Mangoustes, even
‘to the tints and transverse streaks of the hair, but are distinguished
from them and from all the Carnivora of which we have hitherto
Rvoken, by having only four toes to each foot. They also are higher
‘4
2.
ky 7
(1) It is the pretended Genetie de France of Buffon, Supp. UI, pl. xlvii, the C7-
vette a bandeau of Geoff.
112 MAMMALIA.
on their legs, and they have not the small molar immediately be-
hind the canine tooth. Their pouch extends into the anus.
One species only is known, a native of Africa—Viv. tetradac-
tyla, Gm.; Buff. XIII, viii, a little less than the Mangouste of
India. (1)
Crossarcuus, Fred. Cuv.
The muzzle, teeth, pouch, and walk of the Surikates, the toes and
genital organs of the Mangoustes.
One species only is known—Crossarchus obscurus, Fred. Cuv.,
from Sierra Leone, of the size of the Surikate; greyish brown ;
cheeks a little paler, and a hairy tail.
We should here mention a singular animal from the south of
Africa, known only while young, which, to the five anterior toes,
and the four hind ones, and the slightly elongated head of the
Civets, adds the raised feet, the short hind ones, and the mane
of the Hyena; it also singularly resembles the striped Hyena
in the colours of its fur. The thumb of the fore foot is short
and higher; it is the Proteles Lalandii, Isid. Geoff. Mem. du
Mus. XI, 354, pl. xx. Inhabits caverns. —
The individual specimens that have been examined, and which
were all young, had but three small false molars, and one small
tuberculous posterior molar. It seems as though their teeth
had never come to perfection, as often happens in the Genets.(2)
The last subdivision of the Digitigrada has no small teeth
of any kind behind the large molar of the lower jaw. The
animals contained in it are the most cruel and sanguinary of
the class. ‘They form two genera.
Hyzna, Storr.
The Hyenas have three false molars above ind four below, all
conical, blunt, and singularly large; their superior carnivorous
tooth has a small tubercle within and in front, but the inferior has
none, presenting only two stout trenchant points: with these pow-
erful arms they are enabled to crush the bones of the largest prey.
The tongue is rough, each foot has four toes like that of the Suri-
kate, and under the anus is a deep and glandular pouch, which in-_
duced some of the ancients to consider them as hermaphrodites.
So powerful are the muscles of the neck and jaw, that it is almost
(1) The Zénik of Sonnerat, Voy. II, pl. xcii, appears to differ from the Surikate
merely because it is roughly drawn.
(2) See my Ossemens Fossiles, tom. IV, p. 388. f
CARNARIA. 113
impossible to wrest any thing from between their teeth that they
have once seized, and, among the Arabs, their name is the symbol
of obstinacy. It sometimes happens that an anchylosis of the cer-
vical vertebrz is the consequence of these violent efforts, and this
has caused it to be said that they have only one single bone in the
neck. They are nocturnal animals, inhabiting caves ; are extremely
voracious, and feed chiefly on dead bodies, which they seek for even
in the grave. A thousand superstitious traditions are connected
with them. Three species are known, the
H. vulgaris, Buff. Supp. III, xlvi. (The Striped Hyena.)
Grey ; blackish or brown stripes crosswise; a mane along the
whole of the nape of the neck, and black, that stands erect
when the animal is angry. It is found from India to Abyssinia
and Senegal.
Hf. brunnea, Thunb., Acad. of Stockh. 1820, part I, pl.
ii; H. villosa, Smith. Lin. Trans. XV, pl. xix. (The Brown
Hyena.) Ofadeep greyish brown; black stripes on the legs
only. From the south of Africa, where the inhabitants of the
Cape call it Je Loup du rivage, or the Shore Wolf.
H. crocuta, Schreb. XCVI, B. (The Spotted Hyena.)
Grey or reddish, sprinkled with black spots. It is likewise
from the south of Africa, and is the Tiger Wolf of the Cape.
There have lately been found in several caverns of France,
Germany, and England, many bones of a lost species of Hyena
—H. spelza, which appears to have resided there, and to have
left the bones of many other animals, which bear evident marks
of its teeth, and even its own feces. (1) .
Fests, Lin.
Of all the Carnaria the Cats are the most completely and power-
fully armed. Their short and round muzzle, short jaws, and parti-
cularly their retractile nails, which, being raised perpendicularly,
and hidden between the toes, when at rest, by the action of elastic
ligament, lose neither point nor edge, render them most formidable
animals, the larger species especially. They have two false molars
- above, and two below: their superior carnivorous tooth has three
lobes, and a blunted heel on the inner side, the inferior, two pointed
and trenchant lobes, without any heel: they have but a very small
tuberculous tooth above, without any thing to correspond to it be-
- low. The species of this genus are very numerous and various
with regard to size and colour, though they are all similar with re-
(1) See Buckland, Religuic: Diluvianz, and Vol. lV of my Oss. Foss. 2d ed.
Vou. i —P
ee ge
114 MAMMALIA,
spect to form. We can only subdivide them by referring ‘to the dif-
ference of size and the length of the hair, characters of but little
importance.
At the head of the genus we find
J. leo, L.; Buff. VUI, i, 11. (The Lion.) Distinguished by
its uniform tawny colour, the tuft of hair at the end of the tail,
and the flowing mane which clothes the head, neck, and shoul-
ders of the male. Of all beasts of prey, this is the strongest and
most courageous. Formerly scattered through the three parts
of the old world, it seems at present to be confined to Africa and
some of the neighbouring parts of Asia. The head of the Lion
is more square than that of the following species.
Tigers are large, short haired species, most commonly mark-
ed with vivid spots.
F. tigris, Buff. VIII, ix. (The Royal Tiger.) As large as
the Lion, but the body is longer, and the head rounders of a
lively fawn colour above; a pure white below, irregularly cross-
ed with black stripes ; the most cruel of all quadrupeds, and the
scourge of the EastIndies. Suchare his strength and the velocity
of his movements, that during the march of armies he has been
seen to seize a soldier while on horseback, and bear him to the
depths of the forest, without affording a possibility of rescue.
F. onga, L.; Azzar. pl. ix; Fred. Cuv. Mammif. (The
Jaguar.) Nearly the size of the Royal Tiger, and almost as
dangerous ; a lively fawn colour above ; the flank longitudinally
marked with four rows of ocellated spots, that is, with rings
more or less complete, having a black point in the middle ;
white beneath, transversely striped with black. Sometimes indi-
vidual specimens are found black, whose rings, of a deeper hue,
are only perceptible in a particular light.
F. pardus, L.; the Pardalis of the ancients; Cuv. Ménag.
du Mus. 8vo,I, p. 212. (The Panther.) Fawn coloured above;
white beneath ; with six or seven rows of black spots, resembling
roses, that is, formed by the assemblage of five or six simple
spots on each flank ; the tail is the length of the body, minus
that of the head.
This species is scattered throughout all Africa, the southern
parts of Asia, and the Indian Archipelago.
In some of them the ground of the fur is black, with spots of
a deeper black—/. melas, Pér., but they are not a distinct spe-
cies. We have frequently seen black and fawn coloured young
ones suckled by the same mother.( 1)
(2) Temminck calls this species Felis leopardus.
y
ree et
CARNARLA. 415
F. leopardus, L. (The Leopard.) From Africa; similar to
the Panther, but has ten rows of smaller spots.(1)
These two species are smaller than the Jaguar. Travellers
and furriers designate them indiscriminately by the names of
Leopard, Panther, African Tiger, &c.(2)
There is a third, peculiar to the distant parts of the East In-
dies, that is a little lower; tail equal in length to the body and
head; spots smaller and more numerous; the F’, chalybeata,
Herm.; Schreb. CI.(3)
F. discolor, L.; Buff. VII, xix. (The Couguar or Puma.)
Red, with small spots of a slightly deeper red which are not
easily perceived. From both Americas, where it preys on
Sheep, Deer, &c.(4)
Among the inferior species, we should distinguish the Lynxes,
which are remarkable for the pencils of hair which ornament
their ears.
Four or five different kinds of them are known in commerce
by the name of Loups Cerviers, which have long been con-
founded by naturalists, (Felis lynx, L.) and whose specific
limits are even not yet perhaps: well ascertained. They all
have a very short tail, and a skin more or less spotted.
The most beautiful, which are as large as a Wolf—F. cervaria,
Temm., come from Asia by the way of Russia, and have a
slightly reddish-grey fur, finely spotted with black.
Others from Canada and the north of Sweden—F. borealis,
(1) The same naturalist considers our Leopard as a variety of our Panther, and
confounds them under his Felis leopardus.
(2) Buffon has mistaken the Jaguar, which he took for the Panther of the eas-
tern continent, and has not well distinguished the Panther and the Leopard, and
for this reason we cannot positively quote his pl. xi, xii, xiii and xiv of Vol. VIII.
(3) It isto this species that Temminck affixes the name of Panther, because he
thinks Linnzus alluded to it, when speaking of his Felis pardus in the ‘‘ cauda
elongata.” There is one thing very certain, and that is, that the Panther, so well
known to the ancients, and which was so often produced at the Roman games,
could not possibly have been an animal from the extreme parts of oriental Asia.
The Once of Buff. IX, pl. xiii, (Felis uncia, Gm.) differs from the Panthers and
Leopards by the inequality of the spots, which are more irregularly distributed,
and partly crenate or annulated, &c. It appears to be found in Persia. We only
know it by the figure of Buffon, and that which Mr Hamilton Smith has inserted
_ inthe work of Griffith, taken from a specimen that was living in London.
(4) That this animal, our common Panther, does not always confine itself to
Sheep, &c., is well known, and has lately been proved, January 1830, by an un-
provoked attack upon an unfortunate woman in Pennsylvania. The ferocious
_ brute seized upon her as she was passing along the road, and killed her in an
instant. See Griff. part V, p. 438. Am. Ed.
i.
116
MAMMALIA.
Temm., have the fur very much tufted, extending even under
the feet ; of an ash-coloured grey, and with scarcely any spots.
The Lynx of the temperate parts of Europe—F. lynx, Temm.,
which has almost disappeared from its populous districts, but
which is still found in the Pyrenees, in the mountains of Na-
ples, and, as it is said, even in Africa; has a red fur, spotted
with brown. .
In these three species or varieties, the end of the tail is black.
It is thought there is a Lynx of the south of Europe—Felis par-
dina, Oken, which may be considered distinct. It is smaller,
not so hairy, fur red mottled with black, and the tail spotted
like the body.
We find also in North America the
F. rufa, Giild. Schreb., CIX, B; #. montana, L. (The Bay
Lynx.) A reddish fawn or greyish colour, mottled with brown ;
brown waves on the thighs ; tail annulated with black or brown 5;
rather smaller than the Lynx.(1)
F. chaus, Giild.; Schreb. CX. (The Chaus, or Lynx of the
Marshes.) Is of a yellowish grey-brown ; the hind part of each
leg blackish ; tail reaches to the hamstrings, and is annulated
at the extremity with black. Inhabits the Caucasian marshes,
those of Persia and of Egypt, pursues Birds, &c.
It is now thought we should separate from the above species
the Booted Lynx—¥F’. caligata, Temm., Bruce, pl. xxx, which
is somewhat smaller, and has a little longer tail; the external
surface of its ears isred. It is, at least, a closely allied spe-
cies, and has the same habits.
F. caracal, L.; Buff. 1X, xxiv, and Supp. III, xlv. (The
Caracal.) Of an almost uniform vinous red. From Persia,
Turkey, &c. It is the true Lynx of the ancients.
The inferior species, which are deprived of the pencils on the
ears, are more or less similar to our common Cat; such are
F. pardalis, L.; Buff. XII, pl. xxxv and xxxvi. (The Ocelot.)
Rather lower on its legs than most of the others; grey, with
large fawn coloured spots bordered with black, forming ob-
lique bands on the flank. From America. ’
F. mitis, Fr. Cuv. (The Chati.) Marked with unconnected,
triangular, fawn coloured spots, edged with black.
(1) M. Rafinesque also indicates a Lynx fasciatus, a L. aureus, a L. floridanus,
a ZL. montanus, and M. Temminck a Felis awrata, which must all belong to this little
tribe.
N.B. They are most probably all one species. 4m. Ed.
CARNARIA. 117
F. cafra. (The Cat of Caffraria.) Stands high on its legs ;
grey, transversely striped with black.
F. serval, Buff. XIII, xxxv. (The Serval.) Yellowish, with
irregular black spots. From Africa.
F. jaguarondi, Azzara, Voy. pl. 9. (The Jaguarondi.) Body
long; and altogether of a blackish brown. From the forests of
South America.
F. catus, L.3 Buff. VI, i, et seq. (The Domestic Cat.) Is
originally from the forests of Europe. In its wild state, it is of
a greyish brown, with darker transverse undulations ; below
pale; the insides of the thighs and of all the feet, yellowish 5
three bands on the tail, its inferior third blackish. Ina domes-
tic state it varies, as is well known, in colours, in the length and
fineness of the hair, but infinitely less so than the Dog; it is
also much less submissive and affectionate.(1)
We might also place in a separate subgenus, a species whose
head is rounder and shorter, and whose nails are not retractile,
the Felis jubata, Schreb. 105, and better, Fel. guttata, Id. 105,
b, (The Hunting Leopard) which is the size of the Leopard,
but longer bodied, and stands higher; the tail long, annulated
at the end; the fur fawn colour, mottled with small uniform
black spots, a black streak reaching from the eye to the angle
of the mouth. The disposition of this animal differs from that
of the remainder of the genus in being extremely mild and do-
cile. The
AMPHIBIA
Will form the third and last of the small tribes into which
we divide the Carnivora. ‘Their feet are so short and so en-
veloped in the skin, that the only service they can render
them on land, is to enable them to crawl; but as the inter-
vals of the fingers are occupied by membranes, they are ex-
cellent oars; and in fact, these animals pass the greater portion
of their time in the water; never landing, except for the pur-
pose of basking in the sun, and suckling their young. Their
(1) The species, more or less allied to the Cat, are very numerous in the two
continents ; but all those that are given in catalogues are very far from being au-
thentic, and sufficiently distinguished from each other. We may, however, con-
sider as such, those of which we have good figures. The Margay, Buff.; Felis
tigrina, Gm., Buff. XIII; Schreb. 106.—# el. macrowra, Pr. Max., Brazil, pl. xi.—
Felis sumatrana, Horsf.—Kel. javanensis, (d.—Fel. torquata, Fred. Cuvy.—Fel. colo-
eolo, Fred. Cuy. Mammif., &c.
118 MAMMALIA.
elongated body; their very movable spine, which is provided
with muscles that strongly flex it; their narrow pelvis; their
short hair, that adheres closely to the skin, all unite to render
them good swimmers; and all the details of their anatomy con-
firm these first indicia.
We have as yet distinguished two genera only, Phoca and
Trichechus.
Puoca, Lin.
Seals have six or four incisors above, four or two below, pointed
canini and grinders to the number of twenty, twenty-two, or twenty-
four, all trenchant orconical, and without any tuberculous part what-
ever ; five toes to all the feet, the anterior ones regularly decreasing in
length from the thumb to the little toe, while in the hinder feet the
thumb and the little toe are the longest, and the intermediate ones
the shortest. The fore feet are enveloped in the skin of the body as
far“as the tarsus, the hinder ones almost to the heel. Between the
latter is ashort tail. The head ofa Seal bears a resemblance to that
of a Dog, whose intelligence and soft expressive look it also pos-
sesses. It is easily tamed, and soon becomes attached to its keeper,
or those who feed it. The tongue is smooth, and sloped at the end,
the stomach simple, cecum short, and the intestinal canallong, and
tolerably regular. These animals live on fish; always eat in the
water, and close their nostrils when they dive by a kind of
valve. As they remain a long time under water, it was supposed
that the foramen ovale remained open, as in the human fcetus—but
it is not so: there is, however, a large venous sinus in the liver,
which must assist them in diving by rendering respiration less ne-
cessary to the motion of the blood. Their blood is very abundant
and very black.
Puoca, properly so called, or without external ears.
The true Phoce have pointed incisors; all the toes enjoy a certain
degree of motion, and are terminated by pointed nails planted on the
edge of the membrane, which unites them.
They are subdivided, from the number of their incisors. The
Catocrpnata, Fr. Cuv. have six above and four below; such is the
Phoca vitulina, L.; Buff. XII, xlv, and Supp. VI, xlvi; PA.
littorea, Thienem. pl. vi. (The Common Seal.) From three
to five feet in length; of a yellowish grey, more or less shaded
and spotted with brown, according to its age; sometimes
brownish, with small yellow spots. When very old it becomes
whitish. Common on the coast of Europe in great herds. It
is also found far to the north ; we are even assured that it is this
CARNARIA. 119
species which inhabits the Caspian sea, and the great fresh
water lakes of Russia and Siberia, but this assertion does not
appear to be founded on an exact comparison. In fact, the
European seas contain several Phocz, which have long been
confounded, some of which are perhaps mere varieties of the
others.
Thus, some of them have the back covered with small cloud-
ed, confluent, brownish spots, on a yellowish ground—PA. his-
pida, Schreb. 86.(1) These are the most common ones of the
northern ocean. In others again the ground is dark, traversed
with undulating lines, which sometimes form rings—Ph. annel-
lata, Nils., Thienem. pl. ix—xii; Ph. fwitida, Bae &c.
A species more easily recognised is the
Ph. groenlandica, and P. oceanica; Eged. Grvaterit fig. A,
p- 62; Lepechin, Act. Petrop. I, part I, pl. vi—vii;
Thieneman, pl. xiv—xxi. (The Harp Seal.) Yellowish grey,
spotted with brown when young, afterwards marked by an ob-
lique black or brown scarf on each flank; the head of the old
male is black; length five feet. From the whole north of the’
globe.
Ph. barbata, Fabr.; Thienem. pl. i—iv. (The Bearded Seal.)
From the North, and surpasses all the preceding ones in its
size, which is from seven to eight feet; it is grey; browner
above, with a longitudinal blackish line that forms a sort of
cross upon thechanfrin. Its mustachios are thicker and stronger
than the others.
Ph. leucopla, Thienem. pl. xiii. (The White-nailed Seal.)
Is of a yellowish grey.
Ph. lagura, Cuv. (The Hare-tailed Seal.) Has the tail
white and woolly, &c.(3)
Srenoruincus, Fred. Cuv.
Four incisors above, and four or the molars deeply notched
into three points.
One species only is see. and that is from the Austral seas
—Ph. leptoniz, Blain. Size of the barbata; greyish above ;
yellowish beneath; nails small.
(1) I suspect we should refer to it the Ph. scopulicola, Thienem. pl. v.
(2) It is one of those represented by Fr. Cuv. under the name of ** Phoque
commun.”
(3) L only wish to mention those species which I consider sufliciently ascertain-
ed. The long catalogues of the Phoce, recently published, seem to me to multi-
, ply them a great deal too much.
4
R.
120 MAMMALIA.
PexaGus, Fred. Cuv.
Four incisors also, above and below, but their grinders are ob-
tuse cones, with a slightly marked heel before and behind. There
is one of them in the Mediterranean.
Ph. monachus, Gm.; Buff. Supp. VI, pl. xiii.(1) (The Monk.)
From ten to twelve feet in length, of a blackish brown, with a
white belly. It is particularly found among the Grecian and
Adriatic Islands, and is, most probably, the species best known
to the ancients.
STreMMarTopus, Fred. Cuy.
Four superior incisors, and two inferior; grinders compressed,
slightly trilobate, supported by thick roots. Such is the
Ph. cristata, Gm.; Phoca leonina, Fabr.; Eged. Groenl. pl.
vi;{Dekay, New York Lyc. I, pl. vii. (The Hooded Seal.)
Seven or eight feet long; a piece of Joose skin on the head,
which can be inflated at the pleasure of the animal, and is
drawn. over the eyes when it is menaced, at which times the
nostrils also are inflated like bladders. From the arctic
ocean.(2)
Finally, the Macroruinus, Fr. Cuv., has the incisors of the pre-
ceding, obtuse conical molars, and the muzzle resembling a short
movable proboscis or snout. The largest seal known is of this
subgenus ; the
Ph. leonina, L.; Sea-Lion of Anson; Sea-Wolf of Pernetty,
&c. Peron’s Voy. I, xxxii. (The Elephant Seal.) From twenty
to twenty-five feet in length; brown, the muzzle of the male
terminated by a wrinkled snout, which becomes inflated when
the animalis angry. It is common in the southern latitudes of |
the Pacific Ocean, at the Terra-del-Fuego, New Zealand, Chili,
&c. It constitutes an important object of the fisheries, on ac-
count of the oil in which it abounds. The
Orariss, Péron. Seals with external ears
Are worthy of being formed into a separate genus; because, inde-
pendently of the projecting external ears, the four superior middle
incisors have a double cutting edge, a circumstance hitherto un-
(1) It is the same individual described by Hermann, Soc. des Nat. de Berl.
TV, xii, xiii, under the name of monarchus.
(2) The mechanism by which this inflation is effected is not yet well under-
stood. See Dekay and Ludlow, Annals of the New York Lyceum, Vol. I, pp. 94
and 99. :
CARNARIA. 121
known in any animal ; the external ones are simple and smaller, and
the four inferior bifurcated. All the molars are simply conical, and
the toes of the fore feet almost immovable; the membrane of the
hind feet is lengthened out into a slip beyond each toe ; all the nails
are flat and slender.
Ph. jubata, Gm.; Sea-Lion of Steller, Pernetty, &c.; Buff.
Supp. VII, xlviii. From fifteen to twenty feet, and more, in
length ; fawn coloured ;° the neck of the male covered with hairs
that are more frizzled and thickly set than those on the rest of
the body. It might be said to be found in all the Pacific Ocean,
were it not that those from the straits of Magellan seem to dif-
fer from such as are taken at the Aleutian islands.
Ph. ursina, Gm.; Buff. Supp. VI, xlvii. (Lhe Sea Bear.)
Eight feet long, no mane, varying from brown to whitish.
From the north of the Pacific Ocean. Other Seals are found in
that sea which only differ from the ursina in size and colour :
such is the Petit phoque noir of Buffon(Ph. pusilia), Buff. XIII,
lili; the Vellow Seal of Shaw, &c.
Tricnecuus, Lin.(1)
The Morse resembles the Seal in its limbs, and the general form of
the body, but differs widely from it in the teeth and head. There
are no incisors nor canini in the lower Jaw, which is compressed an-
teriorly to pass between two enormous canini or tusks, which issue
from the upper one, and which project downwards, being sometimes
two feet long, and of a proportionable thickness. The enormous
size of the alveoli, requisite for holding such tremendous canini,
raises up the whole front of the upper jaw, giving it the shape of a
huge inflated jowl, the nostrils looking upwards, and not terminat-
ing the muzzle. The molars are all short, obliquely truncated
cylinders ; there are four of them on each side, above and below,
but, at a particular age, two of the upper ones fall out. Between
the canini are two incisors, similar to the molars, which most authors
-have not recognised as such, although they are implanted in the
intermaxillary bone. Between these again, in the young animal,
"are two more small pointed ones.
The stomach and intestines of the Morse are very similar to those
of the Seal. It appears that the fucus constitutes part of its food,
along with animal matters. One species only is as yet ascertained, the
Trich. rosmarus, L.;(2) Buff. XIII, liv; and better, Cook,
(1) Trichechus, from reié (hair), a name invented by Artedi for the Sea Cow.
(2) Shaw, however, suspects that there may be two distinguished by the greater
or less size of their trunks, and by their being more or less convergent.
Vou. I.—Q
~ 122 MAMMALIA.
Voy. Ill. (The Sea-Cow.) It inhabits the Arctic seas, sur-
. — passes the largest Ox in size, attains the length of twenty feet,
and is covered with a short yellowish hair. It is sought for on
account of its oil and,tusks; the ivory of which, although
rough grained, is employed in the arts. The skin makes ex-
cellent coach braces.(1)
ORDER IV.
MARSUPIALIA.
So many are the singularities in the economy of the Marsu-
pialia or pouched animals, as they are termed, which we for-
merly placed at the end of the Carnaria as a fourth family of
that great order, that it appears to us they should form a se-
parate and distinct one, particularly as we observe in them a
kind of representation of three very different orders. .
The first of all their peculiarities is the premature produc-
tion of their young, whose state of development at birth is
scarcely comparable to that of an ordinary foetus a few days
after conception. Incapable of motion, and hardly exhibiting
the germs of limbs and other external organs, these diminutive
beings attach themselves to the mamme of the mother, and
remain fixed there until they have acquired a degree of de-
velopment similar to that in which other animals are born.
‘The skin of the abdomen is almost always so arranged about
the mamme as to form a pouch in which these imperfect lit-
tle animals are preserved as in a second uterus; and to which,
long* after they can walk, they always fly for shelter at the
approach of danger. Two particular bones attached to the
pubis, and interposed between the muscles of the abdomen,
support the pouch. ‘These bones are also found in the male,
and even in those species in which we fold that forms the
pouch is scarcely visible.
(1) Previous to my arrangement, the Lamantins and Dugongs, much more
nearly allied to the Cetacea, were very improperly united with the Morses.
MARSUPIALIA. 123
The matrix of the animals of this family does not open by a
single orifice into the extreme end of the vagina, but commu-
nicates with this canal by two lateral tubes resembling handles.
The premature birth of the young appears to depend upon
this singular organization. The scrotum of the male, contrary
to what obtains in other quadrupeds, hangs before the penis,
which, when at rest, is directed backwards.
Another peculiarity of the Marsupialia is, that notwithstand-
ing a general resemblance of the species to each other, so stri-
king, that for a long time they were considered as one genus,
they differ so much in the teeth, the organs of digestion and
the feet, that if we rigorously adhered to these characters, we
should be compelled to separate them into several orders.
They carry us by insensible gradations from the Carnaria to
the Rodentia, and there are even some animals which have the
pelvis furnished with similar bones;, but which, from the want
of incisors or of all kinds of teeth, have been approximated to
the Edentata, where, in fact, we shall leave them, under the
name of Monotremata.
In a word, we would say that the Marsupialia form a dis-
tinct class, parallel to that of Quadrupeds, and divisible
into similar orders: so that if we were to arrange these two
classes into two columns ; the Sarigues, the Dasyuri, and the
Perameles would be opposite to the insectivorous Carnaria
with long canini, such as the Tenrecs and the Moles; the Pha-
langers and the Potoroos, opposite to the Hedge-hogs and
Shrews; the Kanguroo, properly so called, cannot be com-
pared with any thing; but the Phascolomys should be opposite
to the Rodentia. Finally, if we were to consider the bones
of the pouch only, and regard as Marsupialia all the animals
that possess them, the Ornithorinci and the Echidne would
form a group parallel to that of the Edentata.
_ Linneus arranged all the species he was acquainted with
under his genus Didelphis, a word signifying double uterus.
The pouch in some respects is in fact a second one.
The first subdivision of the Marsupialia is marked by long
canini, and small incisors in both jaws, back molars bristled
with points, and all the characters in general of the insecti-
Oty
124 MAMMALIA.
vorous Carnaria; the animals that compose it are also nevecily
similar to the latter in their regimen.
Dipevpuis, Lin.
The Opossums,(1) which of all the Marsupialia have been the longest
known, form a genus peculiar to America. They have ten incisors
above, the middle ones being rather the longest, and eight below;
three anterior compressed grinders and four posterior bristled
grinders, the superior ones triangular, and the inferior oblong,
which, with the four canini, make in all fifty teeth, the greatest num- °
ber hitherto observed in Quadrupeds. Their tongue is pdpillated,
and their tail prehensile and partly naked. Their hinder thumb is
long and very opposable to the other four toes, from which circum-
stance these animals are sometimes styled Pedimana; they have no
nail. Their extremely wide mouth, and great naked ears give them a
very peculiar physiognomy. The glans penis is bifurcated. They
are fetid and nocturnal animals, whose gait is slows; they remain on
trees, and there pursue Birds, Insects, &c., though not despising
fruit. Their stomach is simple and small, their cecum of a mid-
dling size and without any enlargements.
The females of certain species have a deep pouch in which are the
mammz, and in which they can enclose their young.
Did. virginiana, Penn. Hist. Quadr. 302.(2) (The Opos-
sum.) Almost the size of a Cat; fur, a mixture of black and
white ; ears, one side black, and the other white; head nearly all
white. Inhabits all America; steals at night into villages; at-
tacks fowls, eats their eggs, &c. The young ones at birth,
sometimes sixteen in number, weigh only a grain each. Al-
though blind and nearly shapeless, they find the mamme by
instinct, and adhere to them until they have attained the size
of a Mouse, which happens about the fiftieth day, at which
epoch they open their eyes. They continue,to return to the
pouch till they are as large as Rats. The term of pester in
the uterus is but twenty-six days.(3)
Did. Azzare, Temm. (The Gamba, or the Great ob
of Paraguay and Brazil.) Differs from the preceding in the
(1) Carigueia, according to Marcgrave, is their Brazilian name, whence we have
Sariguoi, Cerigon, Sarigue. They are called Micouré in Paraguay; Manicow in the
islands ; Opossum in the United States ; T’hlaquatzin in Mexico.
(2) It is the Sarigue des Illinois, and the Sarigue @ longs poils ; Buff. Supp. VU,
p- Xxxili and xxxiv ; Did. marsupialis, Schreb. pl. cxlv.
(3) See the letter of Dr B. S. Barton to M. Roume on the gestation of the Opos-
sum.
’
MARSUPIALIA. 125
black which marks the muzzle and nearly the whole of the
ears; the tail is also longer.
Did. marsupialis, and Did. cancrivora, L. 3 Buff. Supp. UI, liv.
(The Crab-eating Opossum.) Size of the preceding ; yellowish,
mixed with brown, with brown hairs; a brown streak on the
chanfrin. It frequents the marshes of the sea coast, where it
feeds chiefly on Crabs.(1)
Did. opossum, L.; Buff. X, xlv, xlvi. (The Four-eyed Opos-
sum.) Chesnut above, white below, a white or pale yellow spot
over each eye; posterior third of the tail white; larger than a
large Rat.
Other species possess no pouch, having a mere vestige of it ina
fold of the skin on each side of the abdomen. They usually carry
their young on their backs, the tails of the latter being entwined
around that of the mother.
Did. nudicauda, Geoft.; D. Inyaours dre hera, (The Bare-tailed
Opossum.) Fawn coloured; tail very long, and naked even at
its base; two whitish spots over each eye, one beneath.
Did. cayopollin,(2) Did. philander, and, Did. dorsigera, L.;
Buff. X, lv. (The Cayopollin.) A greyish fawn colour; the
circumference of the eyes and a longitudinal band on the chan-
frin brown; tail marked with black; size that of the Norway
Rat. The superior third of the tail furnished with hairs.
Did. cinerea, Temm. (The Cinereous Didelphis.) A
light ash colour, with blackish reflections ; some red on the
breast ; the posterior half of the tail white ; of the same size as
the preceding. From Brazil.
Did. murina, L.; Buff. X, lil, lili. (The Marmose.)(3) Fawn
coloured grey; a brown stripe, in the middle of which is the
eye; tail immaculate; less than a Rat.
(1) It is the pretended Great Oriental Philander of Seba of which Linnzus has
made‘his Did. marsupialis. Buffon, who has described the male, Supp. IIf, pl.
liii, erroneously thought the female had no pouch, which was the cause of the
improper establishment of a second species, Did. cancrivora, Gm., carcinophaga
Bodd. The Crab-eater is called at Cayenne pian, or puant.
(2) Cayopollin, the name of a species that inhabits the mountains of Mexico; hie
has, somewhat arbitrarily, been applied to this species in particular.
(3) Marmose, a name adopted by Buffon from a typographical error in the French
translation of Seba, who assures us in the text that it is called Marmot in Brazil.
The truth is, that the Dutch, in the time of Marcgrave, calledit Wood-Rat, and the
Brazilians Tuibi; Rat-de-bois is also its name among the French at Cayenne. Seba
must have rendered Bosch-ratte by Marmot.
N.B. There has been found, in the plaster quarries near Paris, the fossil skele-
ton of a Didelphis allied to the Marmose.
’
126 MAMMALIA.
Did, brachyura, Pall., Buff. Supp. VI, Ixi. (The Touan.)
Black, blackish ; flanks of a vivid red; belly white ; tail shorter
than the body». Less than a Rat. The three latter species are
from South America.
Finally, there is one known with palmated feet, which must
be aquatic; it is not ascertained whether or not it has a pouch
— it is the
Curronectgs, IIlig.(1)
Did. palmata, Geoft.; Lutra memina, Bodd.; La petite Loutre
de la Guiane, Buff. Supp. Ill. xxii. Brown above, with three
transverse grey bands, interrupted in ‘the middle, and white
below ; larger than a. ‘Norway Rat.
All the other Marsupialia inhabit eastern countries, New Holland
particularly, a land whose animal population seems chiefly to belong
to this family.
> Tuyacinus, Temm.(2)
The Thylacini are the largest of this first division. They are
distinguished from the Opossums by the hind feet having no thumb ;
‘ahairy, non-prehensile tail, and two incisors less in each jaw ; their
molars are of the same number. They consequently have forty-six
teeth; but the external edge of the three large ones is projecting and
trenchant, almost like the carnivorous tooth of a Dog; their ears
are hairy, and of a medium size... One species only i is known, the
_ Did. cynocephala, Harris! Link, Trans. TX, pl, xix, 1, and
Ency. Method., Mammif. Sipe pl. vii, f. 3. Size that¥of a
_ Wolf, but stands lower; grey ; transverse black stripes on the
crupper. It is very carnivorous, and pursues all small quadru-
peds. From Van Dieman’s Land. | ee
o. >
PuascocaLe, Temm. “ o"
The same number of teeth as the Thylacini, but the middle inci-
sors are longer than the others, and the back molars more bristled,
circumstances which approximate them more closely to the Sarigues.
They are also allied to them by their small size; their tail however
is not prehensile ; their hind thumb, though very short, is still very
apparent.
Did. penicillata, Shaw, Gen. Zool: oe a 0 NF Schreb.
CLI, B, L. Ash coloured; tail furnished with long black
(1) Chironectes, i. e. swimming with hands.
(2) Thylacinus, from 6vaexes purse. A species of Thylacinus has also been
found in the plaster quarries of Paris.
MARSUPIALIA. 127
hairs; size that of the Norway Rat: lives on the trees in New
Holland, and pursues insects. ."
Dasyurus minimus, Geoff., Schreb. pl. 152, B. C.. (The Dwarf
Phascogalis.) Scarcely larger than a mouse, fur soft and red-
dish. From the south of Van Dieman’s Land.
Dasyurus, Geoff.(1)
Two incisors and four grinders in each jaw less than the Opossums,
so that they have only forty-two teeth ; their tail, every where cover-
ed with long hairs, is not prehensile. The thumb of the hind.foot
is reduced to a tubercle, or has even totally disappeared. They are.
from New Holland, where they feed on insects and dead bodies ;
they penetrate into houses, where their voracity is very inconvenient,
&c. Their mouth is not so wide, their muzzle not so pointed as
those of the Opossums 3 their hairy ears arealso shorter. They do
not climb trees.
Did. ursina, Harr. Lin. Trans. IX, ‘xix, f. 2, and Encycl.,
Supp. f. 6. (The Ursine Opossum.) Long rough black hairs,
with some irregularly placed white spots ; the tail half as long
as the body, almost naked underneath. Inhabits the north of
Van Dieman’s Land, and is nearly the size of the Badger.
Das. macrourus, Geoff., Peron. Voy. pl. xxxili, Schreb. CLI,
B, a. (The Long-tailed Dasyurus.) Size of a Cat; tail as
long as the body; fur brown, spotted with white, both on the
_ body and tail. The tubercle. of the thumb is still well marked.
‘ in this species, but in the following ones it can no more be
seen.
Das. Maugei, Geoff., Voy. de Freycin. Zool. pl. iv, Schreb.
CLI, B, b. A kind of olive colour, spotted with white; no
spot on the tail; a little smaller than the preceding.
Did. viverrina, Shaw.,'Gen. Zool. CXI; White, Bot. Bay,
App. 285; Schreb. CLII, B, c. Black, spotted with white 5
nf spots on the tail; a third less than the first.
i
. Perametes, Geoff.(2)—Tuytacts, Illig.
The thumb of the hind foot short, like the first Dasyuri, and the
two following toes united by the membrane as far as the nails;
«the thumb and the little toe of their fore feet are simple tubercles,
‘ so that there seem to be but three toes. They have ten incisors
above, the external ones separate and pointed, and only six below ;
but their molars are the same as in the Opossums, so that they have
;
~~
(1) Dasyurus, hairy tail. See Mem. de M. Geoff., Ann. du Mus. If, p. 353, and
XV, p. 301. ' r '
(2) Pera, purse, Meles, Badger. See Mem. Geoff. Ann. du Mus. tom. IV.
< >»
128 MAMMALIA.
forty-eight teeth. Their tail is hairy, and not prehensile. The
great claws of their fore feet announce their habit of digging in the
earth ; and the tolerable length of their hind ones, a swiftness of
gait.
P. nasutus, G., Ann. du Mus. IV. The muzzle much elon-
gated ; ears pointed ; fur a greyish brown. At the first glance
it resembles a Tenrec.(1)
The species belonging to the second subdivision of the Mar-
supialia have two broad and long incisors in the lower jaw with
pointed and trenchant edges sloping forwards, and six cor-
responding ones in the upper jaw. Their superior canini
are also long and pointed, but all their inferior ones consist of
teeth so small that they are frequently hidden by the gum;
they are sometimes altogether wanting in the lower j jaw of the
last subgenus.
Their regimen is chiefly frugivorous; consequently their
intestines, the cecum particularly, are longer than in the
Opossum. The thumb is very large in all of them, and so
widely separated from the toes that it seems to slant back-
wards almost like that of Birds. It has no nail, and the two
following toes are united by the skin as far as the last pha-
lanx. It is from this circumstance that these animals have re-
ceived the name of Phalangers.(2) ¥
PHALANGISTA.
Puaxancista, Cuy.—Baxant1a, Illig.(3)
The true Phalangers have not the skin of the flank extended ; four
back molars in each jaw, with four points in two rows; in front a
large one, conical and compressed, and between it and the superior
canine two small and pointed ones, to which correspond the three
(1) The Péraméle Bougainville of Quoy and Gaymard does not differ specifically
from the nasutus. The Peram. obesula, Geoff. is not so authentic.
(2) The name of Phalanger was given by Buffon to two individuals he had ob- ©
served, on account of the union of the two toes of the foot. That of Philander is
not, as might be thought, derived from the Greek, but from the Malay word Pé-
landor, which means Rabbit, applied by the inhabitants of Amboyna to a species
of Kanguroo. Seba and Brisson haye used it indiscriminately for all the pouched
animals. The Phalangers, in the Moluccas, are called Couscous or Coussous. The
earlier travellers not haying’ properly distinguished them from the Sarigues, gave
cause to believe that this last genus was common to the two continents.
(3) Balantia, from Baaayrsoy, purse or pouch.
a a
MARSUPIALIA. 129
very small lower ones, of which we have just spoken. Their tail is
always prehensile.
The tail in some of them is in a great measure scaly. They live
on trees in the Moluccas, where they feed on Insects and fruit. At
the sight of a man they suspend themselves by their tail; and if he
gaze at them steadily for some time, they fall through lassitude.
They diffuse a very unpleasant odour, notwithstanding which their
flesh is eaten. :
There are several of them known, of various sizes and colours,
all of which are embraced under the Didelphis orientalis of Lin-
nzus. M. Temminck thinks he can separate them into species
as follows: Ph. ursina,T. (The Ursine Phalanger.) Nearly
the size of the civet; fur close, and of a blackish-brown; the
young ones a fawn-coloured brown. From the woods of the
island of Macassar.
Ph. chrysorrhous, T. (The Golden-cruppered Phalanger.)
Size of a large Cat; fur of an ash brown; white beneath; a
golden fawn colour on the croup. From the Moluccas.
‘Ph. maculata, T.; Buff. XIII, pl. ii; Voy. de Freycin. pl. vii;
Voy. du Duperr. pl. iv. (The Spotted Phalanger.) Size of a
Cat ; whitish, irregularly spotted or marbled with brown.
Ph. cavifrons, T.; Buff. pl. x, the female; and Voy. de Du-
perrey, the male. (The Hollow-fronted Phalanger.) The male
white ; the female fawn coloured, witha brown stripe along the
back. To these we must add
Ph. Quoy, Voy. de Freycin. pl. vi. (The Quoy Phalanger.)
A greyish-brown ; a blackish-brown longitudinal band on the
croup; top of the head a cinnamon-red ; cheeks, throat and
breast white.(1)
In others, which have hitherto been found in New Holland only,
the tail is hairy to the tip. —
Ph. vulpina; Did. lemurina and vulpina, Shaw; Bruno of Vicq.
d’Az.; White, Voy. 278. (The Fox-like Phalanger.) Size ofa
stout Cat; greyish-brown, paler beneath ; tail nearly all black.
Ph. Cookii, Cook’s last Voy. pl. viii. (The Phalanger of
Cook.) Less than a Cat ; brown above, white underneath ; head
and flanks red ; posterior third of the tail white.
Ph. Bougainvillit. (The Phalanger of Bougainville.) Size of
a Squirrel; ash coloured above, white underneath; the poste-
rior half of the tail black ; posterior half of the ear white)
(1) A very distinct species.
(2) A new species brought to France by M. de Bougainville from his last expedi-
tion.
Mion. 1.
130 ‘ MAMMALIA.
PETAURUS, Shaw.—PHALancisTA, Illig.
The Flying Phalangers have the skin of the flanks more or less
extended between the legs, like the Flying Squirrels among the Ro-
dentia, which enables them to sustain themselves momentarily in the
air, and make greater leaps. They also are only found in New Hol-
land.
Some of the species have inferior canini, but they are very
small. Their superior canini and their three first molars, above
and below, are very pointed ; each of their back molars has four
points. (1)
Ph. pygmxa; Did. pygmza, Shaw, Gen. Zool. pl. 1145
Schreb. CXLIV, A. (The Flying Dwarf Phalanger.) Of the
colour and nearly the size of a Mouse; the hairs of the tail
regularly arranged on its two sides like the barbs of a quill.
Other species have no inferior canini, while the superior ones are
very small. Their four back molars present four points, but they
are slightly curved into a crescent, which is very nearly the form of
those of the Ruminantia. In front, there are two above and one
below, less complicated. By this structure they are rendered still
more frugivorous than all the preceding species.
Ph. petaurus ; Shaw, Gen. Zool. pl. cxii, White, Voy. 288.
(The Great Flying Phalanger.) Resembles the Taguan and the
Galeopithecus in size ; its fur is soft and close ; its tail long and
flattened ; brownish-black above, white beneath. They are of
various shades of brown ; some are variegated, and others per-
fectly white.
Ph. sciurea; Shaw, pl. cxiii, 3. (The Bordered Flying Pha-
langer.) Size of the brown Rats; ash coloured above, white be-
neath ; a brown line commencing on the chanfrin and running
along the back; edges of the lateral membrane brown; tail
tufted ; the length of the body and its posterior portion black.
From the islands near New Guinea.
P. Peroniit, Desm. (The Hairy-footed Flying Phalanger.)
A reddish-grey; front of the ears and under part of the body
whitish 3 toes very hairy and brown; tail black, longer than the
body, and white at the end.
Ph. macroura; Shaw, pl. cxiii, f. 2. (The Long-tailed Fly-
ing Phalanger.) A deep brown above, white beneath ; size of
the brown Rat ; tail slender, about half as long again as the body.
Our third subdivision has the incisors and superior canini
a >
(1) It is of this first division that Desmarets has made his genus ACROBATE.
MARSUPIALIA. 131
of the second. The two toes of the hind feet are also simi-
larly united; but the posterior thumbs and inferior canini are
wanting. It contains but a single genus.
HyrstpryMNvs, Illig.(1)
The Potoroos are the last animals of this family which retain any
trait of the general characters of the Carnaria. Their teeth are
nearly the same as those of the Phalangers, and they still have
pointed canini above. The two superior middle incisors are pointed,
and longer than the others ; the two inferior ones project forwards.
In front they have a long trenchant denticulated molar followed by
four others with four blunt tubercles. What particularly distin-
guishes these animals is their hind legs, which are much larger in
proportion than the fore ones, that have no thumbs, and the two first
toes united as far as the nail; so that, at a first glance, it seems as
though there were but three toes, the middle one having two nails.
They frequently walk upon two feet, at which times they employ
their long and strong tail to support themselves. They have then
the form and habits of the Kanguroos, from which they only differ
in their superior canine tooth. They are frugivorous; their sto-
mach is large, divided into two sacs, and has several inflations ; but
their cecum is rounded and of a middling size.
Hyps. minor ; Macropus minor, Shaw; White, Bot. Bay, 286 5
Voy. de Freycin. pl. 10. (The Kanguroo Rat.) Size of a small
Rabbit; of a mouse-grey. From New Holland, where it is
called Potoroo. It is the only species known.
The fourth subdivision only differs from the third in the
absence of all canini whatsoever, it is the
Macroprus, Shaw.—Hatmarurvs, Illig.(2)
The Kanguroos have all the characters we have assigned to the pre-
ceding genus, except that the superior canine is wanting, and that
their middle incisors do not project beyond the others. The ine-
quality of their legs is still greater, so that on all fours they can only
walk slowly and with difficulty; they make vigorous leaps however
with their hind feet, the great middle nail of which (almost in the
shape of a hoof) also serves them for purposes of defence ; for, by
supporting themselves on one foot and their enormous tail, they can
inflict a severe blow with that which is at liberty. They are very
(1) rforrevmvos ; 1. e. raised behind.
(2) Halmaturus, tail fit for leaping.
a
ag
132 MAMMALIA.
gentle herbivorous animals, their grinders presenting mere trans-
verse ridges. They have five teeth in all, the front ones being more
or less trenchant, and falling out with age ; so that in old Kanguroos
we frequently find but three. Their stomach consists of two long
sacs that are inflated at severalwplaces like a colon. The cecum
also is large and has inflations. The radius allows a complete rota-
tion of the fore-arm.
In these two genera the penis is not bifurcated, but the female or-
gans of generation are similar to those of other Marsupialia.
M. major, Shaw; Didelphis gigantea, Gm.; Schreb. CLIII.
(The Gigantic Kanguroo.) Sometimes six feet in height. It
is the largest of the New Holland animals ; was discovered by
Cook in 1779, and is now bred in Europe. Its flesh is said to
resemble venison. ‘The young ones, which at birth are only an
inch long, remain in the maternal pouch even when they are old
enough to graze, which they effect by stretching out their necks
from their domicile, while the mother herself is feeding. These
animals live in troops, conducted by the old males. They
make enormous leaps. It appears that we have hitherto con-
founded under this name several species of New Holland and
its neighbouring countries, whose fur, more or less grey, only
varies by a trifling difference of shade.(1) There is another
species much more anciently known :
M. Brunii; Did. Brunii, Gm.; Schreb. CLIII.; called Pelandor
Aroé by the Malays of Amboyna. (The Kanguroo of Aroé.)
Larger than a Hare; brown above, fawn coloured beneath.
Found in the islands near Banda, and in those of Solor. Eu-
ropean naturalists had not paid sufficient attention to the de-
scriptions of the above species given by Valentine and Le Bruyn.
M. elegans; Halma. elegans, Per. Voy. t. xxvii. (The Ele-
gant Kanguroo.) Size of a large Hare; transversely striped
with brown on a greyish-white ground. Found at the island of
St Peter.
The fifth subdivision has two long incisors in the lower jaw
(1) M. Geoff. distinguishes the Kanguroo enfumé, in which the grey is deeper ;
the Kanguroo @ moustaches, which has some white on the front of the upper lip ; the
Kanguroo a cow rouz, a little less than the others, with some red on the nape of the
neck. Messrs Lesson and Garnot also describe a brown Kanguroo which they call
Oualabate, Voy. de Freycin. pl. ix. We shall also probably be obliged to make
new species of the Kanguroo roux-cannelle, (K. laniger, Quoy and Gaym.) Voy. de
Freycin. pl. ix ; and of the Kanguroo cendré-bleuatre ; but all these Quadrupeds re-
quire to be examined at various ages, and we must ascertain the influence of age
and sex upon their colours, previous to a final establishment of the species.
. ee wae
. » ‘ . * 94.4 1
v » + . *” *. L!
j
*.
MARSUPIALIA. 133
but no caninis in the upper, two long incisors in front, a few
small ones on the sides, and two small canines. It compre-
hends but one genus.
Koata, Cuv.—Lirurus, Gold.—Puascotarcros, Blain.
The Koale have a short, stout bodys; short legs, and no tail. The
toes of their fore féet, five in number, when about to seize any object,
separate into two groups; the thumb and index on one side, and the
remaining three on the other. The thumb is wanting on the hind
foot ; the two first toes of which are united like those of the Phalan-
gers and the Kanguroos. One species only is known :
K. cinerea; Lipurus cinereus, Gold.; Schreb. CLV, A, a. (The
Koala.) Ash coloured ; passes one part of its life in trees, and
the other in burrows it excavates at their foot. The mother
carries her young one for a long time on her back.
Finally, our sixth division of the Marsupialia, or the
Puascotomys, Geoff.(1)
Consists of animals which are true Rodentia in the teeth and intes-
tines, their only relation to the Carnaria consisting in the articu-
lation of their lower jaws; and in a rigorously exact system, it would
be necessary to class them with the Rodentia. We should even
have placed them there, had we not been led to them by a regular
uninterrupted series from the Opossums to the Phalangers, from the
latter to the Kanguroos, and from the Kanguroos to the Phascolo-
mys ; and finally, were it not that the organs of generation are every
way exactly similar to those of the Marsupialia.
They are sluggish animals, with large, flat heads, and bodies that
look as if they had been crushed. They are without a tail ; have five
nails on each of the fore feet, and four, with a small tubercle, in
place of a thumb, on each of the hind ones, all very long and fit for
digging. Their gait is excessively slow. They have two long in-
cisors in each jaw, almost similar to those of the Rodentia; and
each of their grinders has two transverse ridges.
They feed on grass; their stomach is pyriform, and their cecum
short and wide, furnished like that of Man, and of the Ourang-Ou-
tang, with a vermiform appendage. The penis is bifurcated, like that
of the Opossums. One species only is known, the
Phas. ursinus ; Didelphis ursina, Shaw; Peron. Voy. pl. xxxviii,
(The Wombat.) Size of a Badger; fur abundant, of a more
(1) Phascolomys, a pouched rat, from gacxaacy and us.
.
134 MAMMALIA.
or less yellowish brown. It is found in King’s Island to the
south of New Holland, where it lives in its burrow. Its flesh
excellent. (1)
ORDER V.
RODENTIA:
We have just seen, in the Phalangers, canini so very small,
that we cannot consider them assuch. ‘The nutriment of these
animals, accordingly, is chiefly derived from the vegetable
kingdom. ‘Their intestines are long and their cecum ample;
and the Kanguroos, which have no canini whatever, subsist
upon. vegetables only. The Phascolomys might stand first in
that series of animals of which we are about to speak, and
which have a system of mastication still less complete.
Two large incisors in each jaw, separated from the molars
by an empty space, cannot seize a living prey nor tear flesh; .
they cannot even cut the food, but they serve to file, and by
continued labour, to reduce it into separate molecules, in a
word, to gnaw it; hence the term Rodentia or Gnawers,
which is applied to animals of this order. It is thus that they
successfully attack the hardest substances, frequently feeding
on wood and the bark of trees. The more easily to accom-
plish this object, the incisors have no thick enamel except in
front, so that their posterior edges wearing away faster than
the anterior, they are always naturally sloped. Their pris-
matic form causes them to grow from the root as fast as they
wear away at the edge; and this tendency to increase in
(1) M. Bass has described an animal, externally similar to the Phascolomys, and
to which he also gives the name of Wombat, but which has six incisors, two canines
and sixteen molars in each jaw. If there isno erroneous combination of the two
different descriptions, it will form an additional subgenus to place near the Péra-
meéles. \lliger has already established it under the name of Amblotis, from zu fawtus,
abortus. See Petersb. Mem. 1803—1806, p- 444, and the Bulletin des Se. No. 72,
An. XI. ; ;
7 +
a
RODENTIA. 135
length is so powerful, that if one of them be lost or broken,
its antagonist in the other jaw having nothing to oppose or
comminute, becomes developed to a most monstrous extent.
The lower jaw is articulated by a longitudinal condyle, in
such a way as to allow of no horizontal motion, except from
back to front, and vice versa, as is requisite for the action of
gnawing. The molars also have flat crowns, whose enamelled.
eminences are always transverse, so as to be in opposition to
the horizontal motion of the jaw, and to increase the power of .
trituration.
The genera in which these eminences are simple lines,
and the crown is very flat, are more exclusively frugivorous ;
those in which the eminences of the teeth are divided into
blunt tubercles are omnivorous; while the small number of
such as have no points saore readily attack other animals, and
approximate somewhat co the Carnaria.
The form of the body in the Rodentia is generally such,
that the hinder party of it exceed those of the front; so that
they rather leap than walk. In some of them this dispropor-
tion is even as excessive as it is in the Kanguroos.
The intestines of the Rodentia are very long; their stomach
simple, or but little divided; and their cecum very volumi-
nous, even more so than the stomach. In the subgenus My-
oxus, however, this intestine is wanting.
In the whole of this class the brain is almost smooth and —
without furrows; the orbits are not separated from the tem-
poral fosse, which have but little depth, and the eyes are al-
together directed laterally. The zygomatic arches, thin and
curved below, announce the weakness of the jaws; the fore-
arms have nearly lost the power of rotation, and their two
- bones are often united; in a word, the inferiority of these ani-
mals is visible in most of the details of their orgamiation.
Those genera however which possess stronger clavicles have
a certain degree of dexterity, and use their fore feet to con-
_ vey their food to the mouth.
Some of them even climb with facility: such is the
is
Li uation «4
Fi ORK Ne
136 MAMMALTA.
Scrurvus, Lin.
Squirrels are distinguished by their strongly compressed inferior
incisors, and by their long tail furnished with hairs. They have four
toes before, and five behind. The thumb of the fore foot is some-
times marked by a tubercle. They have in all four grinders, vari-
ously tuberculated, and a very small additional one above in front,
that very soon falls. The head is large, and the eyes projecting and
lively. They are light and active animals, livigg on trees, and feed-
ing on fruits.
Sciurus, Cuy.
In the Squirrel, properly so called, the hairs of the tail are ar-
ranged on the sides, so as to resemble a feather. There are a great
many species in the two continents.
Se. vulgaris, Buff. VIL, xxxii, Schreb. pl. 212. (The Common
Squirrel.) The back of a lively red; belly white; ears
terminated by a tuft of hair. Those of the north, in winter,
become of a beautiful bluish ash colour, producing the fur
called minever when taken only from the back, and vair (by the
French) whenit consists of the whole skin.
The American species have no pencils to their ears. Such
are
Se. cinereus, L.; Petit-Gris, of Buff. X, xxv. (The Grey
Squirrel of Carolina.) Larger than that of Europe; ash co-
loured, with a white belly. See Append. VIII of Am. Ed.
Sc. capistratus, Bosc.3(1) Sc. cinereus, Schreb. CCXIII, B.
(The Masked Squirrel.) Ash coloured; head black; muzzle,
ears and belly white. Both these species vary in being more
or less brown—they are sometimes entirely black.(2)
The greater number of the species belonging to the eastern
continent are also destitute of these nus: One of the most
beautiful is the
Se. maximus and macrourus,(3) Gm.; Buff. Supp. VII, Ixxii.
(The Large Squirrel of India.) Nearly the size of a Cat; above
black ; the flanks and top of the head of a beautiful bright ma-
ronne; the head, and all the under parts of the body, and the ~
(1) See Append. VIII for some observations on our author’s arrangement of the
American Squirrels. 4m. Ed.
(2) The Se. vulpinus, the carolinensis, and the niger appear to be mere yarieties
of this species. [See Append. VIII of Am. Ed.)
(S) A comparison ofthe figure of Pennant with that of Sonnerat is sufficient to
prove that they represent the same animal.
by 7 iit J , a § ,
Pe . hr i . eae OR as ¥ + . ‘# %
RODENTIA. 137
inside of the limbs pale yellow ; a maronne coloured band behind
the cheek. It inhabits the palms, and is extravagantly fond of
the milk of the cocoa-nut.
There are, also, several Squirrels in warm climates, that are
remarkable for the longitudinal bands which vary their fur.
Such are the
Sc. getulus, L.; Buff. X, xxvi. (The Barbaresque.) The
bands of which extend to the tail, and even on it.
Se. palmarum, L.; Buff. X, xxvi. (The Palmist.) On which
the stripes are confined to the back.
It is probable that we shall have to separate from the Squirrels
certain species which have cheek-pouches like the Hamsters, and
pass their lives in subterraneous holes, the Yama of Mliger. For
instance the
Sc. striatus, L.; Buff. X, xxviii. .(The Ground Squirrel.)
Which is found throughout all the north of Asia and America,
particularly in the pine forests. The tail is more scantily sup-
plied with hairs than that of the European Squirrel; the ears
smooth, and skin brown, with five black stripes and two white
ones.
We ought also, most probably, to distinguish the Guerlinguets,
a species with a long, and almost round tail, and an enormous pen-
dant scrotum. They are found in both continents.(1)
The following have been separated already.
Preromys, Cuv.(2)
Or the Flying Squirrels, to which the skin of the flank, extending
between the fore and hind legs, imparts the faculty of supporting
themselves for a moment in the air, and of making very great leaps.
There are long bony appendages to their feet, which support a part
of this lateral membrane.
There is a species in Poland, Russia, and Siberia.
Sc. volans, L.; Schreb. CCXXIII. (The Flying Squirrel.)
Ash-coloured grey above; white underneath; size of a Rat;
the tail only half the length of the body. It lives solitarily in
the forests.
One from North America.
Sc. voluccella, L.; Buff. X, xxi. (The American Flying
Squirrel.) Reddish-grey above ; white beneath ; size less than
(1) We haye found however in the Tamiz and Guerlinguets the same kind of
teeth as in the Squirrels and Pteromys.
(2) Pteromys, Winged Rat.
Von. I.—S
138 MAMMALIA.
that of the preceding; tail three-fourths as long as the body.
It lives in troops in the prairies of North America.
There is one found in the Indian Archipelago, that is nearly
the size of a Cat; the male of a fine lively maronne above, and
red underneath 3 the female brown above and whitish under-
neath. It is the
Sc. petaurista, L.; Buff. Supp. III, xxi, and VU, Ixvii. (The
Taguan.) The same place produces another small one, the
Sc. sagitta, L. A deep brown above; white beneath ; distin-
guished from other species, the small ones especially, by its
membrane, which, as in the Taguan, forms an extremely acute
projecting angle behind the tarsus.(1)
M. Geoffroy has very properly separated from this genus the
Cuerromys, Cuy. (2)
Or the Aye-Ayes, whose inferior incisors, much more compressed,
and above all, more extended from front to back, resemble plough-
shares. Each foot has five toes, of which four of the anterior are
excessively elongated, the medius being more slender than the
others ; in the hind feet the thumb is opposable to the other toes 3
so that they are in this respect among the Rodentia, what the Opos-
sums are among the Carnaria. The structure of their head is
otherwise very different from that of the other Rodentia, and is re-
lated to the Quadrumana in more points than one.
There is only one species of the Aye-Aye known. It was dis-
covered at Madagascar by Sonnerat. Itis the Cheir. Madagas-
cariensis ; Sc. Madagascar., Gm.; Buff. Supp. VII, Ixviii. (The
Aye-Aye.) Size of a Hare, of a brown colour, mixed with yel-
low ; tail long and thick, with stout black bristles; ears large
and naked. It is a nocturnal animal, to which motion seems
painful; it burrows under ground, and uses its slender toe to
convey food to its mouth.
Linneus and Pallas united in one single group, under the name of
Mus, Lin.,
All the Rodentia furnished with clavicles, which they could not dis-
tinguish by some very sensible external character, such as the tail
of the Squirrel or that of the Beaver, from which resulted the utter
impossibility of assigning to them any common character; the
greater number had merely pointed lower incisors, but even this was
subject to exceptions.
(1) Add Pt. hudsonius, Gm. Am. Ed. WEYTeT P
(2) Chetromys, arat with hands. .
RODENTIA. 139
Gmelin has already separated from them the Marmots, Dormice,
and the Jerboas; but we carry their subdivision much further, from
considerations founded on the form of their grinders.
Arctomys,(1) Gm.
The Marmots, it is true, have the inferior incisors pointed like
those of the greater number of animals comprehended in the great ge-
nus Mus; but their grinders, like those of the Squirrel, amount to five
on each side above, and four below, all bristled with points 5 accord-
ingly, some species are inclined to eat flesh and feed upon insects,
as well as grass. There are four toes and a tubercle in place of a
thumb to the fore feet, and five toes to the hind ones. In other re-
spects these animals are nearly the direct reverse of the Squirrels,
being heavy, having short legs, a middle sized or short hairy tail,
and a large flat head, passing the winter in a state of torpor, and
shut up in deep holes, the entrance of which they close with a heap |
of grass. They live in societies, and are easily tamed. Two spe-
cies are known in the eastern continent.
Arct. alpinus; Mus alpinus, L.; Buff. VIII, xxviii. (The
Alpine Marmot.) Large as a Hare; tailshort ; fur yellowish
grey, with ash coloured tints about the head. It lives in high
mountains, immediately below the region of perpetual snow.
Arct. bobac;'M. bobac, 1..; Pall. Glir. V; Schreb. CCIX.
(The Bobac.) Size of the preceding; of a yellowish grey,
tinted with red about the head. Inhabits low mountains and
hills, from Poland to Kamschatka, and frequently digs its bur-
row in the hardest soil.(2)
America also produces some species.
Arct. monaz; Buff. Supp. II, xxviii. (The Maryland
Marmot.) Grey ; tail blackish, as well as the top of the head.
Arct. empetra, Pall.; Schreb. CX. Less than the preceding ;
grey ; red beneath.
SPERMOPHILUS, Fred. Cuv.
We apply this name to those Marmots that have cheek pouches.
The superior lightness of their structure has caused them to be
called Ground Squirrels. Eastern Europe produces one species:
M. citillus, L.; Buff. Supp. II, xxxi. (The Souslik or Zizel.)
A pretty little animal, of a greyish brown, watered or mottled
(1) Arctomys, Bear-Rat.
(2) Russian Travellers in Bucharia mention some other Marmots, fret. fulvus,
Aret. lepto-dactylus, Arct. musogaricus, which are not yet perhaps sufficiently distin-
guished from the Bobac or from the Souslik.
140 MAMMALIA.
with white, the spots very small, which is found from Bohemia
to Siberia. It has a peculiar fondness for flesh, and does not
spare even its own species.
North America has several species of them, one of which is
remarkable by the thirteen fawn coloured stripes which extend
along the back on a blackish ground. It is the Thirteen striped
Souslik, Arct. 13-lineatus, Harl.; or Sciurus 13-lineatus, Mitchell ;
or Arct. Hoodti, Sabine, Lin. Trans. XIII, pl. xxix.(1)
There is one of the Rodentia which it appears we must approxi-
mate to the Marmots, that is remarkable for living in large troops
in immense burrows, which have even been styled villages. It is
called the Prairie Dog or Barking Squirrel, the latter appellation
arising from its voice, which resembles the bark of a small Dog.
It is the Arct, ludovicianus, of Say, Jour. to the Rocky Mountains,
1,451. M. Rafinesque, who states it has five toes to each foot,
makes it the type of his genus Cynomys.
Myoxus, Gm.(2)
The Dormice have pointed lower incisors, and four grinders, the
crown of each of which is divided by enamelled lines.
They are pretty little animals, with soft fur, a hairy and even
tufted tail, and a lively eye, which live on trees like Squirrels, and
feed on fruit. Of the numerous order of the Rodentia, this is the
only subgenus in which there is no cecum. They become torpid in
winter like the Marmots, and pass through it in the most profound
lethargy.(3)
M. glis, L.; Buff. VIII, xxiv. (The Fat Dormouse:) Size
of a Rat; ashy grey-brown above, whitish underneath ; of a
deeper brown around the eyes; tail very hairy the whole of its
length, and disposed somewhat like that of a Squirrel, and fre-
quently a little forked at the extremity. It inhabits the south
of Europe, and nestles in the hollows of trees and fissures of
rocks. Itsometimes attacks small birds. This is probably the
Rat, fattened by the ancients, among whom it was considered a
delicacy of the very highest description.(4)
(1) Add Arct. Parrii, Richards., App. Parry’s Voy.—Several of the Marmots
announced in the travels of Lewis and Clarke, Parry, Franklin, &e. Arct. Frank-
linii, Richardsonii, pruinosa, seem to belong to this subgenus. See Sabine, Lin.
Trans. XII, pl. xxvii, xxviii, &c.
(2) Myoxus, Rat with a pointed nose.
(3) So natural is this to them, that a dormouse from Senegal, (M. Coupeii)
which had never experienced it in its native country, fell into a profound sleep in
Europe the moment it was exposed to the cold.
(4) The M.dryas of some authors (Schreb. 220, B) does not appear to me to
differ from the Fat Dormouse.
RODENTIA. 14h
M. nitela, Gm.; Buff. VIII, xxv. (The Garden Dormouse.)
Somewhat less than the preceding; greyish brown above ;
white underneath ; black round the eye, which extends to the
shoulder ; tail tufted and black, tuft white. Common in the
gardens of Europe, where it shelters itself in holes about the
walls, and does much injury to trees.
M. avellanarius, L.; Buff. VIII, xxvi. (The Common Dor-
mouse.) Sizeofa Mouse ; cinnamon red above ; white beneath ;
hairs of the tail somewhat disposed like a feather. From the
forests of all Europe. It constructs its nest of grass on low
branches, to bring up its young; the rest of the time, and par-
ticularly during winter, it remains in the hollows of trees.(1)
We should place near the Dormice, the
Ecuimys, Geoff.—Lowncnergs, Illig.(2)
Four grinders also, but formed in a peculiar way ; the upper ones
consisting of two blades, bent into the shape of a V, and the under
ones of one blade only that is bent, and of another that is simple.
The fur of several species is harsh, and intermixed with flattened
spines or prickles, like sword blades. From America. One of them,
Ech. chrysuros, Schreb. CLXX, B ; Lerot a queue dorée, Buff.
Supp. VII, 72. (The Golden-tailed Echimys.) More than
twice the size of the Brown Rat; it is a beautiful animal, of a
chesnut brown colour; white belly ; an elongated crest of hairs,
and a white longitudinal band on the head; the tail is long and
black ; the posterior half yellow. From Guiana.
Ech. rufus; Rat épineux, Azzara, Voy. pl. xiii. (The Red
Echimys.) Size of a Rat, and of a reddish grey; tail shorter
than the body. It is found in Guiana, Brazil, and Paraguay.
It excavates long subterraneous galleries.
Others, again, have merely the ordinary kind of hair, more or less
rough. The most remarkable is the
Ech. dactylicus, Geoff. (The Long-toed Echimys.) Which
is still larger than the chrysuros, and has the two mid-
dle toes of the fore feet double the length of the lateral ones.
Its scaly tail is longer than the body; its fur is a yellowish
grey, and the hairs on its nose forma crest directed in front.(3)
(1) Add Myoxus Coupeii, Fred. Cuv. Mammif.
(2 Echimys, or Spiny Rat. Am. Ed.
(3) Add the Echimys of Cayenne, the Silky Echimys. I suspect the Mus. para-
doxus, Thomas, Lin, Trans. XI, (Herrromys, Lesson) differs from the Echimys in
its cheek-pouches only. However, not having seen its teeth, I cannot arrange it.
142 MAMMALIA.
Hypromys, Geoff.
The Hydromys have many external points of relation to the Echi-
mys, but they are distinguished from all other Rats by their hind
feet, two-thirds of which are palmated; their two molars have also
a peculiar character in the crown, which is divided into obliquely
quadrangular lobes, whose summits are hollowed out like the bowl
ofa spoon. They are aquatic.
Several of these animals have been sent to Europe from Van
Dieman’s land, some of which have the belly white, and others
fawn coloured, but all of a deep brown above, with a long tail
which is black at the base, and the posterior half white. They
are sometimes double the size of the brown Rat. Hydromys
leucogaster, and Hyd. chrysogaster, Geoff. An. Mus. VI, pl.
XXXVI.
Carromys, Desmar.
The Houtias have four molars every where with flat crowns, the
enamel of which is folded inwards so that it forms three angles on
the external edge, and one only on the internal edge of the upper
teeth, and the inverse in the lower ones. The tail is round and
scantily pilose ; they have, like the Rats, five toes to the hind foot,
and four, with the rudiment of a thumb, to the fore feet ; their form
is that of a Rat; as large as a Rabbit or Hare. ‘Two species are
known.
Cap. fournieri, Desmar., Mem. de la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de
Par. I, 1823. (The Congo Houtia.)(1) Brown; muzzle and
top of the neck whitish; tail brown, but half the length of the
body.
Cap. prehensilis, Poessig. Less than the preceding ; brown,
with a whitish throat ; tail red, as long as the body, and partly
naked.at the end. Both species inhabit the island of Cuba, and
together with the @goutis, at the time of the discovery, consti-
tuted the principal game of the Indians.
Mus, Cuv.
The true Rats have three molars every where, of which the ante-
rior is the largest; its crown is divided into blunt tubercles, which
by being worn, give it the shape of a disk, sloped in various direc-
tions; the tail is long and scaly. These animals are very injurious
from their fecundity, and the voracity with which they devour every
(1) This is the Zsodon pilorides, Say, Zool. Journ, No. 2, p. 229.
RODENTIA. 143
thing that comes within their reach. There are three species which
have become quite common in our houses, viz.
M. musculus, L.; Buff. VI, xxxix. (The Common Mouse. )
Universally known.
M. rattus, L.; Buff. VII, xxxvi. (The Black Rat.) Of which
no mention is made by the ancients, and which appears to have
entered Europe in the middle century. It is more than double
the size of the Mouse in each of its dimensions. The fur is
blackish. Several individuals have been occasionally found
connected by the interlacing of their tails; constituting what
the Germans style the King of Rats.(1)
M. decumanus, Pall.; Buff. VIII, xxvii. (The Norway or
Brown Rat.) Which did not pass into Europe till the eigh-
teenth century, and is now more common in large cities than
the Black Rat itself. It is larger than the latter by one-fourth,
and differs from it also by its reddish-brown hair.(2)
These two large species appear to have originated in the
East, and have been transported in ships, together with the
Mouse, to all parts of the globe.
Eastern Tartary and China have a Rat equal to the decu-
manus.
M. caraco, Pallas, Glir. XXIII; Schreb. clxxvii. (The Ca-
raco Rat.) Of a light colour ; tail alittle shorter than the pre-
ceding, and the jaws stronger.
There is another in India, one-fourth larger than the Brown
Rat, the Rat perchal, Buff. Supp. VII. Ixix, which is of a red-
dish brown. There is a large one in the Indian Archipelago,
the
M. setifer, Horsf. Jay. Of a blackish brown. These last
two species are bristled over with setaceous hairs, which ex-
tend beyond the others.
One of the largest and most mischievous Rats known is the
M. pilorides, Pall. and Gm. (The Musk-Rat of the Antilles.)
Fifteen inches in length without the tail, which is still longer
than the body; hair coarse, of a deep black above, and whitish
beneath.(3)
(1) See Bellerman on the King of the Rats (in German), Berlin, 1820.
(2) It appears to belong to Persia, where it lives in burrows. It was not till
1727, that, after an earthquake, it arrived at Astracan, by swimming across the
Volga.
(3) Pallas and Gmelin erroneously describe it as being entirely white. The
earlier historians of the colonies attribute to it the above colours, which are pre-
cisely such as we have seen on the animal.
144 MAMMALIA.
Fewer species have been observed of the size of the Mouse.
M. cahirinus, Geoff., Descr. de VEg. Mammif. (The Cairo
Mouse.) Spines on the back in place of hairs—noticed by
Aristotle.
One species only is known in France that does not reside in
houses, the MM. sylvaticus. (Field Mouse.) Buff. VII, xli,
which is hardly larger than the Mouse, and is distinguished
from it by its red fur. It does much injury to trees, and some-
times penetrates into gardens.
It seems, however, that in some of the provinces there is a
smaller and grey species, which has also been observed in Eng-
land, (WZ. messorius, Shaw, Vol. II, Part 1, Frontisp.) and a
third still more diminutive (JZ. pumilus, Fr. Cuv. Mammif.).(1)
Warm climates produce Rats, similar in every particular to those
of which we have just spoken, except that their tails are more
hairy.(2)
Gereittus, Desm.—MeEnriongs, Illig.
The Gerbils have molars that differ very little from those of Rats,
merely becoming sooner worn, so as to form transverse elevations.
Their superior incisors are furrowed with a groove ; their hind feet
(1) To this division, most probably, belong the M. agrarius, M. minutus, M. so-
ricinus, M. vagus, M. betulinus, M. striatus, M. barbarus, Schreb.
- Here also should come the enormous Mus giganteus, Hardw. Linn. Trans. VII,
XXViil.
There should be likewise added the M. pumilio, Sparm. the M. cyanus, Molina,
and several other species, some of which are not even mentioned by authors, and
others which are described with too little comparison. This is the reason why most
of the Rats of Azzara cannot be properly classed until they are re-examined. The
same observation applies to a great many of the Rodentia of M. Rafinesque. Their
descriptions are too short to be of any use. r
(2) Hypudzus variegatus, Lichtenst. var. flava—Meriones syenensis, Id. to which
must be added the .@rvicolu messor, Le Conte, Arv. hortensis, Harl. or Sygmodon,
Say, distinguished however by hairy ears, like the Otomys.
Another group, with hairy tails also, but whose teeth wear away faster, will in-
clude the Hypudzus obesus, Lichtenst. the Mus ruficaudatus, Id. His Meriones se-
' riceus should form a third, characterized by the projecting ridges of the molars,
which alternately catch in each other.
We then have to group the Weotoma floridanum of Say, or the Arvicola florida-
nus of Harlan, and the Arvicola gossypina, Le Conte, two Rats which, size excepted,
are very similar even in their colours, whose teeth, provided with roots, if worn a
little, have crowns formed like those of the Aryicola.
These animals, however, previous to a definite classification, require to be com-
pletely examined and compared, internally as well as without. [See Append. IX
of Am. Ed.)
——_—
RODENTIA. 145
are somewhat longer in proportion than those of Rats in general,
and their thumb and little toe slightly separated. Their tail is long
and hairy. The sandy and warm parts of the eastern continent
produce several species.
G. indicus; Dipus indicus, Hardw., Linn. Trans. VIII, pl.
vii; Hérine, Fred. Cuv. Mammif. (The India Gerbil.) Size
of the fat Dormouse ; fawn coloured above, whitish beneath ;
tail longer than the body, and blackish at the end. To this
species should be approximated the
G. meridianus; D. meridianus, Schreb. 231. (The Torrid
Gerbil.) Which is about the same colour, but a little smaller.
G. tamaricinus ; D. tamaricinus, Schreb. 232. (The Tamarisk
Gerbil.) The tail is annulated with brown.
G. pyramidum; D. pyramidum, Oliv. (The Gerbil of the
Pyramids.) The hind feet more elongated ; size of the fat Dor-
mouse ; red above, whitish beneath.
There is one in Senegal of a livelier red and a purer white.
Another at the Cape a little ee reddish, and the tail less
hairy at the end.
A third in Nubia, about half the size, of a light red above,
and a beautiful white beneath. The
Mertones, Fred. Cuy.
Which we separate from the other Gerbils, have the hind feet
still longer ; the tail nearly naked, and a very small tooth before the
superior molars ; characters which approximate them to the Jer-
boas. Their upper incisors are grooved like those of the Gerbils,
and their toes also are similar. There is a small species in North
America, the ‘
Mus canadensis, Penn.; Dipus canadensis, Sh. Il, part 1, pl.
161; Dipus americanus, Barton. Size of a Mouse; fawn co-
loured grey; tail longer than the body. A very active animal,
that shuts itself up in its burrow, and passes the winter in a
state of lethargy.(1)
Cricetus, Cuv.
The Hamsters have nearly the same kind of teeth as Rats, but
their tail is short and hairy, and the two sides of their mouth are
hollowed into sacs or cheek pouches, in which they transport the
grain they collect to their subterraneous abodes.
C. vulgaris; M. cricetus, L.; Marmotte d@ Allemagne, Sc. ;
(1) Add Gerbillus labradorius, Harl., or M. labrad., Sabine, Frankl. Voy. p. 661.
Vou. L.—T
146 MAMMALIA.
Buff. XIII, xiv. (The Common Hamster.) Larger than the
Rat; of a reddish-grey above, black on the flanks and under-
neath, with three whitish spots on each side. The feet, a
spot under the throat, and another under the breast white ;
some individuals are all black. This animal, so agreeably varied
in colour, is one of the most noxious that exist, gathering large
quantities of grain with which it fills its burrow that is some-
times seven feet deep. It is common in all the sandy regions,
that extend from the north of Germany to Siberia.
This last country produces several small species of Hamsters
described by Pallas.(1)
Arvicota, Lacep.
The Arvicolz, like the Rats, have three grinders every where, but
without roots, each one being formed of triangular prisms, placed
on two alternate lines. They may be subdivided into several
groups, viz.
Fiser, Cuv.
The Ondatras or Field Rats having semi-palmated hind feet, a long,
scaly and compressed tail, of which one species only is. well known.
fF. vulgaris ; Castor zibeticus, L.; Mus zibeticus, Gm.; Buff. X,
i, (The Canadian Musk-Rat or Ondatra.) As large as a Rab-
bit, of a reddish-grey. In winter they construct, on the ice, a
hut of earth, in which several of them reside together, passing
through a hole in the bottom, for the roots of the acorus on
which they feed. They neither dive nor swim well. It is this
habit of building which has induced some authors to refer the
Ondatra to the genus Castor. The second subdivision is
that of
ArvicoLa, Cuv.—Hyrupavs, Illig.
Our common Field Rats, which have a hairy tail, about the length
of the body, and simple or not palmated feet.
4. vulgaris ; Mus amphibius, L.; Buff. VII, xliii. (The Water
Rat.) A little larger than the Common Rat, of a deep greyish-
brown; tail the length of the body. Inhabits the banks of rivers,
&c. and burrows in marshy places.
‘2. terrestris ; Mus terrestris, Lin. (The Schermaus.) Seems
to differ from the Water Rat only in being somewhat smaller ;
its tail also is shorter. It lives under ground like the Mole,
(1) M: accedula.—M. arenarius.—M. pheeus.—M. songarus.—M. furunculus. ~
See Pall. Glir, and Sch.
:
RODENTIA. | 147
preferring the bottom lands of high grounds. It excavates
galleries, and removes the earth to some distance from the open-
ing. Its magazines, which are principally filled with the roots
of the wild carrot cut into two inch pieces, are frequently two
feet in diameter.
A. arvalis ; Mus arvalis, L.; Buff. VII, xlvii. (The Campag-
nol.) Size of a Mouse; of a reddish-ash colour ; tail not so long
as the body. It inhabits holes which it excavates in the earth,
where it collects grain for the winter. The multiplication of
this animal is sometimes so excessive as to cause much injury.
Al. cconomicus, Mus economicus, Pall. Glir. XIV, A;
Schreb. cxc. (The Meadow Campagnol.) A little darker
coloured, and the tail somewhat shorter. It lives in a sort of
oven-shaped chamber formed under the turf, from which issue
several narrow and ramifying canals running in various direc-
tions; other canals communicate with a second cavity which
contains its provisions. From all Siberia. It is thought to
have been found in Switzerland and in the south of France,
particularly, as we are assured, in the potatoe fields.(1) See
Append. X of Am. Ed.
Gerorycuus, Illig.
Or the Lemmings, Cuv. have very short ears and tail, and the
toes of the fore feet peculiarly well formed for digging.
The two first species have five very distinct nails to each of
the fore feet, like the Rat-Moles and the Jumping-Hare.
G. lemmus ; Mus lemmus, L.3; Pall. Glir. XII, A. B. Schreb.
cxcv. (The Lemming.) A northern species, as large as a Rat,
with black and yellow fur, very celebrated for its occasional
migrations in innumerable bodies. At these periods they are
said to march in a straight line, regardless of rivers or moun-
tains; and while no obstacle can impede their progress, they
devastate the country through which they pass. Their usual
residence appears to be the shores of the Arctic ocean.
G. vulgaris ; Mus aspalax, Gm., Pall. Glir. X, Schreb. CCV.
(The Zocor.) Reddish-grey; the three middle nails of the fore
feet long, arcuate, compressed and trenchant, for cutting earth
(1) Here most probably would come the M. sazatilis, alliarus, rutilus, gregalis
and socialis, Pall. Glir. But the MZ. Jagurus and torquatus come nearer to the
Lemmings. ‘There are several Field-Rats or Campagnols in North America, such
as the Arvicola xanthognatha, Leach, Miscel. 1, pl. xxvi—Arvicola pennsylvanica,
Wilson, Amer. Ornith. VI, pl. 1, F. 3.—4rv. palustris, Harl. &c. Better figures
and new and comparative descriptions of the preceding species are much wanted.
148 MAMMALIA.
and roots. The limbs are short; there is scarcely any tail; and
the eyes are excessively small. From Siberia; where it always
lives under ground like the Mole and Rat-Mole. It feeds prin-
cipally on the bulbs of different Liliacez. The third species, like
the other animals comprised in the great genus of Rats, has
merely the rudiment of a thumb on the fore foot.
G. hudsonius ; Mus hudsonius, Gm., Schreb. CKCVI. (The
Lemming of Hudson’s Bay.)
(1) M. Carlisle has observed that the arteries of the limbs. commence by splitting
into an infinitude of ramifications, which afterwards unite in one trunk, from which
the usual branches proceed. | This structure being met with in the Loris, 1 hosel
gait is almost equally sluggish, it is possible that it may exert some influence on
this slowness of motion. Independently of this, the Loris, the Ourang-Outang,
the Coaita, all very slow animals, are remarkable for the length of their arms.
EDENTATA. 161
united to the acromion. The arms are double the length of the
legs ; the hair on the head, back, and limbs is long, coarse,
and non-elastic, something like dried hay, which gives it a most
hideous aspect. Its colour is grey, the back being frequently
spotted with white and brown. It is as large as a Cat, and is
the only mammiferous animal known which has nine cervical
vertebra.
There is an Ai called the Dos brulé, from the circumstance
of having between the shoulders a black spot, surrounded with
fawn colour; but, according to Temminck, it is only a variety ;
the appearance alluded to resulting from the wearing away of
the long hair on the shoulder. The Black Collared Ai, how-
ever,— Brad. torquatus, Geoff. Ann. Mus., Schreb, LX XIV, A,
is a species that is very distinct, even in the bony structure of
the head.
M. Fr. Cuvier applies the name of Brapyrus to those species
only which have two nails to the fore feet, the Cuotzpus, Illig.
Their canini are larger and more pointed, and they are wholly des-
titute of a tail. There is but one known.
B. didactylus, L.; Buff. XIII, i. (The Unau.) Which is
somewhat less unfortunately organized than the Ai. Its arms
are not so long, and its clavicles are complete; there are fewer
bones of the feet and hands which become soldered together ;
the muzzle is more elongated, &c. It is larger than the Ai by
one half, and is of a uniform greyish-brown, which sometimes
has a reddish tint.
These two animals are natives of the hot parts of America,
and, long ere this, would probably have been destroyed by the
numerous Carnivora of that country, had they not possessed
some means of defence in their nails.(1)
Fossil skeletons of two Edentata of great size have been
(1) It is singular that the B. didactylus was not known before the time of Seba,
~ and that fora long time naturalists obstinately persisted in referring it, on the au-
thority of that ignorant collector, to Ceylon. Erxleben has maintained its African
origin, having mistaken it for the Poto of Bosmann, whichis a Galago. (See this
last genus.) It is a fact that the Unau is only found in South America.
Shaw, Gen. Zool., under the name of Brad. ursinus, has described an animal of
_ which Illiger has made his genus Prochylus. M. Buchanan, Trav. in the Mysore,
Vol. Ul, p. 198, has shown it to be a true Bear, and in fact we have satisfied our-
selves by inspecting the cranium of the very individual described by Shaw, that it
was a Bear of the species termed Pick ppg had lost its incisors, See
Ursus, &c.
Vou. I.—V
be
162 MAMMALIA.
discovered in America, one of which, the MecaTurrium,
Cuv. Oss. Foss. tom. v, parti, p. 174, has a head very similar to
that of the Sloths, but deficient as to canini, and approaching
in other parts of the skeleton, partly to the Sloths, and partly
to the Ant-eaters. It is twelve feet long, and six or seven
high. The other, the Mrcatonyx, Ib. p. 160, is rather
smaller, and the toes are the only parts of it that are well
known, but they strongly resemble those of the preceding.
The second tribe comprehends the
EDENTATA ORDINARIA.
Or the Ordinary Edentata with a pointed muzzle. Some
of them still have cheek teeth. They form two genera.
Dasyrus, Lin.
The Armadillos(1) are very remarkable among the Mammalia, by the
scaly and hard shell formed of compartments resembling little paving
stones, which covers their head and body, and frequently their tail.
This substance forms one shield over the forehead, a second very
large and convex over the shoulders, a third on the croup similar to
the second, and between the two latter several parallel and movable
bands, which allow the body to bend. The tail is sometimes fur-
-nished with successive rings, and at others, like the legs, merely
with tubercles. These animals have large ears, and sometimes four,
and at others five great nails before, but always five behind. The
muzzle is pointed, the grinders are cylindrical, seven or eight in
number throughout, separated from each other, and without enamel
onthe inside. The tongue is smooth, and but slightly extensible,
and there are a few scattered hairs between their scales, or on those
parts of the body not covered by the shell. They dig burrows, and
live partly on vegetables, and partly on insects and dead bodies;
their stomach is simple, and there is nocecum. They all belong
to the hot, or at least to the temperate parts of America.
They may be divided into subgenera from considerations drawn
from the structure of their fore feet and the number of their teeth.
Most of them have only four toes to the anterior feet, the two mid-
dle ones of which are the longest. Of this number is the
(1) Toetouw is their Brazilianname. The Spaniards called them Armadillo, from
their armour; the Portuguese, Encuberio, for the samereason. They are also called
quirquincho. Dasypus (hairy feet) was one of the Grecian appellatives of the
Hare or Rabbit.
EDENTATA. 163
Cacuicamus, Cuv.
Which has only seven teeth on each side, and in each jaw. The
muzzle is pointed ; the tail long, and encircled with bony rings.
Dasypus novemcinctus, L.; Cachichame, Buff. X, xxxvii; Ta-
tou a longue queue, Id. Supp. III, lviii; Tatwete, Schreb. Ixxiii ;
Tatupeba, Marcg. (The Nine-banded Armadillo.) With nine,
sometimes eight intermediate bands, generally blackish; the
body fifteen inches in length, and the tail the same.
Das. 7-cinctus; Schreb. LXXIL; Tatou mulet, Azzar. (The
Seven-banded Armadillo.) But seven bands, and is smaller ; its
tail also is proportionably shorter. Those of the
Apara, Cuv.,
Have the toes of the Cachicami, and nine or ten teeth throughout.
Das. tricinctus, L.; Tatou Apara, Marcg.; Apar, Buff.; Mataco,
Azzar.; Schreb. LXXI, A. © (The Three-banded Armadillo.)
Three intermediate bands; tail very short, and the compart-
ments regularly tuberculated. By enclosing its head and feet be-
tween its plates, it possesses the faculty of rolling itself into a
complete ball, like certain species of Oniscus. It is from Para-
guay and Brazil, and is one of those found farthest to the south.
Size, middling. In other Tatous, such as the
EncouBeErtus, Cuv.,
Theré are five toes to the fore feet, the three middle of which are
the longest. The greater part of their tail is covered with scales,
arranged in quincunx. There are nine or ten teeth throughout. In
this subdivision is
Dasyp. sexcinctus and octodecimcinctus, L.; Encoubert and Cir-
quinson, Buff.;(1) Tatou poyou, Azzar.; Buff. X, xlii, and Supp.
Ill, xlii. (The Six-banded Armadillo.) Distinguished from all
the rest of the genus by having a tooth on each side in the in-
termaxillary bone. The shell has six or seven bands ; its com-
partments are large, smooth and angular ; the tail is of a mid-
dling length, and annulated only at the base ; there are five toes
to each foot. The Pichiy of Azzara resembles this species,
except that there are no intermaxillary teeth, that its posterior
shield is denticulated, and that the parts not defended by the
(1) The Weasel-headed Tautou of Grew; Cirgquinson of Buff.; Das. octodecimeine-
tus, L., is the Encoubert, or Six-banded Armadillo; but Grew considered the rows
of scales on the croup as movable. If we count them we shall find but sixteen,
and his own figure exhibits no more, :
164 MAMMALIA.
shell are furnished with longer and more thickly set hairs. A
neighbouring species is the Hairy Tatou of Azzara, A third
subdivision of the Tatous, or the
Caxassous, Cuv.,
Has five toes to the fore feet, but directed obliquely, so that the
thumb and index are slender, and the latter the longest; the middle
one has an enormous trenchant nail; the following one has also a
nail, but a shorter one, and the last toe is the shortest of all. This
form of the foot enables these animals to divide the earth, and bur-
row into it with rapidity, or at any rate to cling to it with such
tenacity that it is extremely difficult to tear them fromit. They
have but eight or nine teeth on each side, and in each jaw.”
Das. unicinctus, L.; Le Cabassou propre, Buff.; Tatouay, Azz.
(The Tatouay.) Twelve intermediate bands ; the tail long and
tuberculous ; the compartments of the bands and shields
square, broader than long; five toes every where, of which the
four anterior have enormous nails with trenchant external
edges. It attains a great size.
Priopon, Fr. Cuy.
The toes more unequal, and the nails more enormous than in the
preceding subgenus ; twenty-two to twenty-four small teeth through-
out, or ninety-four or ninety-six in all. Such is the
Dasypus gigas, Cuv.; Tatou géant, Geoft.; Great Tatou, Azzar.;
Deuxieme Cabassou, Buff. X,xlv. (The Giant Armadillo.) Twelve
or thirteen intermediate bands; the taillong, and covered with
‘tiled scales ; the compartments square, more broad than long.
It is the largest of the Tatous, being sometimes more than three
feet in length, exclusive of the tail.
Finally, we should place after the Tatous, as a very distinct sub-
genus, the
Cramypuorus, Harl.,
Which has ten teeth throughout, and five toes to each foot; the
nails of the fore feet very large, crooked and compressed, furnishing,
as in the Cabassous, a powerfully trenchant instrument. The back
is covered with a suite of transverse rows of scaly plates, without
any solid shell before or behind, forming a sort of hauberk which is
only connected with the body along the spine. The hinder part of
the body is truncated, and their curved tail partially attached to the
under part of the body.(1). One species only is known, the
(1) We only know this animal by the description of Dr Harlan, Ann. of the New
York Lyc. I, p. 235 and pl. xxi.
EDENTATA. 165
C. truncatus, Harl.(1) which is five or six inches in length,
and is found in the interior of Chili, where it passes the most
of its time under ground.
It appears that the fossil bones of a Jatou of gigantic size, being
ten feet long exclusive of the tail, have been found in America. See
Cuv. Oss. Foss. V. part 1, p. 191, note.
OrycrERopus, Geoff.(2)
The animals of this genus were for a long time confounded with the
Ant-Eaters on account of their using the same kind of food, having
‘a similar head, and a tongue somewhat extensible ; but they are dis-
tinguished from them by being furnished with grinders and flat
nails, formed for digging and not trenchant. The structure of their
teeth differs from that of all other quadrupeds; they are solid cy-
linders traversed like reeds, in a longitudinal direction, with an infini-
tude of little canals. Their stomach is simple, and muscular near
the pylorus, their cecum small and obtuse. There is only one spe-
cies known.
Oryct. capensis ; Myrmecophaga capensis, Pall.; Buff. Supp.
VI, xxxi. (The Cape Ground-Hog.) So called by the Dutch
of that colony. It is an animal about the size of the Badger or
larger ; stands lows; has short hair, and is of a brownish-grey.
The tail is not so long as the body, and is covered with equally
short hairs. It has four toes before, and five behind. Inhabits
burrows, which it excavates with great facility. The flesh is
eaten.
The other ordinary Edentata have no grinders, and conse-
quently no teeth of any description. ‘They also form two
genera.
Myrmecoruaaca, Lin.
The Ant-Katers are hairy animals with a long muzzle terminated
by a small toothless mouth, from which is protruded a filiform tongue
. susceptible of considerable elongation, and which they insinuate into
Ant-hills and the nests of the Termites, whence these Insects are
withdrawn by being entangled in the viscid saliva that covers it.
The nails of the fore feet, strong and trenchant, and varying in num-
_ ber according to the species, serve to tear up the nests of the Ter-
mites, and afford the means of defence. When at rest, these nails are
(1) Its osteology, as given by M. Yarrel, (Zool. Journ. No. 12,) is closely allied
to that of the Cabassous. Over each eye-brow there is a singular ridge.
(2) Orycteropus, feet fitted for digging.
166 MAMMALIA,
always half bent inwards, resembling a callosity of the tarsus ; hence
the animal can only bring the side of the foot to the ground. The
stomach of the Ant-Eaters is simple and muscular towards its py-
lorus ; their intestinal canal moderate, and without a cecum.(1)
They all inhabit the hot and temperate parts of the western conti-
nent, and produce but a single young one at a birth, which they carry
on their back.
M. jubata; Buff. X, xxxix, and Supp. III, lv. (The Tama-
noir.) More than four feet long, with four nails before and
five behind; the tail is furnished with long hairs vertically di-
rected, both above and beneath; the fur is of a greyish-brown,
with an oblique black band edged with white on each shoulder.
It is the largest of the Ant-Eaters ; and it is asserted that it even
defends itself against the Jaguar. It inhabits low places, never
climbs trees, and moves slowly.
M. tamandua, Cuy.; M. tetradactyla, and M. tridactyla, L.;
Schreb. LXVI. (The Tamandua.) The form and feet of
the preceding, but not half its size ; the tail, on which the hair
is short, is prehensile and naked at the end, and enables the ani-
mal to suspend itself to the branches of trees. Some of them
are of a yellowish-grey, with an oblique band on the shoulder
that is only visible in a certain light ; others are fawn coloured
with a black band; some are fawn coloured and striped, with
the croup and belly black ; and finally, some are entirely black-
ish. Whether these differences are specific or not, is as yet
unknown.
M. didactyla, L.; Buff. X, xxx. (The Two-toed Ant-Eater.)
The size of a Rat, with woolly hair, fawn coloured ; a red line
along the back; the tail is prehensile, and naked at the end;
only two nails before, one of which is very large, four be-
hind.(2)
Manis, Lin.
The Pangolins,3) or Scaly Ant-Eaters as they are called, are desti-
tute of teeth, have a very extensible tongue, and live on Ants and Ter-
mites like true'Ant-Eaters; but their body, limbs and tail are clothed
(1) Daubenton has discovered in the M. didactyla two very small appendages,
which, in strictness, may be considered as ceca. I have ascertained that there
are none in the Tamandua.
(2) The Myrme. tridactyla, L.; Seba, pl. F, is a Tamandua, badly drawn. The
M. striata, Shaw, Buff. Supp. TI, pl. lvi, is a Coati, disfigured by the stuffer.
(3) Pangoeling, according to Seba, in the language of Java signifies an animal
that rolls itself into a ball. In Bengal, it is called Badjarkita or Stone Reptile ; it
is also called the Land Carp. The Dutch sailors called it the Devil of Formosa.
EDENTATA. 167
with large trenchant scales arranged like tiles, which they elevate
in rolling themselves into a ball, when they wish to defend them-
selves from an enemy. There are five toes to each foot. Their
stomach is slightly divided in the middle, and there is no cecum.
They are confined to the eastern continent.
M. pentadactyla, L.; M. brachyura, Erxl.; Buff. X, xxxiv.
(The Short-tailed Pangolin.) Three or four feet long ; the tail
shorter than the body. From the East Indies. It is the Phat-
tagen of Mlian, lib. xvi, cap. vi.
M. tetradactyla, L.; M. macroura, Erxl.; Phatagin, Buff. X,
xxxiv. (The Long-tailed Pangolin.) Three or four feet in
length; the tail double that of the body, and the scales armed
with points. From Senegal, Guinea, &c.(1)
The third tribe of the Edentata comprehends those animals,
designated by M. Geoffroy, under the name of
MONOTREMATA.
So called, because they have only one external opening for
the seminal fluid, urine and other excrements. Their organs
of generation present extraordinary anomalies; for though they
have no pouch under the belly, their pubis is furnished with
the same supernumerary bones as the Marsupialia; the vasa
deferentia terminate in the urethra which opens into the
cloaca; the penis, when at rest, is drawn into a sheath, which
opens by a hole near the bottom of the cloaca. The only
matrix consists of two canals or trunks, each of which opens
separately and by a double orifice into the urethra, which is
very large and terminates in the cloaca. As naturalists have
not yet agreed as to the existence of their mamme;(2)
whether they are oviparous or viviparous remains to be
ascertained.(3) The singularities of their skeleton are not
(1) We have verified the habitat of the Long-tailed Pangolin, by the statement
of M. Adanson and other travellers.
(2) M. Meckel considers as such two glandular masses he found greatly de-
veloped in a female Ornithorhynchus. M. Geoffroy thinks they are rather glands,
analogous to those on the flanks of the Shrews.
(3) Travellers have lately asserted, that it has been ascertained that these ani-
mals produce eggs. Should this prove to be the case, the Monotremata must, in
some sort, be considered as a separate class of animals; but it is to be wished that
some able anatomist would exactly describe these eggs, their internal origin, and
their development after being produced. We must expect it from some one
168 MAMMALIA.
less remarkable; a sort of clavicle especially, which is common
to both shoulders, placed before the ordinary clavicle, and
analogous to the fourchette in birds. Finally, besides their five
nails to each foot, the males have a spur on the hinder ones,
perforated by a canal which transmits the liquid secreted by
a gland situated on the inner surface of the thigh. It is
asserted that the wounds it inflicts are envenomed. These
animals have no external conch to their ears, and their eyes
are very small.
The Monotremata are only found in New Holland, and
have been discovered since the settlement of the English.
Two genera of them are known.
Ecuipna, Cuv.—Tacuyexossus, Illig.
The elongated slender muzzle of the Spiny Ant-Eaters, terminated
by a small mouth, contains an extensible tongue similar to that of
the Ant-Eaters and Pangolins, and like them, they feed on Ants.
They have no teeth, but their palate is furnished with several rows
of small recurved spines. Their short feet have each five very long
and stout nails fitted for digging; and the upper surface of the
body is covered with spines like that of the Hedgehog. It appears,
that when in danger, they also possess the faculty of rolling them-
selves into a ball. Their tail is very short; their stomach ample
and almost globular, and their cecum moderate; the penis is ter-
minated by four tubercles. There are two species.
E. hystrix ; Ornithorhynchus hystrix, Home ; Myrmecophaga
aculeata, Shaw. (The Spiny Echidna.) Completely covered
with large spines. :
E. setosa; Ornithor. setosus, Home. (The Bristly Echidna.)
Is covered with hair, among which the spines are half hidden.
Some naturalists consider it as a mere variety from age.
OrniTHoRHYNCcHuS, Blumenb.—P.Latyrpus, Shaw. |
*
The elongated, and at the same time singularly enlarged and flat-
tened muzzle of the Ornithorhynchi presents the closest external
resemblance to the bill of a Duck, and the more so as its edges are
among the numerous physicians who daily visit the colony of Port Jackson. Asto
the anatomy of the Ornithorhynchus, see the detailed monography on that subject,
published by M. Meckel, also the Memoirs of Sir Ey. Home, my Lessons of Com-
parative Anatomy, Vol. V, and the Memoirs of M. Geoffroy St Hilaire, Mem. du
Mus. tome XV. D
EDENTATA. 169
similarly furnished with small transverse lamine. They have no
teeth except at the bottom of the mouth, where there are two
throughout, without roots, with flat crowns, and composed like
those of the Orycteropus, of little vertical tubes. There is a mem-
brane to the fore feet, which not only unites the toes, but extends
far beyond the nails; in the hind feet the membrane terminates at
the root of the nails; two characters, which, with the flattened
tail, make them aquatic animals. Their tongue is in a manner
double: one in the bill bristled with villosities ; and a second on the
base of the first, which is thicker, and furnished anteriorly with two
little fleshy points. The stomach is small, oblong, and has the py-
lorus near the cardia. The cecum is small; and many salient and
parallel laminz are visible in the intestines. The penis has only
two tubercles. ‘The Ornithorhynchi inhabit the rivers and marshes
of New Holland in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson.
Two species only are known, one with smooth, thin, reddish
fur, the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, Blumenb., and the other
with blackish-brown, flat and frizzled hair. Probably these are
only varieties of age. Voy. de Peron, I, pl. xxxiv.
ORDER VIL.
PACHYDERMATA.
The Edentata terminate the series of unguiculated animals,
and we have just seen that there are some of them whose
nails are so large, and so envelope the extremities of the toes,
as to approximate them in a certain degree to the hoofed
animals. ‘They still, however, possess the faculty of bending
these toes round various objects, and of seizing with more or
less force. The total deficiency of this faculty characterizes
the hoofed animals. Using their feet merely as supporters,
they are never furnished with clavicles; their fore-arm is
always in a state of pronation, and they are reduced to the
necessity of feeding on vegetables. Their forms and habits
present much less variety than those of the Unguiculata, and
they can hardly be divided into more than two orders, those
which ruminate, and those which do not; but these latter,
Vou. I.—W
na deed
: ww
rs a, cs
170 MAMMALIA.
which we designate collectively by the term Pachydermata,
admit of subdivision into families.
The first is that of the Pachydermata which have a pro-
boscis and tusks.
FAMILY I.
PROBOSCIDIANA.(1)
The Proboscidians have five toes to each foot, very com-
plete in the skeleton, but so encrusted by the callous skin
which surrounds the foot, that their only external appearance
is in the nails attached to the edge of this species of hoof.
They have no canini or incisors properly so called, but in
their incisive bone are implanted two tusks, which project
from the mouth, and frequently attain to an enormous size.
The magnitude requisite for the alveoli of these tusks ren-
ders the upper jaw so high, and so shortens the bones of the
nose, that the nostrils in the skeleton are placed near the top
of the face: but in the living animal they are continued out
into a cylindrical trunk or proboscis, composed of several
thousands of small muscles, variously interlaced, extremely
flexible, endowed with the most exquisite sensibility, and ter-
minated by an appendage resembling a finger. This probos-
cis is to the Elephant what the hand is to the Monkey.
With it he seizes every thing he wishes to convey to his
mouth, and sucks up the water he is to drink, which, by the
flexure of this admirable organ, is then poured into his throat,
thus supplying the want of a long neck, whose weakness
would have rendered it unable to support so large a head and
such heavy tusks. Within the parietes of the cranium, how-
ever, are several great cavities, which render the head lighter;
the lower jaw has no incisors whatever; the intestines are
very voluminous, the stomach simple, cxcum enormous, and
(1) The Proboscidians have various affinities with certain Rodentia: 1, their
great incisors; 2, their grinders frequently composed of parallel laminz ; 3, the
‘form of several of their bones, &c.
PACHYDERMATA. UE
the mammz, two in number, placed under the chest. The
young suck with the mouth, and not with the trunk. -
But one living genus of the Proboscidiana is known, that of
Everuas, Lin.
Or the Elephant, which comprehends the largest of the terrestrial
Mammalia. The astonishing nature of his trunk, an instrument
at once agile and powerful, the organ of touch as well as of smell,
forms a singular contrast with his clumsy aspect and heavy pro-
portions; and as this is joined to a very imposing physiognomy,
it has contributed to exaggerate the intelligence of these ani-
mals. After studying them for a long time, we have not found it
to surpass that of the Dog, or of several other carnivorous animals.
Naturally of a mild disposition, Elephants live in herds, which are
conducted by old males. Their food is strictly vegetable.
Their distinctive character consists in the grinders, the bodies of
which are composed of a certain number of vertical laminz, each
one being formed of a bony substance, enveloped with enamel, and
cemented together by a third substance, called cortical; in a word,
similar to those we have already seen to exist in the Cabiais and.
other Rodentia. ‘These grinders succeed each other, not vertically,
or as our permanent teeth succeed the first ones, but from behind
forwards, so that as fast as one tooth becomes worn, it is pushed
forward by that which comes after it; hence it happens that the
Elephant has sometimes one, sometimes two grinders on each side,
or four or eight in all, according to circumstances. The first of
these teeth are always composed of fewer laminz than those which
replace them. It is asserted that certain Elephants thus shed their
teeth eight times—their tusks, however, are changed but once. _
The Elephants of the present day, clothed with a rough skin nearly
destitute of hair, are only found in the torrid zone of the eastern
continent, where hitherto only two species have been ascertained.
E. indicus, Cuv.; Buff. XI, i, and Supp. III, ix. (The Ele-
phant of India.) An oblong head; the crown of the grinders pre-
senting transverse undulating fillets, which are sections of the
lamine which compose them worn by trituration. This spe-
cies has rather smaller ears than the next one, and has four nails to
the hind foot. It is found from the Indus to the Eastern ocean,
and in the large islands in the south of India. They have been
used from the earliest ages as beasts of draught and burden,
but it has hitherto been found impossible to make them propa-
gate in a domestic state, although the assertion respecting
their modesty and repugnance to copulate before witnesses is
aon
172
MAMMALIA,
wholly without foundation. The females have very short tusks,
“fe in this respect, many of the males resemble them.
E. africanus, Cuy.; Perrault, Mem. pour Hist. des An., and
F. Cuv. Mammif. (The African Elephant.) A round head;
convex forehead ; large ears; the crowns of the grinders divided
into lozenges ; it appears very frequently to have but three nails
to the hind foot. Found from Senegal to the Cape of Good
Hope. Whether they ascend the eastern coast of Africa, or
whether they are replaced there by the preceding species is not
known. The tusks of the female are as large as those of the
male, and the weapon itself, generally speaking, is larger than
in the Indian species. The African Elephant is not now tamed,
though it appears that the Carthaginians employed it in the
same way that the inhabitants of India do theirs.
In nearly every part of the two continents, are found, under
ground, the bones of a species of elephant allied to that of India,
but with narrower and straighter coronal fillets, the alveoli for
lodging the tusks much longer in proportion, and the lower jaw
more obtuse. A specimen recently taken from the ice on the
coast of Siberia, by Mr Adams, appears to have been thickly
covered with hairs of two kinds, so that it is possible this spe-
cies may have lived in cold climates. It has long disappeared
from the face of the earth. See Cuvy. Oss. Foss. tom. I.
The second genus of the Proboscidiana, or the
Masrtopon, Cuv.
Has been completely destroyed, nor is there a single individual liv-
ing.
formation in common with the Elephant ; but differed from it in the
grinders, the crown of which, from above the gum, being bristled
with large conical points, presented in proportion to their detri-
tion, larger or smaller disks, which represented sections of those
It had the feet, tusks, trunk, and many other details of con-
points.(1) These teeth, which succeed each other from behind, like
those of the Elephant, presented also so many more pairs of points
as\the animal was the more advanced in age.
M. giganteum, Cuv. loc. cit. The Great Mastodon, in which
the sections of the points are lozenge-shaped, is the most cele-
brated species. It equalled the Elephant in size, but with still
heavier proportions. Its remains are found in a wonderful state
of preservation, and in great abundance throughout all parts of
\
———
(1) This conformation, common to the Mastodon, Hippabsiagie Hog, , Oh
occasioned the erroneous idea of the first being carnivorous.
+ - 35
PACHYDERMATA. 175
North America. They are infinitelyynore rare in the eastern
continent. re
M. angustidens, Cuy. loc. cit., or the Narrow-toothed Mas-
todon, whose grinders, narrower than those of the preceding
“species, when worn down, formed trefoil-shaped disks, and have
thereby been confounded by some authors with the teeth of the
Hippopotamus, was a third less than the great Mastodon, and
much lower on its legs. Its remains are found throughout the
greater part of Europe and of South America. In certain
places, the teeth, tinged with iron, become of a beautiful blue
when heated, forming what is called the oriental turquoise.(1)
FAMILY II.
PACHYDERMATA ORDINARIA,
Or the ordinary Pachydermata, have four, three or two
toes.
Those in which the toes make even numbers have feet
somewhat cleft, and approximate to the Ruminantia in various
parts of the skeleton, and even in the complication of the sto-
‘mach. ‘They are usually divided into two genera.
Hippopotamus, Lin.
Four nearly equal toes, terminated by little hoofs, to each foot ; six
grinders. throughout, of which the three anterior are conical; the
three posterior bristled with two pairs of points, which, when worn,
assume a trefoil shape; four incisors to each jaw, the superior of
which are conical and recurved, the inferior cylindrical, long, pointed
and sloping forwards ; a canine tooth on each side above and below,
the superior straight, and the inferior very large and curved, the
two rubbing against each other.
These animals have a very massive and naked body; very short
legs; the belly reaching nearly to the ground; an enormous head
terminated by a large inflated muzzle, which encloses the apparatus
of their large front teeth; the tail short; the ears and eyes small.
Their stomach is divided into several sacs. They live in rivers,
5
(1) Other tess widely dispersed species have been discovered; see Oss. Foss. :
d very lately, some remarkable ones have been brought from the Birmese em-
pire, a description of 7 which we are expecting from M. Buckland, Mast. latidens,
M. elephantoides, &o.
ey ‘u,
174 MAMMALIA.
upon roots and other vegetable substances, and exhibit much fero-
city and stupidity. One species is only known.
H. amphibius, L.; Buff. Supp. II, 4 and 5. (The Hippopota-
mus. Now confined to the rivers of the middle and south of
Africa. It formerly found its way into Egypt by the Nile, but
has long disappeared from that country.
The bones of a species of Hippopotamus very similar to that
of Africa, and those of two or three other successively smaller
ones, have been found in Europe. See my Rech. sur les Oss.
Foss, tom. 1.
Sus, Lin.
Each foot of the Hog consists of two large middle toes armed with
strong hoofs, and two much shorter lateral ones that hardly reach
the ground ; there is a variable number of incisors, the inferior of
which always slant forwards; the canini project from the mouth
and curve upwards; the muzzle terminates by a sort of truncated
button fitted for turning up the earth ; the stomach is but slightly
divided.
Hogs, properly so called, have twenty-four or twenty-eight grind-
ers, of which the posterior are oblong with tuberculous crowns, and
the anterior more or less compressed, and six incisors in each jaw.
S. scropha, L.; Buff. V, xiv and xvii. The Wild Hog,
which is the parent stock of our Domestic Hog and its varie-
ties, has prismatic tusks that curve outwards and slightly up-
wards ; the body short and thick ; straight ears ; the hair bristled
and black; the young ones striped black and white. It does
great injury to fields in the vicinity of forests, by tearing up the
ground in search of roots.
The Domestic Hog varies in size, in the height of its legs, in
the direction of its ears, and in colour, being sometimes white,
and at others black, red or varied. The great utility of this
animal from the facility with which it is fed, the flavour of its
flesh, the length of time it can be preserved by means of salt,
and finally, from its fecundity, which greatly surpasses that of
any other animal of its size, the female frequently producing
fourteen at a litter, is well known to every one. The period of
gestation is four months, and they produce twice a year. The
Hog continues to increase in size for five or six years, is pro-
lific at one, and sometimes lives for twenty. Although naturally
savage, they are social animals, and know how to de a them-
selves against Wolves by forming a circle, ok .
to the enemy ‘in every direction. Voracio a
they do not even spare their own young. This S)
4
PACHYDERMATA. 175
throughout the globe ; and none but Jews and Mahometans re-
fuse to eat its flesh.
S. larvatus, Fr. Cuv.; S. africanus, Schreb, CCCXXVIIs
Sanglier de Madagascar, Daub. MDCCCLXXXV;_ Samuel
Daniels, Afric. Scenery. (The Masked Sanglier.) Tusks like
the common Hog;; but on each side of the snout, near the tusks,
is a large tubercle, nearly similar to the mamma of a woman,
supported by a bony prominence, which gives it a very singular
appearance. It inhabits Madagascar and the south of Africa.
S. babirussa, Buff. Supp. II, xii. (The Babiroussa.) Higher
and lighter than the others; the tusks are long, slender, and
turned vertically upwards; the upper ones inclining spirally
backwards. From some of the islands in the Indian Archi-
pelago. We may separate from the Hogs the
Puacocnuarus, Fred. Cuv.(1)
Grinders composed of cylinders, cemented together by a kind of
cortical substance, very similar to the transverse laminz of those
of the Elephant, and like them succeeding each other from behind.
The cranium is remarkably large ; the rounded tusks, inclined late-
rally upwards, are of a frightful magnitude; and on each of their
cheeks hangs a thick fleshy lobe, which completes the hideousness
of their figure. They have only two incisors above, and six below.
Those brought from Cape Verd generally have the incisors very
complete—S. africanus, Gm.: in such as are from the Cape of Good |
Hope—S. exthiopicus,Gm.; Buff. Supp. III, xi, they are scarcely
visible, some vestiges however exist under the gum. This differ-
ence may arise from age, which may have worn them away in the
latter, or it may indicate a different species, more especially as the
head of those from the Cape of Good Hope is somewhat larger
and shorter.
With still more propriety do we separate from the Hogs the
Dicoty1z, Cuv.(2)
Or the Pecaries, which have, it is true, grinders and incisors very
“similar to those of the Hog properly so called, but their canini, di-
rected like those of animals in general, do not project from the
mouth, and they have no external toe to their hind foot. There is
no tail, and upon the loins is a glandular opening from which a fetid
humour is excreted. The metatarsal and metacarpal bones of their
two great toes ‘are soldered together like those of the Ruminantia,
(1) Phaco-cherus, Hog with a wart.
(2) Dicotyle, double navel, from the opening on the back.
176 be MAMMALIA,
to which their stomach, divided into several sacs, evidently allies
them. It is singular that the aorta of these animals is often found
very much enlarged, but at different parts of it, as though they were
subject toa kind of aneurism.
Only two species are known, both feotn South America, which
were ascertained by Azzara: Linnzus confounds them under the
name of Sus tajassu.
Dic. torquatus, Cuy.; Buff. X, iii and iv. (The Patira.) Hair
annulated with grey and brown; a whitish collar, stretching
obliquely from the angle of the lower jaw over the shoulder ; ;
half the size of the Wild Hog.
Dic. labiatus, Cuv.; the Tagniacati, Taitetou, Tajassou, &c.;
larger, brown, and with white lips.
Here may come a genus now unknown in the living crea-
tion, which we have discovered, and named
ANOPLOTHERIUM.
It presents the most singular affinities with the various tribes of
the Pachydermata, and approximates in some respects to the
order of the Ruminantia. Six incisors to each jaw, four canini
almost like the incisors, and not projecting beyond them, and
seven molars throughout, form a continuous series without any in-
tervening space, a disposition of the teeth seen in Man only. The
four posterior molars of each side are similar to those of the Rhino-
ceros, the Daman, and the Palzotherium; that is, they are square
above, and form double or triple crescents below. Their feet, ter-
minated by two great toes, as in the Ruminantia, differ in this—the
bones of the metatarsus and metacarpus always remain separate, or
without being soldered together. The composition of their tarsus
is the same as in the Camel.
The bones of this genus have hitherto only been found in the
gypsum quarries near Paris. We have already ascertained five
species: one the size of a small Ass, with the low form and
long tail of the Otter—.2. commune, Cuv., to the internal edge
of whose fore foot was affixed a small accessary toe: another of
the size and light carriage of the Gazelle—/. medium: a third
of the size, and about the proportions of the Hare, with two
small accessory toes to the sides of the hind feet, &c. See
Cuv. Rech. Oss. Fos. tom. III.
ae The ordinary Pachydermata which have not cloyen feet,
~ comprehend, in the first place, three genera, very similar to —
| ’ piace, § ’
ws ae
PACHYDERMATA. 177
each other in their grinders, having seven upper ones on each
side, with a square crown and various salient lines, and seven
lower ones, the crown of which forms a double crescent, and
the last of all a triple one; but their incisors vary.
Rutnoceros, Lin.
The species of this genus, in this particular, even vary among them-
selves. They are large animals; each foot is divided into three
toes, and the bones of the nose, which are very thick, and moulded
into a sort of arch, support a solid horn which adheres to the skin,
and is composed of a fibrous and horny substance, resembling ag-
glutinated hairs. They are naturally stupid and ferocious, frequent
marshy places, and feed on herbs and branches of trees. Their
stomach is simple, intestines very long, and the czecum extremely
large.
Rh. indicus, Cuv.; Buff. XI, vii. (The Rhinoceros of India.)
Has, in addition toits twenty-eight grinders, two strong incisors
in each jaw, two other small ones between the lower, and two
still smaller again outside of the upper ones. It has but one
horn, and the skin is remarkable for the deep folds into which
it is thrown behind and across the shoulders, and before and
across the thighs. It inhabits the East Indies, and chiefly be-
yond the Ganges.
Rh. javanus, Cuv.; Fr. Cuv.. Mammif. (The Rhinoceros of
Java.) With the large incisors and single horn of the preced-
ing, has not so many folds in the skin, though one of them on
the neck is larger; but what is most remarkable, is, that the
whole skin is covered with small compact angular tubercles.
It has hitherto been found in Java only.
Rh. sumatrensis, Cuv.; Bell. Philos. Trans. 1793; F. Cuv.
Mammif. (The Rhinoceros of Sumatra.) The same four
great incisors as the preceding, but there are scarcely any folds
of the skin, which moreover is hairy, and has a second horn
behind the first.
Rh. africanus, Cuv.; Buff. Supp. VI, vi. (The Rhinoceros of
Africa.) Furnished with two horns, like the preceding ; has no
fold of the skin, nor any incisor teeth, its molars occupying
nearly the whole length of the jaw. This deficiency of incisors
might warrant its separation from its congeners.
There have been found, under’ground, in Siberia, and in dif-
ferent parts of Germany, the bones of a two-horned Rhinoceros,
the cranium ofswhich, ‘besides being much more elongated than
* that of any living ae ig is also ‘distinguished by a bony ver-
178 MAMMALIA.
tical partition that supported the bones of the nose. It is a lost
species ; and a nearly entire body, which was taken from the ice
on the banks of the Vilhoui in Siberia, showed that it was
covered with tolerably thick hair, It is possible then that its
habitat was to the north, like that of the fossil Elephant.
In Tuscany, and in Lombardy, there have been disinterred,
still more recently, other Rhinoceros bones, which seem to
approximate much nearer to that of Africa.
Some have been found in Germany with incisors like. the
Asiatic species ; and lastly, some of their bones have been dis-
covered in France, which announce a size hardly superior to
that of the Hog.
Hyrax, Herm.
The Damans, as they are termed, have long been placed among the
Rodentia, on account of their small size; if, however, we examine
them closely, we shall find, the horn excepted, that they are Rhino-
ceroses in miniature, at least they have similar molars; but their
upper jaw is furnished with two strong incisors curved downwards,
and at an early age with two very small canini; the lower one has
four incisors, but no canini. There are four toes to the fore feet,
and three to the hind one, all except the internal posterior, which is
armed with a hooked and oblique nail, terminated by a kind of very
small, thin, and rounded hoof. The muzzle and the ears are short ;
they are covered with hair, and have a tubercle in lieu of a tail.
Their stomach is divided into two sacs, and besides a large cecum
and several dilatations of the colon, there are two appendages about
the middle of the latter analogous to the two czxca of birds.
There is one species known which is as large as a Rabbit, of
a greyish colour, and tolerably common among the rocks of all
Africa, where it frequently becomes the victim of birds of prey,
and which also appears to inhabit some parts of Asia; at least
we cannot perceive any certain difference between the Hyrax
capensis and the H. syriacus, Buff. Supp. VI, xlii, xliii, and VII,
jxxix:( 1} Dhe
PaLZOTHERIUM, Cuv., es
Is also a lost genus, with the same grinders as the two preceding,
six incisors, and two canini in each jaw, like the Tapirs, and three
(1) I have strong doubts of the authenticity of the Hyrax hudsonius, Bewick,
407, and Schreb. CCXL, cc. It has only been seen ina Museum.
’ fli
ey _—
thee?
PACHYDERMATA. 179
visible toes to each foot; they had also, like the Tapirs, a short
fleshy proboscis, for the muscles of which the bones of the nose were
shortened, leaving a deep notch underneath. We discovered the
bones of this genus péle-méle with those of the Anoplotherium in
the gypsum quarries near Paris. They also exist in many other
parts of France.
Eleven or twelve species are known already. At Paris alone
we find them of the size of a Horse, of a Tapir, and of a small
Sheep, while near Orleans are found the bones of a species that
must have been as large as the Rhinoceros. These animals
appear to have frequented the shores of lakes and marshes, for
the rocks which conceal their bones also contain fresh water
shells. See Cuv., Oss. Foss., tom. III. The
Lopuiopon, Cuv.,
Is another lost genus, which appears to be closely allied to the pre-
ceding one; its inferior grinders, however, have transverse ridges.
Ten or twelve species have been extracted from our old fresh water
formations, the same in which the Paleotherium is found. See my
Oss. Foss., tom. III.
To these genera should succeed the genus
Tapir, Lin.,
In which the twenty-seven molars, before they are worn, present
two transverse and rectilinear prominences ; in front, there are, in
each jaw, six incisors and two canini, separated from the molars by
an empty space. The nose resembles a small fleshy proboscis’;
there are four toes to the fore feet, and three to the hind ones. For
a long time but a single species was known,
T. americanus, L.; Buff. Supp. VI, i. (The American Tapir.)
Size of a small Ass; skin brown and nearly naked; tail moder-
ate neck fleshy, forming a sort of crest on the nape. Common
in wet places, and along the rivers of the warm parts of South
America. The young ones are spotted with white like the
fawn. The flesh is eaten.
Within a few years a second species has been discovered in
the eastern continent.
1. indicus, Farkharie, Soc. Asiat., tom. XIV; Horsfield, Jav.
Miaba, Fr. Cuv. Mammif. (The Tapir of India.) Larger than
that of America, of a black-brown; the back of a whitish grey.
It inhabits the forests of Malacca, Sumatra, &c.
Fossil Tapirs are also scattered throughout Europes; and
among others is a gigantic species, which in size must have
180 MAMMALIA.
nearly equalled the Elephant ; Tap. giganteus, Cuv-, Oss. Foss.
tom. IT.(1)
FAMILY III.
SOLIPEDES.
The Solipedes are quadrupeds which have only one appa-
rent toe, and a single hoof to each foot, although under the
skin, on each side of their metatarsus and metacarpus, there
are spurs representing two lateral toes. One genus only is
known, that of
Equus, Lin.,
The Horse has six incisors in each jaw, the crowns of which, at an
early age, are marked with a fossula, and six molars throughout,
with a square crown, marked by laminz of enamel which dip into
them, with four crescents, and in the upper ones, with a small disk
on the inner edge. The male has also two small additional canini
in the upper jaw, and sometimes in both, which are almost always
wanting in the female. Between these canini and the first molar
is that unoccupied space which corresponds to the angle of the lips
where the bit is placed, by which alone Man has been enabled to
subdue and tame this powerful animal. The stomach is simple and
moderate, but the intestines are very long, and the czcum enor-
mous. ‘The mammz are between the thighs.
E. cabailus, 1.3 Buff. 1V,i. (The Horse.) This noble asso-
ture, the arts and commerce, is the most important and care-
fully attended of all the animals he has subdued. It does not
seem to exist in a wild state at the present time; those places
excepted, where Horses formerly domesticated have been set at
liberty, as in Tartary and America, where they live in troops,
each of which is led and defended by an old male. The young
(1) Dr Roulin has lately discovered in the Cordilleras a new species of Tapir, »
black, and covered with hair; the bones of its nose are more elongated, which
somewhat approximates it to the Palzotherium. x
M. Schleyermacher has obtained a lower jaw bone of the great fossil animal that
was supposed to be a gigantic Tapir. It turns out that it is possessed of enormous
canini which must have projected from the mouth ; consequently, it must form a
separate genus. Its size may have been greater than that of the Hippopotamus
by one half.
Hig
ciate of Man, in the chase, in war, and in the works of agricul-—
PACHYDERMATA. 181
males, forcibly expelled as soon as they have reached the age of
puberty, follow the troop at a distance, until they are joined by
some of the younger mares.
The domestic colt sucks six or seven months, and the sexes
are separated at two years; at three they are handled, and at ©
four broken to the saddle, &c. at which time also they can
propagate without injury to themselves. The period of gesta-
tion is eleven months.
A Horse’s age is known by the incisors. The milk teeth
begin to grow about fifteen days after the colt is foaled ; at two
years and a half the middle ones are replaced; at three and a
half the two following ones ; at four and a half the outermost or
the corners. All these teeth, with an originally indented crown,
gradually lose that mark by detrition. When seven or eight
years old they are entirely effaced, and the Horse is no longer
marked.
The lower canini are produced at three years and a half, the
upper ones at four ; they remain pointed till six 5 at ten they be-
gin to peel off.
The life of the Horse seldom extends beyond thirty years.
Every one knows how much this animal varies in size and ~
colour. The principal races even exhibit sensible differences
in the form of the head, in their proportion, and in their fitness
for the various uses to which they are applied.
The most beautiful and swift is the Arab, which has been
instrumental in improving the Spanish race, and along with the
latter has contributed to form the English; the largest and
strongest are from the coasts of the North sea’; the smallest
from the north of Sweden and Corsica. Wild Horses have a
large head, frizzled hair, and ungraceful proportions.
E. hemionus, Pall., Schreb. (The Dzigguetai.) A species
which, as to its proportions, is intermediate between the Horse
and the Ass, and lives in troops in the sandy deserts of central
Asia.. It is of an isabella or light bay colour, with a black
mane, and a dorsal line of the same colour; the tail is termi- * |
nated by a black tuft. It is probably the Wild Mule of the an-
cients.
E. asinus, L.3 Buff. 1V, xi. (The Ass.) Known by its long
ears, the tuft which terminates the tail, and the black cross on
‘the shoulders, which is the first indication of the stripes which
distinguish the following species. Originally from the great
deserts of central Asia, it is still to be found there in a wild
state, and in innumerable troops, ranging from north to south
according to the season; hence it thrives but poorly in the
more northern climates. Its patience, sobriety, robust tem-
182 MAMMALIA.
perament, and the services it renders, are all too well known to
needacomment. The hoarseness of its voice, or bray, depends
upon two small peculiar cavities situated at the bottom of the
larynx.
E. zebra, L.; Buff. XII, i. (The Zebra.) Nearly the same
form as the Ass; the whole animal regularly marked with
black and white transverse stripes, originally from the whole
south of Africa. We have seen a female Zebra successively
produce with the Horse and the Ass.
E. quaccha, Gm., Buff. Supp. VII, vii. (The Couagga.) Re-
sembles the Horse more than the Zebra, but comes from the
same country. The hair on the neck and shoulders is brown,
with whitish transverse stripes ; the croup is of a reddish grey;
tail and legs whitish. The name is expressive of its voice,
which resembles the barking of a Dog.
£. montanus, Burchell; the Onagga or Dauw, Fred. Cuy.
Mammif. (The Onagga.) An African species, smaller than
the Ass, but having the beautiful form of the Couagga; its co-
lour is a light bay, with black stripes, alternately wider and
narrower, on the head, neck and body. Those behind slant
obliquely forwards ; legs and tail white.
ORDER VIII.
RUMINANTIA.(1)
This order is perhaps the most natural and best determined
of the class, for nearly all the animals which compose it have
the appearance of being constructed on the same model, the
Camels alone presenting some trifling PRcep Hong, to the gene-
ral characters. i | pe
The first of these characters is the total alivenee of incisors —
in the upper jaw, they being found only in the lower one, and
nearly always eight in number. A callous pad is substituted
for them above. Between the incisors and the molars is a va-_
cant space, where, in some genera only, are found one or two
canini. The molars, almost st ae Setpoushgut, have their
= Pen Lin.
‘ RUMINANTIA. 183
erown marked with two double crescents, the convexity of
which is turned inwards in the upper, and outwards in the
lower ones.
The four feet are terminated by two toes and two hoofs
which face each other by a flat surface presenting the appear-
ance of a single hoof which has been cleft, whence the name of
cloven-footed, bifurcated, &c. which is applied to theseanimals.
Behind the hoof are sometimes found two small spurs, the
vestiges of lateral toes. The two bones of the metatarsus and
metacarpus are united into one called the cannon, but in cer-
tain species there are also vestiges of lateral metatarsal and
metacarpal bones.
The term Ruminantia indicates the singular faculty possessed
by these animals of masticating their food a second time, by
bringing it back to the mouth after a first deglutition. This
faculty depends upon the structure of their stomachs, of which
they always have four, the three first being so disposed that
the food may enter into either of them, the oesophagus termi-
nating at the point of communication.
The first and largest is called the paunch; it receives a
large quantity of vegetable matters coarsely bruised by a first
mastication. From this it passes into the second, called the
honeycomb or bonnet, the parietes of which are laminated
like a honeycomb. This second stomach, very small and. globu-
lar, seizes the food, moistens and compresses it into little pel-
lets, which afterwards successively ascend to the mouth to be
re-chewed. ‘The animal remains at rest during this opera- |
tion, which lasts until all the food first taken into the paunch
has been submitted to it. The aliment thus re-masticated
descends directly into the third stomach called the leaflet,
({ feuillet) on account of its parietes being longitudinally Jami-
~nated or like the leaves of a book; and thence to the
fourth or the caillette, the sides of which are wrinkled, and
which is the true organ of digestion, analogous to the simple
‘stomach of animals in general. In the young Ruminantia, or
so long as they subsist on the milk of the mother, the caillette
is the largest of the four. ‘The paunch is only developed by
receiving increased quantities of grass, which finally give it
184 MAMMALIA.
an enormous volume. ‘The intestinal canal is very long,
though there are but few enlargements in the great intestines.
The cecum is likewise long and tolerably smooth. The fat of
ruminating animals hardens more by cooling than that of other
quadrupeds, and even becomes brittle. It is called tallow.
Their mamme are placed between the thighs.
Of all animals, the Ruminantia are the most useful to man.
They furnish him with food, and nearly all the flesh he con-
sumes. Some serve him as beasts of burden, others with their
milk, their tallow, leather, horns, &c. The two first genera
have no horns. :
Came us, Lin.
The Camels approximate to the preceding order rather more than
the others. They not only always have canini in both jaws, but
they also have two pointed teeth implanted in the incisive bone, six
inferior incisors and from eighteen to twenty molars only; peculiari-
ties, which, of all the Ruminantia, they alone possess, as well as that
of having the scaphoid and cuboid bones of the tarsus separate. In-
» stead of the large hoof flattened on its internal side which envelopes
_ the whole inferior portion of each toe, and which determines the
4 ¢ figure of the common cloven-foot, they have but one small one,
which only adheres to the last phalanx, and issymmetrically formed
_ liked the hoofs of the pachydermata. Their tumid and cleft lip,
their long neck, prominent orbits, weakness of the crupper, and the
disagreeable proportions of their legs and feet, render them some-
what deformed, but their extreme sobriety and the faculty they pos-
sess of passing several days without drinking, make them of the
highest importance.
The faculty just mentioned probably results from the large masses
of cells which cover the sides of their paunch, in which water is con-
_ stantly retained or produced. The other Ruminantia have nothing
of the kind. es ;
The Camel urinates backwards, but the direction of the penis
changes in cottu, which is effected with much difficulty, and while
the female lies down. In the rutting season a fetid humour oozes
from their head. + 7
42
Cametus, Cuy. ™
Camels, properly so called, have the two toes united below nearly
to the point by a common sole, and the back furnished with lumps
of fat. They are large animals of the eastern continent, of which
RUMINANTIA. 185
two species are known, both completely reduced to a domestic
state.(1) .
C. bactrianus, L.; Buff. XI, xxii. (The Two-Humped Camel.)
Originally from central Asia, and which descends to the south
much less than the
C. dromedarius, L. Buff. XI,ix. (The One-Humped Camel.)
Which has spread from Arabia into all the north of Africa, a
great part of Syria, Persia, &c.
The first is the only one employed in Turkestan, Thibet, &c.;
it is sometimes led as far as lake Baical. The second is well
known for crossing the desert, and as the only means of com-
munication between the countries which border on it.
The two-humped Camel walks with less difficulty than the
other in humid grounds; it is also larger and stronger. At the
regular period it sheds the whole of its hair. It is the single-
humped Camel that is the most abstemious. The Dromedary,
properly speaking, is a lighter variety of it, and better calcu-
lated for expedition.
The flesh and milk of the Camel serve as food, and its hair
for garments, to the people who possess it. In stony countries
both species are useless.
AvUCcHENIA, Illig.
In the Lamas the two toes are separates they are without humps.
But two distinct species are known, both from the western continent,
and much smaller than the two preceding ones.
Camelus llacma, L.; Guanaco, Buff. Supp. VI, xxvii. (The
Lama.) As large as a Stag; the hair coarse and of a chesnut
colour, but varying when domesticated. It was the only beast
of burden in Peru at the time of the conquest. It can carry a
hundred and fifty pounds, but makes short journeys. The
Alpaca is a variety with long woolly hair.
Cam. vicunna, L.; Buff. Supp. VI, xxviii. (The Paco.) The
size of a sheep, covered with fawn coloured wool, extremely
soft and fine, of which valuable stuffs are manufactured.
Moscuus, Lin.
The Musks are much less anomalous than the Camels, differing
from the ordinary Ruminantia only in the absence of horns, in hav-
(1) Pallas, on the authority of the Buchares and eek eee that in the de-
serts of central Asia wild Camels are, still to be found; we must recollect, how-
ever, that the Kalmuks are in the habit of * giving freedom to all sorts of animals
from a religious principle. git "
Vou. t.—Y La.
186 MAMMALIA.
ing a long canine tooth on each side of the upper jaw, which in the
male issues from the mouth, and finally in having a slender pero-
nzus, which is not found even in the Camel. These animals are
remarkably light and elegant. ,
M. moschiferus, L.; Buff. Supp. VI, xxix. (The Musk.), This
is the most celebrated species, and the size of a Goat, has
scarcely any tail, and is completely covered with hairs so
coarse and brittle that they might be termed spines. What
particularly distinguishes it, however, is the pouch situated
before the prepuce of the male which produces that odorous
substance so well known by the name of musk. This species
appears to belong to that rugged and rocky region from which
descend most of the Asiatic rivers, and which is spread out
between Siberia, China and Thibet. Its habits are solitary and
Docturnal, its timidity extreme. It is in Thibet and Tunkin
that it yields the best musk; in the north, it is almost inodorous.
The other Musks have no musk-pouch, and inhabit the warm
parts of the eastern continent ;(1) they are the smallest and the
most elegant of all the Ruminantia.(2)
All the rest of the Ruminantia, the males at least, have two
horns, that is to say, two prominences of the frontal bones
which are not found in any other family of animals.
In some, these prominences are covered with an elastic
sheath composed as if with agglutinated hairs, which increases
by layers and during life; the name of horn is applied to the
substance of this sheath, and the sheath itself is called the
corne creuse. ‘The prominence it envelopes grows with it,
and never falls. Such are the horns of Oxen, Sheep, Goats
and Antelopes. :
In others, the prominences are only covered with a hairy
skin, continuous with that of the head; nor do the prominen-
ces fall, those of the Giraffe excepted.
Finally, in the genus of the Stags, the prominences covered
for a time with a hairy skin, similar to that on the rest of the
eee | ee ee! Te Mr lk
(1) The Moschus americanus established from Séba, is merely the young or the
female of one of the Guiana Deer. The same may be said of the M. delicatulus of
Shaw, Schreb. 245, D. It is the fawn of an American Deer.
(2) Moschus pygmeus, Bull. XU, xiiii—Moschus memina, Schreb. CCXL, iii—
Moschus juvanicus, Buff. Supp. VI, xxx.)
RUMINANTIA. 187
head, have at their base a ring of bony tubercles, which, as
they enlarge, compress and obliterate the vessels of that skin.
It becomes dry and is thrown off; the bony prominences, being
laid bare, at the expiration of a certain period separate from
the cranium to which they were attached; they fall and the
animal remains defenceless. Others, however, are re-pro-
duced generally larger than before, and destined to undergo
the same fate. ‘These horns, purely osseous, and subject to
periodical changes, are styled antlers.
Crrvus, Lin.
The Stags, consequently, are the only Ruminantia which have heads
armed with antlers ; the females, however, the Rein-Deer alone ex-
cepted, are always without them. ‘The substance of these antlers,
when completely developed, is that of a dense bone without pores
or sinus. Their figure varies greatly according to the species, and
even in each species at different ages. These animals are exces-
sively fleet, live commonly in the forest, and feed on leaves, buds,
grasses, kc.
We distinguish in the first place those species whose antlers are
either wholly or partially flattened, viz.
C. alces, L.; Elk or Elend, in the north of Europe; Moose-
Deer of the Americans ; Original of the Canadians; Buff. Supp.
VII, Ixxx. (The Moose.) » As large as a horse and sometimes
larger ; stands very high; the muzzle cartilaginous and in-
flated ; a sort of goitre, or pendulous swelling, variously
shaped, under the throat ; hair always very stiff and of a more
or less deep ash-colour. The antlers, at first simple, (en dagwe,)
and then divided into narrow slips, assume, in the fifth year,
the form of a triangular blade, denticulated on the external edge
and mounted on a pedicle. They increase with age so as to
weigh fifty or sixty pounds, and to have fourteen branches to
each horn. The Moose lives in small troops, and inhabits the
marshy forests of the north of both continents. Its skin is valua-
ble for various purposes.
C. tarandus, L., Buff. Supp. Ill, xviii, bis. (The Rein-Deer.)
Size of a Stag, but has shorter and stouter legs; both sexes
have antlers, divided into several branches, at first slender and
pointed, and terminating by age in broad denticulated palms ;
the hair, which isbrown in summer, becomes white in winter.(1)
»
(1) It is probably owing to this change that the ancients were induced to be-
lieve that the ¢arandus could assume any colour it wished.
is,
a,
188
MAMMALIA.
The Rein-Deer is confined to the glacial countries of both conti-
nents, and is the animal so highly celebrated for the services it
renders to the Laplanders, who have numerous herds of them
which in the summer they lead to the mountains, and in winter
bring back to the plains. They are their only beasts of burden
and draught; their flesh and milk serve them for food, their
skins for clothing, &c.
C. dama, L., Buff. VI, xxvii and xxviii. (The Fallow-Deer.)
Less than the Stag; in winter of a blackish brown, in summer
fawn coloured, spotted with white ; the buttocks always white,
bordered on each side with a black stripe; tail longer than the
Stag’s, black above, white underneath. The horn of the male
is round at base, with a pointed antler, and throughout the rest
of its length flattened, with the outer edge denticulated. After
a certain age it shrinks, and splits irregularly into several slips.
This species, which is the Platiceros of the ancients, has become
very common in all Europe, although it seems to be originally
from Barbary.(1) A black variety without spots is sometimes
to be found. Those species which have round antlers are more
numerous ; such as inhabit temperate climates also change their
colour, more or less, during the winter.
C. elaphus, L..; Buff. VI, ix, x, xii. (The Common Stag.)
A fawn coloured brown in summer, with a blackish line along
the spine, and on each side a range of small light yellow spots ;
in winter of a uniform greyish brown; the crupper and tail
always of a pale yellow. It is a native of the forests of all Eu-
rope, and of the temperate parts of Asia. The antlers of the
male are round, and appear in the second year, at first simple,
and then with tines or branches on their inner face, which in-
crease in number as they advance in age, forming a kind of
palm with many small points. When very old the Stag be-
comes blackish, and the hairs on the neck lengthen and stand
erect. The horns are shed in the spring, the old ones losing
them firsts; they are reproduced in the summer, during the
whole of which period they live separately. When they are
grown again, the rutting season commences, at which period _
the males become furious. Both sexes unite in large herds to
pass the winter. The hind carries eight months, and brings
forth in May. The fawn is spotted with white.
C. canadensis, Gm.; C. strongyloceros, Schreb. 246, A, 247,
F,G; Wapiti, &e. (The Elk.) A fourth larger than the Elk
(1) Since the publication of the second ed. of my Oss. Foss., we reves received
a wild C, dama, killed in the woods to the south of Tunis.
RUMINANTIA. 189
of Europe, and nearly of the same colour, but the disk of the
crupper broader and paler ; the antlers equally round, but more
developed, and without a palm. Inhabits all the temperate
parts of North America.
C. virginianus, Gm.; Schreb. CCXLVII, H. (The Virginia
Deer.) Less than the Fallow Deer of Europe, and of a more
graceful figure ; the muzzle more pointed ; of a light fawn colour
in summer, reddish-grey in winter ; the under part of the throat
and tail white at all times; inferior third of the tail black with
a white tip. The horns of the male, shorter than in the Eu-
ropean species, are round, smooth, whitish, and bend outwards,
forming an arc of a circle inwards and forwards ; the tines are
inserted into their posterior face, that at the base excepted;
they sometimes amount to five or six.(1)
The species inhabiting warm climates do not change their
colour. There are several of these in South America, of which
we have as yet no complete account, nor sufficiently compara-
tive characters. Suchare.
C. paludosus, Desm.; Gauzou-Poucou, or Great Red Stag, Azz.
It appears to have straighter horns than the preceding ; skin of
a bright bay, with a black stripe on the forehead, and black
rings round the point of the feet. It prefers marshy grounds.
C. campestris, Fr. Cuv.; Guazouti, Azz. Antlers short and
straight, with tines front and back, which become numerous
(Oss. Foss. IV, pl. iii, f. 46—48); fawn coloured ; belly, inner
sides of the thighs, buttocks and tip of the tail, white.(2)
There are also several in the East Indies.
C. axis, L.; Buff. X1, xxxviii, xxxix. (The Indian Stag or Axis.)
Fawn coloured at all times, spotted with pure white ; under part
of the throat and that of the tail white; tail fawn coloured,
edged above with white; round antlers, which become very
large with age, but which never have more than one tine
near the base, and the point forked. Originally from Bengal,
but propagating easily in Europe. It was known to the Romans.
Several other Stags with two tines like the Axis are found in
India, which have been distinguished but lately. There is one
of them,
C. Aristotelis, Cuv., which has long hairs on the neck and
(1) See my Oss. Foss. IV, pl. v, f. 1—17. The Cervus mexicanus, Penn., and
Oss. Foss. pl. v, f. 25, may have been a very old Virginia Stag.
(2) Add Cervus nemoralis, Ham. Smith. [Add also Cerv. macrotis, Say. Am.
Ed.]
190 MAMMALIA.
throat, and which, inhabiting the north of India, must corres-
pond with the Hippelaphus of Aristotle.(1)
C. capreolus, L.3; Buff. VI, xxxii, xxxiii. (The Roebuck of
Europe.) With but two tines to its antlers ; of a fawn coloured
grey; buttocks white ; without lachrymal sinuses, and scarcely
any tail. Some individuals are of a very vivid red, and others
blackish. This species lives in couples; inhabits the high
mountains of the temperate parts of Europe; sheds its antlers
towards the close of autumn, reproduces them during the win-
ter; copulates in November, and is gravid five months and
a half. The flesh is held in much more esteem than that of
the Deer. There are none in Russia.
C. pygargus, Pall., Schreb. CCLII. (The Roebuck of Tar-
tary.) Similar to that of Europe, but the horns are more spi-
nous at the base; the hair is longer; and it is almost as large
as the Deer. It inhabits the high grounds beyond the Volga.
It appears that there are some Roebucks in America, whose
antlers always remain simple or without tines.
C. rufus, F. C.; Gouazoupita, Azz. Red; lips, hinder part
of the belly, and under part of the tail, white. Canini in both
jaws. Inhabits the forest.(2)
We might separate from the other Roebucks certain small species
of India, which have sharp canini and antlers supported by pedicles
which are covered by hairs on the forehead. Such is
C. muntjac, Gm.; Buff. Supp. VII, xxvi. (The Kijang.)
Smaller than that of Europe. Found in small herds at Ceylon
and Java(3)
CamELoparpALis, Lin.; Buff. Supp. VU, Ixxxi.
The Giraffe is characterized in both sexes by conical horns, always
covered with a hairy skin, and which are never shed. Their bony
nucleus, when young, is articulated with the os frontis by a suture.
On the middle of the chanfrin is a tubercle or third horn, broader
and much shorter, but likewise articulated by a suture. It is more-
over one of the most remarkable animals in existence, from the
length of its neck and the disproportioned height of its fore legs.
Only one species is known,
“<—
(1) Add the C. hippelaphus; C. Wallichit; C. Mariannus ; C. Lechenaulti; C.
Peroni; C. equinus ; and with respect to these species, see my Oss. Foss. tom. IV,
and the figure of Hamilton Smith in the work a a
(2) Add the Gouazou-Bira (C. nemorivagus, F . Cuy.); the Pounce tare KC.
simplicicornis, Ham. Smith).
(3) Add C. philippinus, Ham. Sm: —C. Cite ta 1d. &e,
eo .
RUMINANTIA. 191
C. givafa, F, Cuv. Mammif. (The Giraffe.) Which is con-
fined to the deserts of Africa, and has short grey hair sprinkled
with fawn coloured angular spots, and a small fawn coloured
and grey mane. It is the tallest of all animals, for its head is
frequently elevated eighteen feet from the ground. Its disposi-
tion is gentle, and it feeds on leaves. Heliodorus gives a good
description of it, and one or two were brought into Italy in the
middle century. Several have lately been sent to Europe from
Egypt.(1). The ‘
RUMINANTIA WITH HOLLOW HORNS
Are more numerous than the others, and we have been
compelled to divide them into genera from characters of but
little importance, drawn from the form of their horns and the
proportions of their different parts. To these M. Geoffroy
has advantageously added those afforded by the substance of
the frontal prominence or the bony nucleus of the horn.
ANTILOPE.(2)
The substance of the bony nucleus of the horns of the Antilopes is
solid, and without pores or sinus, like the antlers of the Stag. They
resemble the Stags moreover in the lightness of their figure and
their swiftness. - It is a very numerous genus, which it has been
found necessary to divide, and principally according to the form
of the horns.
a. Horns annulated, with a double curvature directed forwards, inwards
or upwards.
4. dorcas, L.; Buff. XII, xxiii. (The Gazelle.) Round,
large and black horns, and the size and graceful shape of the
Roebuck; light fawn colour above; white beneath; a brown
band along each flank; a tuft of hair on each knee, and a deep
pouch in each groin. It inhabits the north of Africa, and lives
in large herds, which form a circle when they are attacked,
presenting their horns at all points. It is the usual prey of the
(1) M. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, from some differences in the spots, and in the
curvature of the cranium of the few individuals in Europe, thinks that the Giraffe
of Nubia and Abyssinia is not of the same species as that fromthe Cape.
(2) This name is not ancient ; it is a corruption of Antholops, a word found in
Eustathius, who wrote in the time of Constantine, and which seems to refer to the
beautiful eyes of the animal. The common Gazelle was well described by lian
under the name of Dorcas, which is properly that of the Roebuck. He calls it the
Dorcas of Lybia. Gazel is an Arabic word.
192
MAMMALIA.
Lion and Panther. The soft expression of its eye furnishes
numerous images to the Arabian poets.
A. corinna, Gm.; Buff. XII, xxvii. (The Corinna.) Only
differs in the horns, which are much more slender. It is per-
haps a mere variety of sex.
A. kevella, Gm.; Buff. XII, cclxxv. (The Kevel.) Also very
similar; but its horns are compressed at the base, and have a
greater number of rings. The only mark in which it is even
pretended that it differs from the hu of Kempfer, or the
Tseyrain of the Persians and Turks, (4. subgutturosa, Gm.,) is
a slight swelling under the throat of the latter.
A. gutturosa, Pall.; Deseren of the Mongoles; Hoang Yang,
or Yellow Goat of the Chinese; Schreb, CCLXXV. Nearly
similar colours, and the same kind of horns as the Gazelle pro-
perly so called; but it is nearly as large as the C. dama, and there
is a considerable protuberance in the male produced by the
larynx, and a large pouch under the belly. The female has no
horns. This species lives in herds, in the barren plains of cen-
tral Asia, and avoids both the forest and water.
A. euchore, Forster; the Pouched Gazelle; Buff. Supp. VI, pl.
xxi. (The Springbock.) The south of Africa is filled with
herds of this species. It is larger than the Gazelle, but of the
same form and colour ; it is distinguished by a fold of the skin
of the croup covered with white hairs, which opens and enlarges
at every bound the animal makes.
A. sdiga, Pall.; Colus of Strabo; Schreb. CCLXXVI. (The
Saiga.) Which inhabits the heaths of the south of Poland and
Russia, has horns similar to the Gazelle, but yellowish and
transparent. It is as large as the Deer, fawn coloured in sum-
mer, and of a whitish grey in winter; its cartilaginous, thick
and vaulted muzzle, with very expanded nostrils, compels it to
retrograde in feeding. The herd sometimes consists of more
than ten thousand individuals.
A. dama, Pall., Acad. of Berl. 1824, pl. iii and iv. (The
Nanguer.) Size of the C. dama; white ; the forehead, neck and
part of the back red; horns small and slender. From Nubia
and Senegal.(1)
b. Horns annulated, and with a triple curve.
A. cervicapra, Pall., Buff. Supp. VI, xviii and xix. (The An-
(1) The only specimen known to Buffon (tom. XII, pl. xxxiv) was a young one
with
horns curved simply forwards, which induced him to believe it was the Dama
of Pliny.
RUMINANTIA. 193
telope of India.) Is also very like the Gazelle, but its horns
have atriple flexure. They are used in India as weapons, formed
by uniting them pair to pair, with the points facing in opposite
directions. They are deficient in the female.
2. addax, Lichtenst.(1) Acad. Berl. 1824, pl. xi, and Ruppel.
pl. vii. (The Antelope of Nubia.) Also three curves in its
horns, which are longer and more slender than those of the pre-
ceding; it is whitish, tinged with grey on the back, and has a
large brown spot on the forehead.
c. Horns annulated, witha double curve, but winding in an opposite di-
rection to those of the preceding ones, the points directed backwards.—
The Damauis of Smith, in part.
A. bubalis, L.; Bubalis of the ancients ; Buff. Supp. VI, xiv;
vulg. the Barbary Cow. (The Bubalis.) More heavily formed
than the others; the head long and thick ; as large as the Stag ;
fawn coloured, except at the end of the tail which is terminated
with a black tuft. Common in Barbary.
A. caama, Cuv.; vulg. Cape Stag of the Hollanders; Buff.
Supp. VI, pl. xv. (The Caama.) Similar to the preceding,
but the curves of the horns more angular; the circumference
of their base, a band on the bottom of the forehead, a line on
the neck, a longitudinal stripe on each leg, and the tip of the
tail black. Common at the Cape.
d. Small, straight, or but slightly curved horns, less than the head—in
the greater number of species found only on the male.
A. lanata, Desmar.; Reebock or Roebuck of the Hollanders of
the Cape. (The Woolly Antelope.) Somewhat smaller than the
C. dama ; hair woolly; grey above, white beneath ; some black
on the external face of the limbs, and at the extremity of the
lower jaw.
A. mergens, Blainv.; Duiker-Bock of the Hollanders. (The
(1) M. Lichtenstein gave it this name, under the idea that it is the same as the
Addax or iS hes of Pliny. It is seen on several of the ancient monuments of
Egypt.
To this sibdiviston also belong the Kevel gris, F. Cuy. Mammif.—The Purple
Antelope or Bonte-Bock of the Hollanders, (4: pygarga) Schreb. CCLXXII.—The
Black-footed Antelope ov Pallah, Sam. Daniels, Afric. Scen. pl. ix (4. melampus,
Lich.); Schr. 274.—The Coba, (.2. sehegalensis) of which we have nothing but the
horns, Buff. XI, pl. xxxii, 2, unless it be the same as the Pallah.—The A. suturo-
~ sa.—The 4. mytilopes, H. Smith, and perhaps the Kob of Buff. which is probably
the 4. adenota, Ham. Smith, .
a ee
! Ra peace: I1.—Z
ge? ney
ei.
194 MAMMALIA.
Plunging Antelope.) A light fawn coloured brown ; some white
beneath the under jaw; a black line on the external face of the
limbs. It derives its name from the manner in which it plunges
into the bushes when pursued.
J. oreotragus, Forst.; Klip-Springer of the Hollanders; Buff.
Supp. VI, pl. xxiis Schr. 259. (The Rock-Springer.) Distin-
guished by its stiff brittle hair, which is of a greenish yellow.(1)
The smallest Antelopes are comprehended in this division.
A. grimmia, L.; F. Cuv. Mammif. (The Grimme.) Fawn
coloured grey; the forehead blackish; a small tuft of hair on
the top of the head.
A. pygmexa, Pall.; F. Cuv. Mammif.(2) (The Guevei.) Ash
coloured; a pale blankish line along each side of the forehead.
e. Annulated horns with a simple curve, the points directed forwards.
The Revunca of Smith.
A. redunca, Buff. XII, pl. xlvis Schreb. 265. (The Nagor.)
Reddish brown. From Senegal.(3)
f. Horns annulated, straight or but slightly curved, and longer than the
head. The Oryx of Smith, in part.
A. oryx, Pall.; erroneously termed Pasan by Buff. Supp. VI,
pl. xvii 3; Cape Chamois of the Hollanders.(4) (The Oryx.) As
large as a Stag, with slender horns two or three feet long,
straight, pointed, round, the lower third obliquely annulated and
smaller in the female ; hair ash coloured ; head white, barred
with black 3 a black band on the spine and one on each flank; a
deep chesnut spot on the shoulder, and one on the thighs ; tail
long and blackish, and the hairs of the spine directed towards the
neck. It is found to the north of the Cape, and in the interior
of Africa. The length of i its hoofs, which is greater than in the
other species, enables it to climb rocks, and it prefers moun-
tainous districts.(5) ,
Bos ba
AE
(1) Add 2. guadriscopa, Ham. Smith.
(2) The figure of Schreb. 260, B, is too red; in that of chet Gen. Zool. Vol. Il,
Part II, pl. clxxxviii, the horns are too large,
(3) Add the Ritbock (4. eleotragus).—The Ourebi (2. scoparia). It is very neces-
sary to observe that many Antelopes, while young, have horns of this tomy feat
forwards.
(4) M. Lichtenstein has remarked, that as $ this Antelope with long straight horns
is only found in the south of + ee itis not probable it is the Oryx. It is rather
the following species. aD f "hs
(5) The 2. leucoryx, Schr. CCLVI, B, or ‘the White dnielope of Pe: Penn. taken
RUMINANTIA. 195
4. gazella, L.; Ant. leucoryx, Licht., Acad. Berl. 1824, pl. i.
(The Algazel.) Horns long, slender, and slightly curved into an
arc of a circle; hair whitish, variously tinged with a fawn or
reddish colour. Found in north Africa, from Nubia to Sene-
gal. It is often sculptured on the monuments of Egypt and
Nubia; and M. Lichtenstein thinks it is the true Oryx of the
ancients.(1)
g. Horns annulated with a simple curve, the points directed backwards.
A. leucophea, Gm.; improperly called Tseiran, Buff. Supp.
VI, pl. xx. (The Blue Antelope.) A little larger than the
Stag, of a bluish ash colour; large horns in both sexes, uni-
formly curved, and with upwards of twenty annull.
A. equina, Geoff. (The Equine Antelope.)(2) As large asa
horse; of a reddish grey; brown head; a white spot before
each eye; a mane on the neck; large horns, &c.
‘A. sumatrensis, Shaw; Cambing-Outang or Goat of the
Woods of the Malays; Fr. Cuv. Mammif.; and Marsden, Su-
mat. 2d Ed. pl. x. (The Antelope of Sumatra.) Size ofa large
goat; black; a white mane on the neck and withers; the
horns pointed and small.(3)
h. Horns encircled with a spiral ridge.
4. oreas, Pall.; Elk of the Cape of the Hollanders ; impro-
perly called Coudous by Buff. Supp. VI, pl. xii. (The Canna
or Impooko.) As large as the largest horse ; large, conical,
straight horns, surrounded by a spiral ridge; hair greyish; a
from a drawing made in Persia in 1717, appears to be a mere variety of the Oryza,
or perhaps of an Algazel viewed in front.
(1) The English speak of an Antelope with almost straight horns, stiff hairs
woolly at their base, which sometimes loses one of its horns, from the mountains
of Thibet, which was pointed out to them as corresponding with the Unicorn,
which is one of the supporters of their coat of arms. Itis called Chiru. M. Ham,
Smith thinks it may be the Kemas of Aslian, I, xiv, c. 14.
(2) We have definitively ascertained that it is the Equine Antelope which is
now called the Koba in Senegal. The A. redunca or Nagor of Buff. is there
called the Mibill.
(3) Add the 2. goral, Hardw. Lin. Trans. XIV, pl. xiv, and in the Mammif. F.
Cuv. under the name of Bouquetin de Nepaul; the A. sylvicultriz. There should,
also, probably, be added the American woolly species, with long hair and very
small horns, (4, lanigera, Smith) Lin. Trans. XIU, pl. iv, and perhaps the
one Séba represents, I, pl. xlii, x, iii, and which M. Ham. Smith calls 2. mazama.
There is nothing, however, to prove that the Mazames of Hernandez are not the
Stags and Roebucks of America, as is observed by that author, who compares them
to the Stags and Roebucks of Spain.
196 MAMMALIA.
small mane along the spine ; a kind of dewlap under the neck;
the tail terminated by a tuft. It lives in troops in the moun-
tains north of the Cape.(1)
i. Horns bifurcated. Awntitocarre of Ord.—Dicranoceros of Ham.
* Smith.
Of all the forms of hollow horns this is the most singular; acom-
pressed fork is given off from their base or trunk, almost like the
tine or antler of a Deer; the pointed tips curve backwards. The
most known species is,
A. furcifera, Ham. Smith, Lin. Trans. XIII, pl. ii; the
Cabril of the Canadians. It inhabits the vast prairies of the
middle and western parts of North America, where it roams in
large herds. Its size is about that of the Roebuck; hair thick,
undulated and reddish; the tine of the horns is about the mid-
dle of the height.(2)
k. Four horns.—Terrracrra, Leach.
This subdivision, lately discovered in India, was not unknown to
the ancients. lian speaks of it, XV, c. xiv, by the name of
the Four-horned Oryx: the anterjor pair are before the eyes, the
posterior completely behind the frontal.
. chicarra, Hardw.; Lin. Trans. XIV, pl. xv; and F. Cuy.
Mammif.(3) (The Tchicarra.) About the size of a Roebuck,
and of an almost uniform fawn colour. The female has no
horns. Found in the forests of Hindostan.(4)
l. Two smooth horns.
A. picta, and trago-camelus, Gm.; Buff. Supp. VI, pl. x and
xi. (The Nylgau.) As large as a Stag or larger; the horns
(1) Near the Canna should be placed the Guib, (4. scripta) Buff. XII, pl.
xl.—The Bosch-Bock, (4. sylvatica) Buff. Supp. VI, xxv.
(2) The 4. palmata, Smith, 1b. pl. iil, is only known to me by its horns, which
have the antlers close to the base; perhaps they had been cut off. Some authors
have considered these Antelopes also as the Mazames of Hernandez.
(3) I-should remark here, in relation to the observations at page 523, Lin.
Trans. tom. XIV, that it was not the fault of the late M. du Vaucel, that the figure
and description of the Tehicarra were attributed to him in the Hist. des Mammif-
His consignments were not always complete; a drawing frequently arrived without —
any description or explanation, and his premature death prevented him from sup-
plying what was deficient in his memoirs.
(4) The 4. 4-cornis, Blainy., is only known to me by a cranium, the anterior
horns of which are proportionally larger, Jour. de Phys. Aout 1815. Perhaps it
is merely a difference arising from age, ;
RUMINANTIA. 197
short and bent forwards; a beard under the middle of the neck;
hair greyish; double, black and white, strongly marked rings
on all the feet just above the hoof. The female has no horns.
This species is from India.
A. rupicapra, L.; Buff. XII, pl. xvi; Vsard in the Pyrenees.
(The Chamois.) The only ruminating animal in the west of
Europe that can be compared with the Antelope, having how-
ever peculiar characters: its straight horns are bent suddenly
backward like a hook; behind each ear, under the skin, is a
sac, whose only external opening is a small orifice.(1) Its size
is that of a large Goat. The hair is of a deep brown, with a
black band descending from the eye towards the muzzle. The
swiftness of its course among rocks and precipices is wonder-
ful, and it remains in small herds in the middle region of the
highest mountains.
M. Smith separates from the Antelopes, under the generic name
of Carosiepas, the
A. gnu, Gm.; Buff. Supp. VI, pl. vili and ix. (The Gnou.)
A very singular being, which, at the first glance, seems to bea
monster composed of parts of different animals. It has the body
and croup of a small Horse, covered with brown hairs ; the tail
furnished with long white hairs, like that of the Horse, and on
the neck a beautiful straight mane, the hairs of which are white
at the base and black at the tip. The horns, approximated and
enlarged at the base like those of the Cape Buffalo, descend out-
wardly, and turn up at the point; its muzzle.is large, flat, and
surrounded with a circle of projecting hairs ; under the throat
and dewlap is another black mane; the feet have all the light-
ness of the Stag’s. Horns in both sexes. Inhabits the moun-
tains to the north of the Cape, where it is rather rare, although
the ancients appear to have had some knowledge of it.(2)
The three remaining genera have the bony core of the
horns principally occupied with cells, which communicate with
the frontal sinuses. ‘The direction of their horns furnishes
-the characters of the divisions.
(1) It was perhaps a mistaken idea respecting the indication of this orifice
_ which led the ancients to say, that, according to Empedocles, Goats breathed
ee the ears.
' (2) This species most probably gave rise to the catoblepus. See vey lib.
an, cxxxii, and /élian, lib. VII, c. v.
pei The most complete work on the subject of the Antelopes is that of M. Ham.
8! “Smith, inserted in the work of Griffith, and I regret that the want of sufficient
WW Bubjects for observation have prevented me from giving all its details.
198 MAMMALIA.
Capra, Lin.
The horns of the Goats are directed upwards and backwards$; the
chin generally furnished with a long beard, and the chanfrin almost
always concave.
C. egragus, Gm.; Cuv. Menag. du Mus. 8vo, IJ, 177. (The
#gagrus or Wild Goat.) Appears to be the stock of all the
varieties of our Domestic Goat. It is distinguished by its
horns, trenchant in front, very large in the male; short, or
altogether wanting in the female, which is also sometimes the
case in the two species of Ibex. It lives in herds on the moun-
tains of Persia, (where it is known by the name of paseng,) and
perhaps on those of other countries, even in the Alps. The
oriental bezoar is a concretion found in its intestines.
The Goats, and our domestic species (Capra hircus, L.) vary
infinitely in size, colour, and in the length and fineness of the
hair ; in the size of the horns, and even in their number. The
Angora Goats in Cappadocia have the longest and most silky
hair. Those of Thibet are renowned for the admirably fine wool
which grows among their hair, with which the celebrated
Cachemires are manufactured. There is a race in upper Egypt
with short hair, convex chanfrin, and projecting lower jaw,
which possibly is hybrid. The Goats of Guinea, called Mam-
brines and Whida, are very small, the horns inclining back-
wards. All these animals are stout, capricious, and fond of
wandering ; sensible of their mountain origin, they prefer dry
and wild places, feeding on coarse grass and shoots of young
trees. They do much injury to the forests. The Kid only is
eaten, but their milk is useful in several diseases.. The female
can produce at seven months; her period of gestation is five, and
she generally has two kids at a birth.
C. ibex, L.3 Buff. XII, pl. xiiis Schreb. CCLXXXI. (The
Ibex.) Large horns, square in front, marked with transverse
and prominent knots. It inhabits the most elevated sum-—
mits of the highest ranges of mountains in the whole of the
eastern continent.
C. caucasica, Guldenst., Act. Petrop. 1779, Il, pl. xvi, xvii;
Schr. CCLXXXI, B. (The Caucasian Ibex.) Distinguished
by its large triangular horns, obtuse, but not square in front,
and knotty like those of the peabetlin gs The two species ‘mix.
with the Domestic Goat.(1)
(1) Add the Bouguetin d’ Ethiopie, F. Cuy. Mammif: —The African Maned Thex
Tackhaitse, S. Daniels, Afric. Scenery, pl. xxiv. ;
RUMINANTIA, 199
Ovis, Lin.
The horns of Sheep are directed backwards, and then incline spi-
rally, more or less forwards: the chanfrin is more or less convex,
and there is no beard. They are so slightly entitled to a gene-
ric separation from the Goats, that the two produce a prolific off-
spring. As inthe Goats, there are several wild races or species
very nearly allied.
Ov. ammon, L.; Pall. Spic. XI, i; Schr. CCLXXXYVIII.
(The Argali of Siberia.) The male of which has very large
horns, with the base triangular, angles rounded, flattened in
front, and striated transversely ; those of the female are com-
pressed and falciform. In summer the hair is short, and of a
fawn coloured grey; in winter it is thick, rigid, and of a red-
dish grey, with some white about the muzzle, throat, and under
the belly. There is always, as in the Stag, a yellow space
about the tail, which is very short. This animal inhabits the
mountains of all Asia, and attains to the size of the Fallow Deer.
Ov. musimon, Pall.; Mufione of Sardinia; Muffoli de Corse;
Buff. XI, pl. xxix ; Schreb. CCLXXXVIII, A. (The Mouflon
of Sardinia.) Appears to differ from it only in its inferior size,
and in the deficiency or smallness of the horns in the female.
It is said to be also found in Crete. There are some varieties,
totally or partially black, and others more or less white. It is
probable that the
Ov. montana; Geoff., Ann. Mus. II, pl. Ix; Schr. CCXCIV,
D, (The Mouflon of America) is a species of Argali, which
may have crossed the sea on the ice. Its horns are very stout,
and are more perfectly spiral than those of the common spe-
cies.(1)
Ov. tragelaphus, Cuv.; Penn. XI1; Shaw, pl. ccii, 23 Schr.
CCLXXXVIII, B. (The Mouflon of Africa.) Soft and red-
dish hair, with a long mane hanging under the neck and.another
at each ankle; the tail is short ; it appears to be a distinct spe-
cies. It inhabits the rocky districts of all Barbary; and M.
Geoffroy has observed it in Egypt.
It is from the Mouflon or the Argali that we are supposed to
derive the innumerable races of our woolly animals, which,
» next to the Dog, are most subject to vary. We have some of
them in Europe, with common and fine wool; large and small;
with big or little horns, wanting in the females, and in both
» sexes, &c. &c. The most interesting varieties are those of
-- (1) ‘This is indubitably identical with the Ovis ammon, L. Am. Ed.
200 MAMMALIA.
Spain, which have a fine curly fleece, with large spiral horns on
the male, now beginning to be diffused throughout Europe, and
that of England, whose wool is fine and long.
The most common variety in southern Russia has a very long
tail. Those of India and of Guinea, which also have long tails,
are distinguished by their long legs, very convex foreheads,
pendent ears, want of horns, and short hair.
The north of Europe and of Asia has almost every where a
breed of small Sheep with a very short tail. In the race of Per-
sia, Tartary, and China, the tail is transformed into a double
globe of fat; in that of Syria and Barbary it is long, but loaded
with an immense mass of the same substance. In both the ears
are pendent, the horns of the males large, those of the females
moderate, and the wool is mixed with hair.
Sheep are valuable for their flesh, suet, milk, skin, and wool;
well managed flocks are every where the sources of wealth.
Lambs are weaned at two months, and shed their milk teeth
between the first and third year. The period of gestation is
five months, and two lambs are produced at a birth.
Bos, Lin.
The horns of the Ox are directed laterally, inclining upwards or
forwards, in the form of a crescent; it is a large animal, with a broad
muzzle, short and thick body, and stout legs.
B. taurus, L.; Buff. 1V, xvi. (The Common Ox.) Its spe-
cific characters are a flat forehead, longer than broad, and round
horns, placed at the extremities of the salient line or ridge
which separates the forehead from the occiput. In the fossil
crania, which appear to have belonged to this species in a wild
state, (the Urus of the ancients) the horns curve forwards and
downwards; but in the numberless domestic varieties, they
have very different directions, and are of as many sizes—some-
times they are even totally wanting. The common races of
the torrid zone have, all, a lump of fat upon the shoulders, and
some of them are not larger than the Hog. The utility of these
animals for labour, and the value of their flesh, fat, milk, hide,
and horns are known to ney one. The period of eo" is
nine months. ie
B.urus, Gm.; Urus or Bison of the ancients; ‘Dube of the
Polanders; ls CLV. (The Aurochs.) Generally, but
erroneously, considered as the wild stock of our horned cattle.
It is distinguished from them by its convex forehead, which is
wider than it is high, by the insertion of its horns below the
occipital crest, by the length of its legs, ey an additional pair,
RUMINANTIA. 201
of ribs, by a sort of-curly wool, which covers the head and neck
_ of the bull, forming a short beard under the throat, and by its
grunting voice. Itisa savage animal that has now taken refuge
in the great marshy forests of Lithuania, of the Krapacs and of
Caucasus, but which formerly inhabited all the temperate parts
of Europe. It is the largest quadruped proper to Europe.
B. bison, L.3; B. americanus, Gm.; Buff. Supp. Il, v3 F.
Cuyv. Mammif. (The Buffalo or Bison of America.) The bony
head very similar to that of the Aurochs, and covered like it,
the neck and shoulders also, with frizzled wool, which be-
comes very long in winter; its legs and tail are shorter. Inha-
bits ail the temperate parts of North America.
B. bubalus, L.; Buff. X1, xxv; Wild Ox of Arachosia, of Aris-
totle. (The Buffalo.) Originally from India, and brought into
Egypt, Greece, and Italy during the middle century; has a
convex forehead, higher than wide, the horns directed side-
ways, and marked in front by a longitudinal ridge. This animal
is subdued with difficulty, but is extremely powerful, and prefers
the marshy grounds, and coarse plants on which the Ox could
not live. Its milk is good, and! the hide very strong, but the
flesh is not esteemed. -
There is a race of them in India, whose horns include a space
of ten feet from tip to tip: it is called Arni in Hindostan, and
is the Bos arni of Shaw.
B. frontalis, Lambert, Linn. Trans. VII, pl. 45, and F. Cuv.
Mammif. (The Gyall.) Resembles the domestic Ox in the
greater part of its characters, but its horns are flattened from
before backwards, and are without angular ridges. They are
directed sideways and more or less upwards, but not backwards.
The hair is short and black, except on the forehead, and ona
line along the back, where it is grey or fawn-coloured, and on
the legs, where it is white. It is a domestic race in the moun-
tain districts of the north-west of India, and which is perhaps
descended from the Buffalo and the common species.
B. grunniens, Pall.; Horse-tailed Buffalo; Grunting Cow of
Tartary, &c.3 Sch. CCXCIX, A. B. (The Yack.) A small
species, with the tail completely covered with long hairs like
that of the Horse, and a long mane on the back. Its head
appears to resemble that of the Buffalo, but the horns have not
been sufficiently described. This animal, of which lian has
spoken, is originally from the mountains of Thibet. Its tail
constitutes the standards still used by the Turks to’ distinguish
the superior officers.
B. caffer, Sparm.; Schr. CCCI. (The Cape Buffalo.) ‘Very
Vou. 1L.—2 A
Sal
202 MAMMALIA.”
large horns, directed outwards and downwards, ascending from
the point, flattened, and so wide at their base that they nearly
cover the forehead, merely leaving between them a triangular
space, the point of whichis above. It is a very large animal,
of an excessively ferocious disposition, inhabiting the woods of
Caffraria.
B. moschatus, Gm.; Schr. CCCII; La Téte, Buff. Supp. VI,
iii. (The Musk Ox of America.) The horns approximated and
similarly directed, but meeting on the forehead in a straight
line; those of the female are smaller and more widely separated;
the forehead is convex, and the end of the muzzle furnished with
hairs. It stands low, and is covered with tufted hair that
reaches to the ground. The tail is extremely short. It diffuses
more strongly than any other species the musky odour common
to all the genus. It is only to be met with in the coldest parts
of North America, though it seems that its cranium and bones
have been carried by the ice to Siberia. The Esquimaux make
caps of the tail, the hairs of which, falling over their face,
‘defend them from the Musquitoes. »
ORDER IX.
CETACEA.
The Cetacea are mammiferous animals without hind feet;
their trunk is continued by a thick tail, terminating in an hori-
zontal, cartilaginous fin, and their head is united to the trunk
by a neck, so thick and short, that no diminution of its diame-
ter can be perceived, and composed of very slender cervical
vertebre, which are partly anchylosed or soldered together.
The first bones of the anterior extremities are shortened, and
the succeeding ones flattened and enveloped in a tendinous
membrane, which reduces them to true fins. Their external
form is altogether that of fishes, the tail fin excepted, which
in the latter is vertical. They always therefore remain in
the water; but as they respire by lungs, they are compelled
to return frequently to its surface to take in fresh supplies of
air. Independently of this, their warm blood, their ears,
CETACEA. | 203
with external, though small, openingss their viviparous genera-
tion, the mammez with which they suckle their young, and
all the details of their anatomy sufficiently distinguish them
from fishes.
Their brain is large, and its hemispheres well developed ;
the petrous portion of the cranium which contains the internal
ear is separated from the rest of the head, and only adheres
toit by means of ligaments. There are no external ears, nor
hairs upon the body. .
The form of their tail compels tein to flex it from above
downwards to produce a progressive motion; it also greatly
aids them in rising in the water.
To the genera of the Cetacea hitherto admitted, we add
others formerly confounded with the Morses.
FD
FAMILY I.
CETACEA HERBIVORA.
The teeth of these animals have flat crowns; this determines
their mode of life, and the latter induces them to leave the
water frequently, to seek for pasture on shore. They have
two mamme on the breast, and hairy mustachios; two circum-
stances which, when observed from a distance as they raise
the anterior part of the body vertically from the water, may
give them some resemblance to human beings, and have pro-
bably occasioned those fabulous accounts of Tritons and Sirens
which some travellers pretend to have seen. Although in the
cranium the bony nostrils open towards the top, the orifices
in the skin are pierced at the end of the muzzle. Their
stomach is divided into four sacs, of which two are lateral,
- and they have a large cecum.
Manatus, Cuv.
The Lamantins, or rather the Manati, have an oblong body, termi-
nated by an elongated oval fin; the grinders, eight in number through-
out, have a square crown, marked with two transverse elevations;
there are no incisors nor caniniin the adult; but when very young,
we find two very small pointed teeth in the intermaxillary bones,
204 MAMMALIA.
which soon disappear. Vestiges of nails are discoverable on the
edges of their fins, which they employ with tolerable dexterity in
carrying their young, and in creeping; hence the comparison of
these organs with hands, and the name of Manatus applied to the
animal, of which Zamantin is a corruption. From their manner of
living, they are also called Sea Cows, &c., and from their mammez,
Mermaids, &c.—Trichechus manatus, bint! 3; Buff. XIII, vii.
They are found near the mouths of rivers in the hottest parts
of the Atlantic Ocean, and it appears that those of the American -
rivers are specifically different from those of Africa.(1) They
grow to the length of fifteen feet. Their flesh is used as food.
Hauicorg, Illig.(2)—Dueone, Lacep. a.
Grinders composed of two cones laterally united; the teeth implanted
in the incisive bone are permanent, and increase to such an extent
as to become true pointed tusks, but covered by thick fleshy lips,
bristled with mustachios. The body is elongated, and the tail
terminated by a crescent-shaped fin. One species only is known, the
Hal. dugong; Siren; Sea Cow, &c.; Renard, Poiss. des Indes,
pl. xxxiv, f. 180; Home, Phil. Thane. and F’. Cuv. Mammif.
(The Dugong.) It inhabits the Indian Ocean, and is freq
confounded by travellers with the Manatus.
STELLERUS, Cuv.—Rytina, Illig.(3) .
The Stelleri appear to have but a single compound grinder on each
side, with a flat crown, and bristled with plates of enamel. Their
fins have not even the little nails observed on those of the Manatus.
According to Steller, the first, and hitherto the only one who has de-
scribed them, their stomach also is much more simple.
One species only is known, which is confined to the north
part of the Pacific Ocean.(4)
FAMILY I.
CETACEA ORDINARIA.
The Ordinary Cetacea are distinguished from the preceding
by the singular apparatus from which they have received the
(1) See Oss. Foss. tom. I.
(2) Halicore, Maid of the Sea.
(3) Rytina, wrinkled.
(4) Nov. Comm, Petrop. II, 294, et seq. Ithas never been figured.
CETACEA.. 205
name of Blowers. As a large quantity of water passes into
their huge mouths along with their prey, some way was neces-
sary by which they could get ridof it; accordingly, it passes
through the nostrils by means of a paetidr disposition of the
velum palati, and is accumulated in a sac situated at the exter-
nal orifice of the cavity of the nose, whence, by the compres-
sion of powerful muscles, it is violently expelled through a:
narrow opening on the top of the head. It is in this way they
produce those jets d’eau observed by navigators at so great a
distance. Their nostrils, continually bathed in salt water,
could not be lined with a membrane sufliciently delicate to
enable them to detect odours, and accordingly, they have none
of those projecting lamin found in the nasal cavities of other
animals ; the olfactory nerve is deficient in several, and if there
be any which enjoy the sense of smell, it must be in a very
slight degree. ‘Their larynx, of a pyramidal form, penetrates
into the posterior nares to receive air and conduct it to the
lungs, without compelling the animal to raise its head and
throat above the water for that purpose : there are no salient
laminz in the glottis, and the voice is reduced to a simple low-
ing. They have no vestige of hairs, but their whole body is
covered with a smooth skin, under which is that thick layer
of blubber abounding in oil, the principal object for which
they are pursued. Their mammez are near the anus, and their
.fins are incapable of grasping.
The stomach is divided into five and sometimes into seven
distinct sacs ; instead of one single spleen, they have several,
‘small and globular ; those which are possessed of teeth, have
them all conical and alike; they do not chew their oe but
swallow it rapidly.
Two small bones suspended i in the flesh, near the anus, are
the only vestiges of posterior extremities.
Several have a vertical fin on the back, composed of a ten-
dinous substance, but unsupported by bone. Their eyes, flat-
tened in front, have a thick and solid sclerotica ; the teguments
. of the tongue are soft and smooth. '
They maybe again divided into two small tribes: those in
206 MAMMALIA.
which the head bears the usual proportion to the body, and
those in which it is immoderately large. The first compre-
hends the Dolphins and the Narwhals. '
Devpuinus, Lin.
The Dolphins have teeth in both jaws, all simple, and almost always
conical. They,are the most carnivorous, and, in proportion to their
size, the most cruel of their order. There is no cecum.(1) nee
Detrninus, Cuv. *
The Dolphins, properly so called, have a convex forehead, and the
muzzle forming a kind of rostrum, or ia in front of the head,
more slender than the rest.
D. delphis, L.; Lacep. Cet. pl. xiii, t le (The Common Dol-
phin.) The hiche depressed and armed on each side of the jaw
with from forty-two to forty-seven teeth, slender, arcuate, and
pointed; black above, white beneath; from eight to ten feet in
length. This animal, found in numerous bodies in every sea,
and celebrated for the velocity of its motion, which sometimes
precipitates it on the decks of vessels, appears really to have
been the Dolphin of the ancients. The entire organization of the
brain seems to indicate the docility they attributed to it.
D. tursio, Bonnaterre ; vulg. le Souffleurs; Lacep. XV, f. 2.
(The Great Dolphin.) Snout short, broad and depressed; from
twenty-one to twenty-four teeth throughout, conical, and often
blunted. Individuals have been seen fifteen feet in length, and
it appears that they are found in the Mediterranean as well as
in the Ocean.(2)
D. dubius, Cuy. Only thirty-six or thirty-seven teeth through-,
out, but as fine and pointed as those of the Common Dolphin,
which it also resembles in its colours.
D. frontalis, Duss. Very similar to the preceding, but eae
ed somewhat differently, and has thirty-four teeth throughout.
Discovered by M. Dussumier, at the Cape de Verd Islands.
D. frontatus, Cuy. But twenty-one teeth throughout, larger
(1) There is no family of the Mammalia more difficult to observe, of which
we have more imperfect descriptions, and whose synonymes are more fluctuating
than that of the Cetacea. I have endeavored to select authentic species.
(2) The Whale or Capidolio of Belon, and the Orca, of the same author, which
very probably is that of the ancients, belong also to the division of Dolphins
with snouts, and are much larger than the aboye mentioned species; but their cha-
racters are not sufficiently determined. The Dauphin féres of A as is pro-
bably referable to one of the two.
CETACEA. © | 207
than those of the preceding; the muzzle is also longer and more
compressed; its origin is not known. |
D. plumbeus, Dussum. The muzzle with the same compressed
form, but armed throughout with thirty-seven teeth. From
Malabar.(1)
D. velox, Dussum. A some iat longer muzzle, and forty-one
teeth throughout. From Ceylon.
D. longirostris, Dussum. Surpasses even the Common Dol-
phin i in the number of its teeth, having from fifty-five to sixty
throughout. From the coast of Malabar.(2)
M. de Blainville separates from this first division of Dolphins,
_ under the name of Dre.rninoruyncuus, those species in which the
snout, though long and slender, is not separated from the forehead
by a decided furrow. One of them,
D. micropterus, Cuy., was thrown upon the coast of France;
it is remarkable for its dorsal fin, which is also placed very
far back. It grows to the length of fifteen feet, and loses all its
teeth at an early age.(3)
D. rostratus, Cuv.. A slender muzzle, and externally all of a
_ piece with the head; twenty-one teeth throughout. Its dorsal
_ fin is of the usual size.(4)
D. gang reticus, Roxburg, (The Dolphin of the Ganges) should
_be distinguished from this first group. Its spiracle is longitu-
dinal, and the jaws slender and inflated at the end. It ascends
the Ganges to a great distance, and is probably the Platanista’
of Pliny.
Puocana, Cuy.
‘The Porpoises(5) have no rostrum, but a short, and uniformly con-
vex muzzle.
(1) I suspect this D. plumbeus to be the same as the D. malaianus of MM.
Lesson and Garnier, Voy. de la Coq. pl. ix, f. 5.
(2) We cannot, in this work, give a place to species which have been only seen
at a distance, and of which no part has been produced; we therefore mention,
merely as indications, the D. albigena, Quoy and Gaym., Voy. de Freyc. pl. xi, or
D. superciliosus, Lesson and Garn., Voy. de la Coq. pl. ix, f. 2.—The D. cruciger,
Quoy and Gaym. Ib. f.3 and 4, which is at least closely allied to the D. bivittatus,
Less. and Garn. f. 3.—The D. dunatus, Less. and Garn. f. 4.—Still less can we admit
species which have not even been figured.
(3) Blainville, Nouv. Bullet. des Sc. IV, p. 139, and Fr. Cuv. Mammif. under the
__ very improper name of D. de Dale, which belongs to the Hyperoodon.
N.B. The D. rostratus of Shaw is the gangeticus.
(4) Add the Dauphin couronné, Freminville, Nouy. Bullet. des Sc. Il, No. 56,
ph. 1, f. 2.
(5) Porpoise, from porcus piscis, hog-fish.
208 , MAMMALIA.
D. phocena, L.; Lacep. XI, f. 2. (The Common Por-
poise.) The teeth compressed, frenenant and rounded, from
twenty-two to twenty-five on each side in Pach jaw; blackish
above, white beneath. It is the smallest of the “Cetacea, seldom
exceeding four or five feet in length; very common in all our
seas, where it is found in large troops.
D. capensis, Dussum. (The Cape Porpoise.) Similar to the
preceding, but has twenty-eight teeth throughout, cylindrical,
slightly pointed, and not compressed like those of the common
species. From the Cape seas.
D. orca and D. gladiator; Buts-kopf and Schwerd-fisch of the
Hollanders and Germans; Lacep. XV, 1, and not so well, V, 3.
(The Grampus.)(1) Teeth, thick, conical and slightly hooked,
eleven every where; the posterior ones flattened’ transversely
the body black above, white underneath; a white spot on the
eye in the form of a crescents; the dorsal fin elevated and pointed.
It is the largest of the Dolphins, being frequently found from
twenty to twenty-five feet in length, and is the most relentless.
enemy of the Whale. They attack it in troops and torment it.
F
until it opens its mouth, when they devour the tongue. | tes ae id
D. aries, Risso; Ann. Mus. XIX, pl.i, fig: 4. A ‘smaller s spe-
cies sometimes seen upon the coast of France, which soon loses
the upper teeth and preserves only a few of the lower ones.
Its dorsal fin is lower and further back than that of the Gram-
pus.(2) a: 4
D. globiceps, Cuv.(3 Anh, Mus. XIX, pl. i, fig..2 and 3; 2).
deductor, Scoresby. (The Round-headed Grampus.) Top of
the head so arched as to be globular; long, pointed, pectoral
fins; it is more than twenty feet in length; black, with a white
stripe from the throat to the anus. It lives in troops of several
hundreds, led by the old males, and is sometimes thrown upon
the coasts of Europe. It has from nine to thirteen teeth through-
out, but loses them all with age.
(1) Grampus, a corruption of grand poisson. Buts kopf, or rather Boots kopf, sig-
nifies that its head is made like a long-boat. Schwerd jisch, Sword-fish, from its
dorsal fin.
(2) The Epaulard ventru of Bonnaterre, Lacep. XV, 3, copied from Hunter,
Phil. Trans. presents a similar form; but Hunter’s specimen was eighteen feet
long, and ours never exceeds ten.
The D. griseus, Ann. Mus., XIX, pl. i, f. 1, is merely a bad drawing of this D.
aries, lb. f. 4. \ The true aries of the ancients is the Grampus.
(S) It is the head of the D. globiceps deprived of its teeth, which is engraved in
Bonnaterre, Cetol. pl. vi, f. 2: and in Lacep. pl. ix, f, 2, under the name of
Cachalot swinewal; and in Camper, Cet. pl. xxxii, xxxiii and xxxiy, under that of
the Toothless Narwhal.
CETACEA: 209
Detpninarrerus, Lacep.
Only differs from the Porpoises in having no dorsal fin.
D. leucas, Gm.; D. albicans, Fabr.; Huid fisk of the Danes;
Scoresby, Arct. Reg. H, pl. xiv. (The Beluga.) Nine teeth
throughout, thick and blunt at the end; skin of a yellowish
white; head, externally convex, like that of a Porpoise; as large
asthe Grampus. Found in the Frozen Ocean, whence it often
ascends rivers to some distance.(1)
D. leucoramphus, Peron.; Voy. de la Coq. pl. ix.(2) Inhabits
the South seas; the head is convex and pointed; the muzzle, a
part of the pectoral fins, and the whole under part of the body
of a beautiful white. The back is blue, and it has from thirty-
eight to forty-two teeth throughout. The
D. phocenoides is a species of this subgenus, discovered by.
M. Dussumier at the Cape; it has the round head, and the
compressed and obtuse teeth of the Porpoise.(3)
HyprErroopon, Lacep.(4)
The body and muzzle very similar externally to those of the Dolphin
properly so called; but the cranium is elevated at itsedges by vertical
bony partitions; they are generally found to have but two small teeth
in front of the lower jaw, which do not always appear externally;
their palate is studded with small tubercles.
One species only is known,+which attains a length of from
twenty to twenty-five feet, and perhaps more. It is taken in
the British Channel and the North Sea, and is often called the
Baleine @ bec.(5)
(1) Rondelet, under the name of peis-mular and of senedette, represents a Ceta-
* ceous animal very similar to the Beluga; but he does not say it is white. He
also applies to it the Italian name of capidolio. It would be one Delphinapterus
more, if the figure were not ideal; but I fear such is the case, and the more so as
this name:of mular and that of capidolio belong properly to the Cachalot. Be-
sides this, the Beluga has occasioned the formation of a little white Cachalot, from
the circumstance of so soon losing its upper teeth. See its head, Voy. de Pallas,
Atl. pl. Ixxix.
(2) The muzzle in this figure is too pointed. The White Dolphin with black
extremities of Commerson must be nearly allied to it.
(3) M. Rafinesque speaks of a Dolphin with two dorsal fins, and MM. Quoy
and Gaymard saw one they have named D. rhinoceros, Voy. de Freycinet, I, f. 1;
but they saw it at a distance, and half merged in the waves, so that there may
' have been some optical illusion.
(4) Hyperoodon, teeth in the palate. ie
(5) This animal, described by Baussard, Jour., de Phys. March 1789, (Delph.
edentulus, Schr.) to which Bonnaterre has transferred the name of buts-kopf, which
Vou. I.—2 B
210 MAMMALIA.
Monopon, Lin.
The Narwhals have no teeth properly speaking, but mere long,
straight and pointed tusks, implanted in the intermaxillary bone,
and directed in the line of the axis of the body. The form of their
body and that of their head greatly resemble that of the Porpoises.
One species only is well known, the
M. monoceros, L.; Scoresby, Arct. Reg. pl. xv.(1) The Nar-
whal.) ‘The tusk of this animal, which is spirally furrowed and
sometimes ten feet in length, was for a long time called the
hornof the Unicorn. It has, it is true, the germs of two tusks,
but it is very seldom that both become equally developed. That
of the ‘left side usually attains its full growth, while the other
always remains hidden in its alveolus.(2) According to the
description of the Narwhal, it is hardly more than twice or
thrice the length of its tusks the skin is marbled with brown
and a kind of white; the muzzle is arched; mouth small; spira-
cle on top of the head, and no dorsal fin, but merely a salient
crest along the spine. The tusks are sometimes found perfectly
smooth.(3)
The other Cetacea have the head so large as to constitute
one third or one half of the length of the whole body; but
neither the cranium nor the brain participate in this dispro-
belongs to the Grampus, isthe same as the T'wo-toothed Dolphin of Hunter; Baus-
sard expressly mentions its two teeth. It is also the Balena rostrata of Klein and
of Chemnitz, Besch. der Berl. ges. 1V, p. 183; of Pennant, Brit. Zool. No. V; of
Pontoppidan, Nor. II, 120; the Bottle-head of Dale, &c. Chemnitz found one of
the teeth. See Oss. Foss. tom. V, p. 1, f. 324. ;
(1) The Narval microcephale, Lacep. pl. v, f. 2, is nothing more ttian a common
Narwhal, not quite so badly figured as in pl. iv, f. 3, which is copied from a bad
drawing of Klein, Pisc. per Pulm. Resp. pl. ii, fig. c, from an individual captured
in the Elbe in 1736, afterwards stuffed and exhibited in Dresden. Anderson gives
a rather better figure of the same individual. Fr. Tr. II, p. 108.
(2) We have found this small tusk in several crania, and verified the statements
of Anderson on this subject. It is prevented from being developed by its internal
cavity becoming too rapidly filled with the matter of the ivory, which thus obliter-
ates its gelatinous core.
(3) The Monodon spurius of Fabricius, or Anarkak of Greenland, (Ancylodon,
Illig.) which has but two small curved teeth in the upper jaw and a dorsal fin,
cannot be far removed from the Hyper oodon. Val, wale, in all the languages, de-
rived from the Teutonic, signifies Whale, and is often employed for the Cetacea in
general; nar, .in the language’ of the Icelanders, means cadaver, or dead body,
and it is pretended that such is the mee of this genus.
CETACEA. 211
portion, which is altogether owing to an enormous develop-
ment of the bones of the face.
PHYSETER, Lin.
The Cachalots(1) are Cetacea with a very voluminous head, exces-
sively enlarged, particularly in front, in whose upper jaw there’ is
neither whalebone nor tooth, or if any, very small, and not projecting;
the lower jaw, narrow, elongated, and corresponding to a furrow in
the upper one, is armed on each side with a range of cylindrical or
conical teeth, which, when the mouth is closed, enter into corres-
ponding cavities in the upper jaw. The superior portion of their
enormous head consists almost entirely of large cavities, separated
and covered by cartilages, and filled with an oil which becomes
fixed as it cools, well known in commerce by the name of spermaceti,
a substance for which they are principally sought; the body not
having much fat, and consequently- yielding but little oil. These
cavities, however, are very distinct from the true cranium, which
is rather small, is placed under their posterior portion, and contains
-the brain as usual. It appears that canals, filled with this sperma-
ceti, or adipocire as it is called, are distributed to several parts of
the body, communicating with the cavities which fill the mass of the
head; they even ramify through the fat or blubber that is found
beneath the skin.
The odorous substance, named ambergris, appears to be a con-
cretion formed in the intestines of the Cachalot, particularly during
certain states of disease, and it is said, chiefly in the cecum.
The species of the Cachalots are far from being well as-
certained. hat which appears to be the most common, the
macrocephalus of Shaw and Bonnaterre, (Lacep. X)(2) in lieu
of a dorsal fin, has a mere callous prominence. There are from
twenty to twenty-three teeth on each side of the lower jaw, and
some small conical ones hidden beneath the gum in the upper
one. Its spiracle is single, and not double as in the greater
part of the other Cetacea ; neither is it symmetrical, but is di-
rected towards the left, and terminates on that side, on the front
of the muzzle, which is truncated.(3) In addition to this, it is
said that the left eye is much smaller than the other, and that
eee | ee ee
(1) Physeter as well as physalus, signifies blower. Cachalot is the name used by
_ the Biscayans ; from cachau, which in the Cantabrian dialect means footh. .
(2) It is not the macrocephalus of Linnzus.
(3) We have verified on two crania this want of symmetry in the spiracle, an-
nounced by Dudley, by Anderson and by Swediauer, which inclines us to credit
the inequality of the eyes mentioned by Egede.
212 MAMMALIA.
the whalers always endeavour to attack the animal from that
quarter. If this species alone furnishes, as is asserted, all the
spermaceti and ambergris of commerce, it must be very widely
diffused, for these articles are drawn from the North and the
South. Cachalots, without dorsal fins, have been taken even in
the Adriatic.(1) The
Puyserer, Lacep.
Is a Cachalot with adorsal fin. ‘wo species only are distinguished
among them, microps, and tursio or mular, and those, from the very
equivocal character of teeth, arcuated or straight, sharp or blunt.(2)
They are found in the Mediterranean as well asin the Arctic
Ocean. Those of the latter are said to be the most inveterate
enemies of the Seals.
BaLzna, Lin.
The Whales are equal in size to the Cachalots, and in the propor-
tional magnitude of the head, although the latter is not so much
enlarged in front; but they have no teeth, The two sides of their
upper jaw, which is keel-shaped, are furnished with thin, compact,
(1) We perceive no real difference between this Cachalot, of which we have
good figures and several parts of the skeleton, and that of Roberson, Phil. Trans.,
Vol. LX, of which Bonnaterre has made a species under the name of trumpo,
which is applied, at Bermuda, to a Cachalot, without any more precise indication.
As to the Little Cachalot, P. catodon, Lin., no other difference is mentioned
besides that of size, than that the teeth are sharper, a circumstance that may depend
upon age. It is not even certain that those which have been produced are not
those of some large Dolphin. :
The Physeter macrocephalus of Linnzus, Cach. cylindrique of Bonnaterre, (genus.
Puysatus of Lacep.) would have a good character in the distant location of its
spiracle; but this species merely rests on a bad figure of Anderson, and no one has.
ever seen any thing like it.
The albicans of Brisson, huid-fisk of Egede and Anderson, converted by Gmelin.
into a variety of the macrocephalus, is the beluga dolphin, which sheds its teeth at
avery early age, a fact we have ascertained.
(2) The only one tolerably well ascertained, is from a bad figure of Bayer,
Act. Nat. Cur. If], pl, 1, taken from an animal thrown on shore at Nice. The
name mular has been very vaguely applied to it; the mular of Nieremberg is a
Cachalot, it is true ; but there is nothing to prove it is one species more than
another. ,
As to the different indications of the Cachalots of authors, see my Oss. Foss.
tom. V, p. 328, etseq. Add to them the figure given in the Journ. des Voyages,
of February 1826, and that in the Voy. de Freycinet, pl. xii. | With respect to.
the Cachalots described by M. de Lacepede, Mem. du Museum, .tom. IV, from
Japanese drawings, the very nature of the document on which they rest forbids
me from giving them a place here. ode
CETACEA, 213
transverse laminz, called whalebone, formed of a kind of fibrous
horn, fringed at the edges, which serve to retain the little animals
on which these enormous Cetacea feed. Their lower jaw, supported
by two osseous branches arched externally and towards the summit,
and completely unarmed, lodges a very thick and fleshy tongue, and
when the mouth is closed, envelopes the internal part of the upper
jaw, and the whalebone with which it is invested. These organs do
not allow whales to feed on such large animals as their size might
induce us to imagine. They live on fish, but principally on Worms,
Mollusca, and Zoophytes, selecting, it is said, the very smallest,
which become entangled in the filaments of the whalebone. Their
nostrils, better organised for the sense of smell than those of the
Dolphins, are furnished with some ethmoidal plates, and appear to
receive some small filaments from the olfactory nerve. Their cecum
is short.
Bal. mysticetus,(1) L.; Lacep. Cet. pl. 2and 3, under the name
of Nord-Caper, and Scoresby, Arct. Reg. II, pl. 12. (The Com-
mon Whale.)(2) It has long been considered the largest of all
animals ; but from the late observations of captain Scoresby, it
appears that it scarcely ever exceeds seventy feet, a length fre-
quently surpassed by the wrinkle-bellied whales. It has no dor-
sal fin. To procure its fat or blubber, which is sometimes seve-
ral feet in thickness, and contains immense quantities of oil,
whole fleets are annually equipped. Formerly sufficiently bold
to venture into our seas, it has gradually retired to the extreme
North, where the number is daily diminishing. Besides oil,
it produces black and flexible whalebone, eight or ten feet in
- length, each individual having from eight to nine hundred strips
on each side of the palate. One hundred and twenty tuns of oil
are obtained from a single whale. Shell-fish attach themselves
to its skin, and multiply there as on a rock, and some of the
Balanus family even penetrate into it. It is asserted that these
(1) The o2zaave of Aristotle and lian, which was an enemy of the Dolphin,
appears to have been a large cetaceous animal armed with teeth; the only true
Whale known to Aristotle was his mysticetus, which had, says he, sete in the
mouth in place of teeth ; most probably the Whale, with the wrinkled throat, of the.
Mediterranean. It is thought, however, that Juvenal alludes to the common
Whale in the following line,
** Quanto delphinis balzna britannica major;”
but the Latins applied the term Balena, in a general way, to all the great Cetacea,
just as the people of the North do that of Whale, or Wall, and its derivatives, a
remark essentially requisite to those who study their writings.
(2) The old figure of Martens, recopied Lacép. I, pl. 1, and in all other authors,
represents the head too long.
214 MAMMALIA.
enormous animals feed exclusively on very small Mollusca,
which abound, it is true, inthe seas they inhabit. Their excre-
ment is of a beautiful red colour, and affords a tolerable die.(1)
Other species (Barznorrera, Lacep.).have a dorsal fin: they are
also again subdivided into such as have a smooth belly, and those in
which it is wrinkled. The
BAaLznoprera, with a smooth belly,
Are closely allied to the Whales proper. ‘One only is cited, the
| Balena physalus, Finnfisch of the Hollanders ; copied from
Martens by Anderson, Bonnaterre, and others ; Lacep. I, fig. ii.
(The Gibbar.) As long as the Common Whale, but more
slender ; very common in the same latitudes, but shunned by the
fishermen on account of its extreme ferocity, and the paucity of
its oil; to capture it is a difficult, and for small vessels a danger-
_ ous undertaking, on account of the violence of its motions when
attacked. It is far from certain that it is not a Jubarta, whose
name has been corrupted. The
BaLzyoptera, with a wrinkled belly, or Rorquats,(2)
Have the skin of the underpart of the throat and chest folded longi-
tudinally into plice, forming very deep wrinkles, and consequently
susceptible of great dilatation, the use of which is unknown. It
appears that the seas of Europe contain two species.
Bal boops, L.; Jubarte of the Biscayans; Lacep. I, f. 3,—
IV, f. land 2,—V, f. 1, and VIII, 1 and 2. (The Jubarta.)
Superior in length to the Common Whale, but has all the
dangerous propensities of the Gibbar.
Bal, musculus, Lin.; Lacep. pl. vi and vii. (The Rorqual of
the Mediterranean.) Which only differs from the Ananaia in
some of the details of its proportions.(2)
(1) It is from an erroneous interpretation of certain passages of Martens and
Zorgdrager, that naturalists have made a peculiar species of the Nord-Caper, which
should be a northern whale more slender than the common one ; but in the Antarc-
tic Seas there isa species very similar to the Common Whale, which the Hollanders
of the Cape also call Nord-Caper. See Oss. Foss. p. 361, 363.
(2) Rorgual, whale with tubes, from its plice.
(3) The Balena rostrata of Hunter, of Fabricius and of Bonnaterre, or the Boops,
is very different from that of Pennant and of Pontoppidan, which is the HrrEznoo-
DON. ;
The Balzna gibbosa and the gibbosa B. or nodosa of Bonnaterre, should be better
determined; but they are only known through Dudley, Phil. Trans. 387, and
we are not sure they were preciselgpin theirnatural state. See Oss. Foss. loc. cit.
OVIPARA. 215
OF THE OVIPAROUS VERTEBRATA.
Although the three classes of the Oviparous Vertebrata
differ greatly from each other in their quantum of respiration,
and in all that relates to it, viz. the power of motion and the
energy of the senses, they present several common characters
when opposed to the Mammalia, or Viviparous Vertebrata.
The hemispheres of their brain are very slender, and are
not united by a ‘corpus callosum; the crura of the cerebellum
do not form that protuberance called the pons Varolit; the
nates—at least in two of these classes—become greatly de-
veloped, contain a ventricle, and are not covered by the hemi-
spheres, but are visible below, or on the sides of the cere-
brum; their nostrils are less complex; the ear has not so
many small bones, which in several are totally wanting; the
cochlea, when it exists, which is only the case in Birds, is
much more simple, &c. Their lower jaw, always composed
of numerous pieces, is attached by a concave facet to a salient
process, which belongs to the temporal bone, but separated
from its petrous portion; the bones of their cranium are more
_ subdivided, although they occupy the same relative places,
and fulfil similar functions; thus the os frontis is composed
of five or six pieces, &c. ‘The orbits are merely separated
by an osseous lamina of the sphenoidal bone, or by a membrane.
When these animals have anterior extremities, besides the
clavicle, which is frequently united to its fellow on the oppo-
site side, and is then called fourchette, the scapula also rests
upon the sternum, by a very broad and long coracoid apophy-
‘sis. The larynx is more simple, and has no epiglottis; the
lungs are not separated from the abdomen by a perfect dia-
phragm, &c. To render all these affinities sensible, however,
it would be necessary to enter into anatomical details, which
216 OVIPARA.
do not belong to this first part of our work. It is sufficient
that we have here pointed out the mutual analogy of the Ovi-
para, which, as regards the plan on which they are constructed,
is greater than that of any one of them with the Mammalia.
Oviparous generation consists, essentially, in this—the
young animal is not attached by a placenta to the parietes of
the uterus, or of the oviduct, but remains separated from it
by its most external envelope. Its aliment is prepared before
hand, and enclosed in a sac attached to its intestinal canal;
this is what is called the vitellus, or yolk of egg, of which the
young animal is a sort of appendage, at first imperceptible,
which is nourished and augmented by absorbing the fluid of
that yolk. Such of the Ovipara as breathe with lungs have
the egg furnished with a highly vascular membrane, which
appears to serve for the purposes of respiration; it is con-
nected with the bladder, and is analogous to the allantoid of the
Mammalia. It is neither found in Fishes nor in the Batrach-
ians, which latter, when young, respire, like Fishes, by bran-
chie.
Many of the cold-blooded Ovipara do not bring forth their
young until they are developed and extricated from their
shell, or other membranes, which separated them from the
mother. ‘These are called false Ovipara. om »
a? mv é we: .
Pits 6 . 4
és MES sp Re 9 ' 217
ip et
CLASS II.
is AVES.
Cites are Oviparous Vertebrata, with double systems of cir-
elation and respiration, organized for flight.
Their lungs, undivided and attached to the ribs, are enve-
; Tope by a membrane pierced with large holes, which allow
the air to pass into several cavities of the chest, lower part of
the abdomen, arm-pits, and even of the interior of the bones,
-so that not only is the surface of the pulmonary vessels bathed
in the ambient fluid, but that also of an infinitude of vessels
“in other parts of the body. ‘Thus, in certain respects, Birds
respire by the branches of the aorta, as well as by those of
the pulmonary artery, and the energy of their irritability is
in proportion to their quantum of respiration.(1) The whole
, body is so constructed as to profit by this energy.
Their anterior extremities, destined to sustain them in
flight, could neither serve them for standing, nor for pre-
hension; they are bipeds then, and pick up objects from the
earth with their mouth; their body, consequently, is inclined
- before their legs, the thighs directed forwards, and the toes
elongated, to form asufficient base for it. The pelvis is very
much extended in length, in order to furnish points of attach-
-ment to those muscles which support the trunk upon the
thighs. There is even a suite of muscles reaching from the
pelvis to the toes, passing over the knee and heel, so that the
~ simple weight of the bird flexes the toes; it is thus that they
(1) Two common Swallows consume as much pure air as a Guinea-Pig. Layoi-
sier, Mem. de Chimie, I, 119.
Vor. I.—2 C
218 ye ik vES: a &
are enabled to deep ; in arty while perched on one foot.
The ischia, and particularly the ossa pubis are lengthened out
behind, and the interval between them is widened, files
to allow the necessary space for the development of the o ;
The neck and the beak are elongated to reach the ground,:
but the former has the requisite flexibility for bending back-
wards when at rest,—consequently, it has many vertebra.
The trunk, on the contrary, which ser ves as @ point @appui_
to the wings, has but little mobility; the sternum, particular! ne
to which are attached the muscles which lower. the win |
flight, is of great extent, and has its surface still more énlareed.
by a salient process in its middle. It is originally composed)
of five pieces: a middle one, of which this salient lamina
makes a part; two triangular, anterior, lateral ones, for the.
articulations of the ribs, and two posterior, which are lateral |
and bifurcated, to increase its surface. The greater or less
degree of the ossification of the notches of these last, and the
extent of the interval they leave between them and the princi-- :
pal bone, denote a relative strength of wing and power of.
flight. ‘The diurnal Birds of prey, the Swallows and the
Humming-birds, lose, as they grow old, all traces of fi oeged
unossified spaces. | é'
The fourchette produced by the junction of the two Cclavi- .
cles, and the two powerful stretchers formed by the coracoid —
apophyses, keep the shoulders apart, notwithstanding the
efforts requisite for flight, that act in an opposite direction ; the
greater the power of flight, the more open and strong is the |
fourchette. The wing » Supported by the humerus, fore- -arm
and hand, the latter of ce gp is elongated, and has one finger
and vestiges of two others, is pieuched throughout its length
with a range of elastic quills, which greatly extends the sur-
face that resists the air. Those which belong to the hand are
termed primaries, and there are always ten; those attached to.
the fore-arm are called secondaries, but their number varies ;
_ weaker feathers appended to the humerus are called scapulars ;
the bone, which is analogous to the thumb, is also furnished
++
i Wb wh AVES. 219
with what are termed bastard quills. Along the base of the
quills is a range of feathers named coverts.
The bony tail is very short, but has a range of large quills,
which, when spread out, assist in’ supporting the bird ; they
are generally twelve in number, sometimes fourteen, and in
the Gallinacez eighteen.
The legs have a femur, a tibia and a fibula, which are con-
nected with the femur by an articulation witha spring, which
keeps up the extension without any effort on the part of the
muscles. The tarsus and metatarsus are represented by one
single bone, terminating below in three pullies.
Most commonly there are three toes before, and a thumb
behind ; the latter being sometimes deficient. In the Mar-
tins it is directed forwards. In the Climbers, on the contrary,
the external toe and the thumb are directed backwards.
The number of articulations increases in each toe, commencing
with the thumb, which has two, and ending with ie exter-
.. nal toe, which has five.
Birds are generally covered with feathers, a kind of tegu-
ment best adapted for defending them from the rapid varia-
tions of temperature to which their movements expose them.
The air cavities which occupy the interior of their body, and
even supersede the marrow in the bones, increase their
' specific lightness. The sternal, as well as the vertebral portion
of the ribs is ossified, in order to give more power to the di-
“Jatation of the chest. To each rib is annexed a small bone,
which soon becomes sgldered to it, and is directed obliquely
‘towards the next one, thereby giving additional solidity to the
~ thorax.
~The eye is so constructed, in Birds, as to distinguish, with
equal facility, objects at a distance, or in its immediate vicin-
~ ity; a vascular and plaited membrane, which stretches from
the bottom of the globe to the edge of the crystalline, proba-
bly assists in effecting this, by displacing that lens. ‘The ante-
rior surface of the ball is also strengthened by a circle of bony
"pieces, and besides the two ordinary eye-lids, there is always
a third one placed at the internal angle, which, by a remark-
220 AVES) §,, ke. ie
able muscular apparatus, can be drawn over the eye like a
curtain. The cornea is very convex, but the crystalline i is
flat, and the vitreous humour small. oF
The ear has but a single small bone, formed of one branch
that adheres to the tympanum, and of another terminating in
a plate that rests upon the fenestra ovalis; the cochlea is a
slightly arcuated cone; but the semi-circular canals are
large, and lodged in a part of the cranium where they are
completely surrounded by air cavities, which communicate.
with the arca. Nocturnal Birds alone have a long external”
conch, which, however, does not project like that of Quadru-
peds. The external meatus is generally covered with feathers,
whose barbs are more fringed than the others.
The organ of smell, concealed in the base of the beak, usu-
ally has but three cartilaginous ossa turbinata, which vary in
complication ; although there are no sinuses within the pari-
etes of the cranium, it is extremely sensible. The breadth of
the osseous openings of the nostrils determines the strength of
the beak; and the cartilages, membranes, feathers and other
teguments which narrow down those apertures, influence the
power of smell, and the nature of the food. 3
There is but little muscular substance in the tongue, which
is supported by a bone articulated with the hyoid ; in most
Birds this organ is not very delicate.
The feathers, as well as the quills, which only differ in size,
are composed of a stem, hollow at base, and of barbs, which
are themselves furnished with smaller owes ; their tissue, lustre,
strength, and general form vary infinitely. The touch must if
be feeble in all such parts.as are covered with them, and as
the beak is almost always corneous, and has but little sensi-
bility, and the toes are invested with scales above, and a callous”
skin underneath, that sense can have but little activity in this
class of animals.
Birds moult twice a year. In certain species, the winter
plumage differs in its colours from that of summer; in the
greater number, the female differs from the male in an infe-
rior vividness of tints, and when this is the case, the young of
, “+. aa gs i OAT a os NN as Ng
a r | at Riser bi) caine Jae
% ‘a er AVES. th Re 221
_ P 4 v
ey age
both sexes resemble the former. When the adult male and
female are of the same "a ie the pars ones have a livery
peculiar to them.
] The brain of Birds has the same general characters as that
» of other Oviparous Vertebrata, but is distinguished by its very
"great proportionate size, which often surpasses even that of
3 this organ inthe Mammalia. ‘This volume principally depends
upon tubercles, analogous to the corpora striata, and not upon
the hemispheres, which are narrow and without circumvolu-
_ tions. The cerebellum is tolerably large, and almost without.
lateral lobes, being chiefly constituted by the vermiform pro-
cess.
“The: rings of the trachea are entire; there isa glottis at its
bifurcation most commonly furnished with peculiar muscles,
which is called the inferior larynx; this is the spot where
the voice of birds is produced; the immense volume of air
contained in the air sacs contributes to its strength, and the
trachea, by its various forms and motions, to its modifications.
The superior larynx, which is extremely simple, has but little
» to do with it.
The face, or upper mandible of Birds, consisting chiefly of
their intermaxillaries, islengthened out behind into two arches,
the internal of which is composed of the pterygoid and palatine
bones, and the external of the maxillaries and jugals, both of
> a rest on a movable tympanic bone, commonly called the
“square bone, analogous to that of the drum of the ear; above,
this same face is articulated with the cranium, or united to it
by elastic laminz, a kind of union which always allows the parts
some degree of motion. .
. The horny substance which invests the two mandibles, per-
' forms the office of teeth, and is sometimes so jagged as to re-
semble them ; its form, as well as that of the mandibles which
support it, varies extremely, and according to the kind of food
used by each species.
The digestion of Birds is in proportion to the activity of their
life, and the force of their respiration. ‘The stomach is com-
posed of three parts: the crop, which is an enlargement of
&
292" zen v, os | ue be ; ‘he
TPR ; ; j
1
the sipnaaits a ‘membranous fet m; the thickness of
whose parietes are a multitude of glands whose juices babert
the aliment ; and finally, the gizzard, armed with t power-
ful muscles, united by two radiated tendons, | and Pci? inter-
nally with a cartilaginous kind of velvet. The food _ is ‘the:
more easily ground there, as birds constantly. swallow small
stones, in order to increase its triturative power: *
In the greater part of the species which feed exclusively.
on flesh or fish, the muscles and villous coat of the ony
are greatly attenuated; and it seems to make but a single sac
with the membranous stomach. ae sat
The dilatation of the crop is also sometimes: ‘wanting. ae
The liver pours its. bile into the intestine by two ducts,
which alternate with the two or three through which the
pancreatic fluid passes. The pancreas of Birds is large, but
their spleen is small; the epiploon is wanting; its functions,
‘
however, are partly fulfilled by the partitions of the air cavi- —
ties; two blind appendages are situated near the origin of the
rectum, and at a short distance from the anus ;_ they are longer
or shorter, according to the regimen of the genus. In the’
Herons it is short; in other genera, that of the Woodpeckers _
for instance, it is totally deficient.
The cloaca is a pouch, in which the rectum, ureters, sper-
matic ducts, and in the female, the oviduct, terminate 3 it
opens externally, by the anus. Strictly speaking, Birds do
not urinate, as that excretion mingles with their solid exere- —
ment. In the Ostriches alone, is the cloaca sufliciently adatea
to allow of an accumulation of the urine.
In most genera§ coition is effected by the simple juxta-
position of the anus; the Ostriches, and several of the Palmi-
pedes, however, have a penis furrowed with a groove, through
which the semen passes. The testes are situated internally,
and near the lungs; only one oviduct 1 is developed ; ‘the other
is reduced to a small sac.
The egg, detached from the ovary, where it consists merely
of yolk, imbibes that external fluid, called the white, in the
upper part of the oviduct, and becomes invested with its shell
at the bottom of the same canal. The chick contained within
.
tay
‘it is developed by incubation, unless the heat of the’ climate
suffices for that purpose, as is the case with the egg of the
Ostrich. The young Bird has a little horny point at the
extremity of the beak, with which it splits open the shell, and
which falls off a few days after it is hatched.
The industry and skill exhibited by Birds in their variously
constructed nests, and. their tenderness and care in protecting
their eggs and young, are known to every one; it is the prin-
cipal part of their instinct. Their rapid transitions through
different regions of the air, and the vivid and continual action.
of that element upon them, enable them to anticipate atmos-
_. pheric changes, to an extent of which we can form no idea,.
- and caused the ancients, in their superstition, to attribute to
‘
them the power of prescience or divination. It is unques-
tionably on this faculty, that depends the instinct which acts
upon the Birds of passage, prompting them to seek the south
on the approach of winter, and. the north on the return of
spring. They have memory, and even imagination—for they
dream. ‘They are easily tamed; may be taught to render
various services, and retain the air and words of songs.
ae a
wi” Division of the Class of Birds into Orders.
Of all classes of animals, that of Birds is the most
strongly characterized, that in which the species have the
greatest mutual resemblance, and which is separated from all
others by the greatest interval; circumstances which, at the
same time, render its subdivision the more difficult.
Their distribution is founded, like that of the Mammalia, on
the organs of manducation or the beak, and on those of pre-
hension, that is, on the beak, and particularly on the feet. «
‘The first that arrest our attention are the palmated feet, or
those in which the toes are connected by membranes, which
distinguish all Swimming Birds.. The position of these feet
behind; the length of the sternum; the neck, often longer
than the legs to enable it to reach below; the dense, polished
>
224 “ated AVES.
plumage, impermeable to water, all concur with the feet in
making good navigators of the Palmipedes.
In other birds, which most commonly are partially web-
footed, at Jeast between the external toes, we observe elevated
tarsi; legs divested of feathers at their lower extremities; a
long, thin shape, and in fine, all the requisites for wading
along the shores of rivers to seek their food. Such, in fact,
is the regimen of the greater number; and although some of»
them inhabit dry grounds, they are cited: Shore-Birds, or
Waders.
Among the true land birds, the Gallinacezx, like our domes-
tic Cock, have a heavy carriage, a moderate beak, the upper
mandible of which is arched; the nostrils partly covered by a
soft and inflated scale; the toes almost always indented on the
edges, and short membranes between the bases of the anterior
ones. They fly heavily, and but a short distance at a time.
Their chief food is grain.
Birds of prey have a hooked beak, the point of which is
sharp, and curved downwards; the nostrils pierced in a mem-
brane which invests the whole base of that beak, and feet.
armed with vigorous talons. They live on flesh, 1 pursue other
birds, and are consequently, for the most part, vigorous in
flight. ‘The greater number have still a slight web between
the external toes. SD
The Passerine comprise many more species than all the
other families; but their organization presents so many analo-
gies that they cannot be separated, although varying greatly
in size and strength. Their two external toes are united at
the base, and sometimes for a part of their length.
Finally, the name of Scansoriz, or Climbers, has been
given to those birds whose external toe, like the thumb, is
directed backwards, because the greater number profit, by a
conformation so favourable to a vertical position, to climb
trees.(1),
(1) From my first Tableau Elementaire, in 1798, I was ebliged to suppress the
Linnean order of the Pice, which has no one determined character. Mlliger and
the greater number of late naturalists have assented to this suppression.
AVES. 223
Each of these orders is subdivided into families and genera,
and principally from the conformation of the beak. But these
different groups frequently pass into each other by almost
imperceptible gradations, so that there is no other class in
which the genera and sub-genera are so difficult to limit.
ORDER I.
ACCIPITRES, Lin.
Birds of prey are known by their hooked beak and talons,
powerful weapons, with which they pursue other birds, and
even the weaker quadrupeds and reptiles. They are among
Birds what the Carnivora are among Quadrupeds. The
muscles of their thighs and legs indicate the strength of their
claws ; their tarsi are rarely elongated; they have, all, four
toes; the nail of the thumb and that of the internal toe are
the strongest.
They form two families, the diurnal and the nocturnal.
The eyes of the diurnal Birds of prey are directed sideways ;
they have a membrane called the cera, covering the base of
the beak, in which the nostrils are pierced ; three toes before,
one behind, without feathers, the two external ones almost
always united at base by a short membrane; the plumage
dense, the quills strong, and great power onthe wing. ‘Their
stomach is nearly altogether membranous, their intestines of
but small extent, their cecum very short, their sternum broad
and completely ossified in order to give more extended attach-
ments to the muscles of the wings, and their fourchette semi-
-eircular and widely separated, the better to resist the violent
flexions of the humerus necessary to a rapid flight.
Linnzus comprehended them all under two genera, which
are so many natural divisions, the Vultures and the Falcons.
Vor. I.—2 D
226 AVES. F
VuuTor, Lin.
The Vultures have eyes even with the head, and reticulated tarsi,
that is, covered with small scales ; an elongated beak, curved only at
the end, and a greater or less portion of the head, or even of the
neck, divested of feathers. The strength of their talons does not
correspond with their size, and they make more use of their beak
than of theirclaws. Their wings are so long, that in walking they
keep them ina state of semi-extension. They are a cowardly genus,
feeding oftener on carrion than on a living prey ; when they have
fed, their crop forms a great protuberance above the fourchette, a
fetid humour flows from their nostrils, and they are almost reduced
to a state of stupid insensibility.
Vu.tur, Cuv.
The Vultures, properly so called, have a large and strong beak,
the nostrils pierced transversely at its base; the head and neck
without feathers or caruncles, and a collar of long feathers, or of
down, at the root of the neck. They have hitherto been found only
in the eastern continent.
V. fulvus, Gmel.; V. trencalos, Bechstein; Ze Percnoptere,
Buff. Enl. 326, and Le Grand Vautour, Id. Hist. des Ois. I, in
Ato, pl. V3(1) Zhe Vulture, Albinus, III, i; Neuman, pl. 2.
(The Fulvous Vulture.) Grey, or of a brown verging upon
fulvous; the down on the head and neck, cinereous; collar
white, sometimes mixed with brown; quills of the wing and
tail, brown ; beak and feet lead coloured; belly of the adult
white. It is the most universally diffused species, and is
found on the mountains of the whole of the eastern continent.
Its body surpasses in size that of the swan.(2)
V. cinereus, Gmel. Col. 425; Nauman, pl. v; Viellot, Gall. pl.
i; Arrian of La Peyrouse; Black Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, &c.
(The Brown Vulture.) A blackish brown ; the collar mounting
obliquely towards the occiput, which is furnished with a tuft of
feathers ; the feet and the membrane of the base of the beak of
(1) The history of the Grand Vautour of Buffon belongs to the following species,
but the figure is that of the fulvus.
(2) The Vautour des Indes, Lath. and Sonnerat, Tem. PI]. Col. 26, is at least a
closely allied species, as well as the Chassefiente, Vaill. Affr. pl. 10. Add V. egypius
Tem. Col. 407.—V. imperialis, Ib. 426.
N.B. The Fawn-coloured Vulture is the genus Grrs fe Savigny. The Brown
Vulture is the type of his genus Merrivs.
ACCIPITRES. pay
a bluish violet. It is equally common with the preceding, and
and is still larger, frequently attacking living animals. (1)
V. auricularis, Daud.; Vaill. Afr. pl. ix. (The Oricou.)
Blackish; a longitudinal fleshy crest on each side of the neck,
above the ear. From Africa.(2)
America produces Vultures remarkable for the caruncles which
surmount the membrane of the base of their beak; the latter is as
large as in the preceding species, but the nostrils are oval and lon-
gitudinal. They constitute the Sarcorampuus of Dumeril.(3)
Vult. papa, L.; Enl. 428; Viellot, Gal. 3; Jrubi Cha, Azz.
(The King of the Vultures.) As large as a goose; blackish
when young, (Spix. pl. 1) then variegated with black and fawn
colour, (Vaill. Afric. 13) and finally, in the fourth year, has a
fawn coloured mantle, and black quills and collar. The naked
parts of the head and neck are vividly tinged, and the caruncle
is denticulated like the comb of a cock. It inhabits the plains
and other hot parts of South America. Its name is derived
from the circumstance of the Urubus retiring, through fear,
when he stoops upon a body which they have already begun to
devour.
Vult. gryphus, L.; Humb. Obs. Zool. pl. viii, and Tem. Pl.
Col. 133 and 408. (The Condor.) Blackish; a great part of
the wing ash coloured ; collar silky and white; the male, in
addition to his superior caruncle, which is large and entire, has
another under the beak, like the cock. While young, it is of a
cinereous brown, and without acollar. The caruncles are defi-
cient in the female, which is of a brownish grey. This species
has been rendered famous by exaggerated reports of its size; it
is, however, but a little larger than the Lemmer-geyer, to which
it assimilates in habits. It is found in the most elevated moun-
tains of the Andes in South America, and flies higher than any
other bird. The
Caruartres, Cuv.—GaALinazeEs, or CaTHARISTES, Viellot,
Have the beak of the Sarcoramphus, that is, large, and with oval and
(1) The V. monachus, Edw. 290 ; Vaill. 12 and Col. 13, only differs from the
Brown Vuliure in the beak, which is somewhat shorter. The Crested Vulture (V.
eristatus, Gm.) is only known to me by a bad figure of Gesner, probably taken
from some species of Eagle. The V. barbarus is the same as the Lemmer-Geyer,
Falco barbatus.
A) The Pondicherry Vulture, Sonnerat, pl. cv, or V. ponticerzanus, Pl. Col. 2,
is nearly allied to the Oricou. Its lateral crests do not ascend so high, and its
beak is not so strong.
(3) M. Vieillot has changed this name into Zoppilota or Gypagus.
228 AVES.
longitudinal nostrils, but no fleshy crest ; their head and neck are
without feathers.
V. californianus, Sh.; Tem. Col. 31. (The Vulture of Califor-
nia.) Approaches the Condor in size, but its wings are pro-
portionably longer; the plumage is entirely brown.
V. aura, L., Enl. 1875 Viellot, Am. Sept. 2 and Galer. 4.
(The Turkey Buzzard.) Black; tail cuneiform ; as large as a
cock. See App. XII of Am. Ed.
PEercnorTervs, 1) Cuv.—Gyparros, Bechstein.—Neroruron, Savig.
The Percnopteri have a slender, long beak, slightly inflated above
its curvature ; the nostrils oval and longitudinal, and the head, but
not the neck, divested of feathers. They are birds of a moderate
size, and very far removed, as to strength, from the true Vultures ;
thus they fall more furiously upon carrion and other species of filth,
which attract them from afar ; they do not even disdain to feed upon
excrement. They were comprehended by Illiger, along with the
preceding, among his Caruarres.
Vult. percnopterus, L.3; V. leucocephalus and V. fuscus, Gm.
Enl. 407 and 429; Vieillot, Galer. 2; Naum. pl. 3; Vault. de
Gingi, Sonn. and Daud.; Origourap, Vaill. Afr. 143 Rachamah,
Bruce ; Pharaoh’s Bird, in Egypt. As large as a crow ; throat
and cheeks naked ; the adult male white, quills of the wings
black ; the young and the female, brown. This bird is found
throughout the whole of the eastern continent, and is particu-
larly common in warm countries, where it is an excellent sca-
venger, purifying them from carrion, &c. It follows the cara-
vans in the desert to devour all that dies. The ancient Egyp-
tians held it in respect on account of the services it renders to
the country, and frequently sculptured it on their monuments.
Even at the present day it is exempt from injury, and pious
Mussulmen sometimes bequeath sums of mae Dey, for the main-
tenance of a certain number.
V. jota, Bonap.; Vieillot, Am. Sept. pl. 1. (The Urubu.)
Of the size and form of the preceding ; the beak stronger; the
whole body of a brilliant black; the entire head naked. Com-
mon in all the hot and temperate parts of America, where it
renders similar services as the Percnopterus in Egypt ; flocking
round dead bodies, and consuming every kind of filth.(2)
(1) Perenopterus, black wings, the name of the Egyptian species, among the
ancients.
(2) This bird has been confounded for a long time with the aura, but its beak
is much more slender. Add the Catharte moine, Pl. Col. 222.
ACCIPITRES. 229
GyYPAETOS, Storr.—PHENE, Savigny.
The Griffins, placed by Gmelin in the genus Falco, are more nearly
allied to the Vultures in their habits and conformation ; their eyes
are even with the head ; their talons proportionably weak ; wings
half extended when at rest; the crop, when full, projecting at the
bottom of the neck; but their head is completely covered with
feathers. Their distinguishing characters consist in a very strong,
straight beak, hooked at the end, and inflated on the curve; nostrils
covered by stiff hairs, directed forwards, and a pencil of similar
ones under the beak; their tarsi short and feathered to the toes ;
their wings long, the third quill being the longest.
Vult. barbarus and Falco barbatus, Gm. Pl. Col. 4313 Edw.
106; Vieillot, Gal. pl. 8; Nauman, pl. 4 and 53 Visser. of
Bruce, Abyss. pl. 31. (Zhe Lemmer-geyer.) The largest
bird of prey belonging to the eastern continent, inhabiting
the high chains of mountains, but not very common. | It
builds its nest on inaccessible acclivities, attacks lambs, goats,
the chamois, and, as it is said,even man, when it finds him
asleep $ it is asserted that children have been carried away by
it. Its usual mode of attack is to force its prey from some pre-
cipice, which it then devours, being killed and mangled by the
fall. It does not, however, reject dead bodies. Its length is
nearly four feet, the distance from the tip of one wing to that of
the other being from nineto ten. The mantle is blackish, with
a white line on the middle of each feather ; the neck, and all
the under part of the body are of alight and brilliant fawn-co-
lour; a black band surrounds the head. The neck and breast
of the young, until the fourth year inclusive, are of a brown
colour, more or less deep. This bird is the Phene of the Greeks,
and the Ossifraga of the Latins.(1)
, Fatco,. Lin.
The Falcons form the second, and by far most numerous division
of the diurnal birds of prey. Their head and neck are covered with
feathers ; their eye-brows project, which occasions the eye to appear
sunk, and gives to their physiognomy a character very different
from that of the Vultures: the greater number prey on living ani-
mals, but they differ in the courage with which they pursue it. Their
first plumage is often very differently coloured from that of the adult,
.
(1) Savigny, Ois. d’Egyp. et de Syrie, p. 18, in the great work on Egypt, was
the first who firmly established this synonyme.
2030 AVES.
which is only assumed in their third or fourth year, a circumstance
which has occasioned a great multiplication of species. The female
is generally one-third larger than the male, which, on this account,
is styled a tarsel, or tercel. We should, first of all, subdivide this
genus into two great sections.
NOBLE BIRDS OF PREY.
Fatco, Bechst. Fatcons, properly so called.
The true Falcons constitute the first, and, in proportion to their
size, are the most courageous, a quality which is derived from the
power of their arms and wings; their beak, curved from its base,
has a sharp tooth on each side of its point, and the second quill of
their wings is the longest, the first nearly equalling it, which ren-
ders the whole wing longer and more pointed. From this, also,
result peculiar habits: the length of the quills of their wings dimin-
ishes their vertical power, and compels them, in a calm state of the
atmosphere, to fly obliquely forwards, so that when they wish to
rise directly upwards, they are obliged to fly against the wind.
These birds are the most docile of all those employed by falconers,
who teach them to pursue game, and to return at their call. Their
wings are longer than their tails.
F. communis, Gm.(1) (The Common Falcon.) As large as
a hen, and distinguished by a triangular, black moustache on
the cheek, larger than that of any other species of the genus $
it varies as to colours nearly in the following manner : when
young, it is brown above, the feathers edged with reddish ; un-
derneath whitish, with longitudinal brown spots. As it increases.
in age, the spots on the belly andthighs have a tendency to form
transverse blackish lines, and the white increases on the throat
and root of the neck; the plumage on the back, at the same
time, becomes more uniform, and is of a brown, transversely
striped with a blackish ash colour ; the tail is brown above,
with pairs of reddish spots, and beneath with pale bands which
diminish in width with age; the throat is always white; the
feet and the cera of the beak are sometimes blue and sometimes
yellow. These variations may be followed, Enl. 470, the young ;
(1) We must take especial care not to refer to this species the pretended varie-
ties of the Fulco communis given by Gmelin. Thus the var. «, Frisch. 74, is a Buz-
zard ; d, Id. 75, is a Booted Buzzard; ¢, Id. 80, the Falco pygargus, L.; 6, Id. 76,
a Buzzard somewhat paler than usual ; x, Aldrov. 494, a very distinct species, &c.
On the contrary, the F. islandicus, barbarus and peregrinus may all be the Common
Falcon at different periods of moulting.
ACCIPITRES. 231
421, the old female; 450, the old male;(1) Nauman, pl. 24
and 25, and Wils. Am. IX, pl. Ixxvi..
Those called Faucons pélerins, Enl. 469, and Wils. Amer. IX,
pl. 76—F. stellaris, F. peregrinus, Gm., appear to be young ones
rather blacker than the rest.
It is this celebrated species which has given its name to that
kind of hunting in which birds of prey are used. It inhabits
the whole north of the earth, and builds in the most elevated and
inaccessible cliffs. Such is the velocity of its flight, that there
is scarcely a spot on the globe it does not visit. The Falcon
stoops vertically on its prey, as though it fell from the clouds,
and consequently can only capture birds while on the wing,
otherwise it would dash itself against the ground, &c. with fatal
violence. The male is used for taking Pies and other small
birds; the female against Pheasants, and even Hares.
F. lanarius, L.; F. sacer, Naum. pl. 28. (The Lanner.) A
somewhat larger species, which appears to come from the East
rather than the North. Its plumage is nearly the same as that of
the young falcon, except that its moustache is narrower, and
less marked, and that its throat is mottled ; it approaches the
Gerfalcon in the tail, which is longer than the wings: it is
principally taken in Hungary.
Europe produces also six smaller species, three of which have the
form and qualities of the true falcon on a reduced scale. ;
F. subbuteo, L.3 Enl. 432; Naum. 26. (The Hobby.) Brown
above ; whitish, spotted longitudinally with brown beneath ;
thighs and lower part of the abdomen red; a brown streak on
the cheek.
' P.-zsalon, L.; Enl. 468; Naum. 27. (The Merlin.) Brown
above; whitish beneath; longitudinally spotted with brown, even
on the thighs ; the smallest of the European birds of prey. F.
lithofalco, 1.3; Enl. 447; ash coloured above; reddish white spot-
ted longitudinally with pale brown underneath, is merely an
old male of the same species. Builds among the rocks. :
The toes of the three remaining species are shorter, and their
tubercles less salient. Their flight is not,so rapid, and they pursue
Mice, Insects, and seize Birds upon the perch. The most common is,
F. tinnunculus, L.; Enl. 401 and 471; Naum. 30. (The Kes-
trel.) Red; spotted with black above; white longitudinally,
spotted with pale brown beneath ; the head and tail of the male
(1) Frisch only gives a young falcon, pl. Ixxxiii, Edw.; the old female, pl. ill ;
the young, pl. iv.
Bse- AVES.
ash coloured. The name is derived from its shrill cry ; builds
in old towers, &c.
F. cenchris, Frisch and Naum.; &. tinnunculoides, Schintz Bid
Temm.; Naum. 29; Frisch, 89. (The Little Kestrel.) Immac-
ulate above; otherwise similar to the Kestrel ; wings rather
longer, and talons white. This species, long confounded with
the preceding, prefers the south of Europe.
F. rufipes, Beseke; F. vespertinus, Gm.; Enl. 431; Naum. 28.
(The Grey Kestrel.) The male is of a deep ash colour; the
thighs and inferior part of the abdomen red ; the back of the
female ash coloured, spotted with black ; the head, and all be-
neath, more or less red. Still smaller than the preceding ;
most common in eastern Europe, common, also, in Siberia—
rare in Germany and France.(1)
Hieroratco, Cuy.(2)
The Gerfalcons have wing quills similar to those of the other noble
birds, which they perfectly resemble in disposition ; but their beak
has only an emargination like that of the ignoble ones;(3) their long
and displayed tail extends considerably beyond their wings, although
the latter are very long; the superior third of their tarsi, which are
short and reticulated, is furnished with feathers. Only one species
is well known.
(1) Of foreign species add, 1st, allied to the Kestrel: Le Montagnard, Vaill. 35
(F. capensis, Sh.).—F. sparverius, Enl. 465, Wils. If. xvi, 1, and IV, xxxii, 2, and
two or three species, whose wings, otherwise similar to the noble birds of prey as
to the relative proportion of the feathers, are shorter than the tail ; such as the
F. punctatus, Cuy. Col. 45.—F. columbarius, Wils. Il, xy, 3. :
2d. Allied to the Hobby : F. cx#rulescens, Edw. 108, Vieill. Gal. 18, and Col. 97,
hardly larger than a swallow ;—F’. aurantius, Lath., rufogularis, Ejd., thoracicus,
Illig. Col. 348 ;—F’. bidentatus, Lath., or Bidens rufiventer, Spix. VI, which is dis-
tinguished by a double tooth in its beak, Col. 38, and the young, Col. 358, or Bid.
albiventer, Spix. VII, but with the wings too short ;—F. diodon, Col. 198 ;—F. fe-
meralis, Temm. Col. 121 and 343, and Spix. VII ;—F. Aldovandii, Reinw. Col.
128.
3d. Allied to the True Falcon: the Chiquera, Vaill. Afric. 30 (F. chiquera, Sh.);—
F. biarmicus, T. Col. 324 ;—the F. huppé (F. frontalis, Daud., F. galericulatus,
Sh.), Vaill. Afric. 28 ;—the F. huppart, T. (F. lophotes, Cuy.) Enl. 10 ;—the F.
a culotie notre, Vaill. 29 (F. tibialis, Sh.).
(2) Hierax, Hiero-falco, Sacred Falcon, &c. names connected with the supersti-
tions of the Egyptians respecting certain birds of Pies Gerfalcon is a corruption
of Hiero-falco.
(5) Nauman, I, p. 278, asserts that it is the falconers who round the tooth of the
beak in the Gerfalcons. In that case, and with the bare exception of their long
tail, they would re-enter the catalogue of the other Falcons, and the Lanner should
be associated with them.
ACCIPITRES. 233
F. candicans and F. islandicus, Gm.; Buff. Enl. 210, 456, 462;
Naum. 21, 22. (The Gerfalcon.) One fourth larger than the
Falcon, and the most highly esteemed by falconers. Itis chiefly
obtained from the north; its usual plumage is brown above,
with an edging of paler points on each feather, and transverse
lines on the coverts and quills; the tail is striped brown and
greyish; but it so varies in the proportion of the brown and
white, that. the body of some of them is altogether white, and
all that remains of the brown is a spot on the middle of each
feather of the mantle; the feet and the membrane of the beak
are sometimes yellow, sometimes blue.(1)
The second section of the great genus Fulco is that of the
IGNOBLE BIRDS OF PREY.
So called, because they cannot be easily employed in falconry; a tribe
much more numerous than that of the Nobles, and which it is also
necessary to subdivide considerably. The fourth quill of their
’ wings is almost always the longest, and the first is very short, which
produces the same effect as if their wing had been obliquely trun-
cated at the tip, whence, cceteris paribus, result diminished powers
of flights; their beak also is not so well armed, there being no lateral
tooth near its point, but a mere slight emargination about the middle
of its length.
Aaquita, Briss.
The Eagles, which constitute the first tribe, havea very strong beak,
straight at base and only curved towards the point. Among them
we find the largest species of the genus, and the most powerful of all
the birds of prey-
AaqulitLa, Cuv.
Eagles, properly so called, have the tarsi feathered down to the root
of the tees; they inhabit mountains, and pursue Birds and Quadru-
peds their wings are as long as the tail, their flight as high as it is
swift, and their courage superior to that of all other Birds.
F. fulvus, F. melanaétos, F. niger, Gm.:(2) Enl. 409; Naum.
(1) Add as aforeign species, the Cinercous Gerfalcon, (F. atricapillus,) Wils. VI,
hi, 3, of which the Cinereous Buzzard, Fdw. 53, (F. cinereus, Gm.;) is possibly a
young specimen.
(2) The real species:is well represented, Enl. 409; it is Fale. fulvus. At certain
stages of moulting, the white at the base of the feathers may be seen; it then
forms the F. fulvus canadensis, Edw. I. As to the F. melanaéios, it is merely
based upon some vague indications of the ancients, and the same only is quoted
Vou. I.—2 E
234
AVES.
pl. 8 and 9; Wils. VII, Iv, 1. (The Common Eagle.) More
or less brown; the occiput fawn coloured; the superior half of
the tail white, and the remainder black. The most common
species in all mountainous countries.
F. chrysaétos, Enl. 410. (The Ring-Tail Eagle.) Only differs
from the preceding in its blackish tail, macked, with irregular
ash coloured bands. We are assured that it is the Common
Eagle, with its perfect plumage (1) Pig
F. imperialis, Bechst.; F. mogilnik, Gm.; Aquila » heliaca,
Savig. Eg. Ois. pl.. xiii; Vieillot, Gal. 9; Naum. pl. 6 and 7.
Tem. Col. 15 and 152. (The Imperial Eagle.) Still longer
wings; a large whitish spot on the scapulars; the nostrils trans-
verse; the tail black; the superior portion undulated with grey.
The female is fawn coloured, with brown spots. Its port is
heavier than that of the Common Eagle, and it is a still more
fearful object to other Birds. It inhabits the high mountains
of the south of Europe, and is the true subject of the exagger-
ated tales propagated by the ancients, relating to the power,
courage, and magnanimity of their Golden Eagle.
F. nevius, and F. maculatus, Gm.; Naum. pl. 10 and 113
Aq. melanaétos, Savig. Eg. Ois. pl. 1 and pl. 2, f. 1.. (The
Spotted Eagle.) A third less than the two others; tarsi more
slender; plumage brown; tail blackish, with paler bands; pale,
fawn coloured spots, form a band on the small coverts; one at
the tips of the large ones which mounts to the scapulars, and
one at the tips of the secondary quills. The superior part of
the wing is sprinkled with fawn colour. The old birds become
all brown. Thisspecies is common in the Apennines, and other
mountains of the south of Europe; but is rarely seen in the
north; it attacks the weaker animals only. It has been found
sufficiently docile to be employed in falconry, but is said to fly
from and be vanquished by the Sparrowhawk.
It has been thought proper to place among the Eagles a bird
of Eastern Europe—Ffalco pennatus, Gm.; Col. 33.3; Briss.,
Suppl. pl. 1, which scarcely resembles them in any thing except
the plumed tarsi and pointed feathers of the vertex, but which
is not as large as the Buzzard, and has a beak almost as much
curved; its plumage is fawn coloured spotted with brown, its
feet blue. Very rare in France and Germany.(2)
in pl.
Enl. 409. Finally, the #. Niger, or Plack-backed Eagle of Brown, is merely.
a slight difference of age.
(1) Temm. Man. d’Ornith. I, p. 39.
(2) A living specimen, however, was taken near Paris in 1898. M. Temm.
Sar we
ACCIPITRES. 220
New Holland produces Eagles similar in form to those of
‘Europe, the tail excepted, which is cuneiform (etagée).(1)
Hatiztus, Savig.—The Fisuer Eacues, Cuv.
The Fisner Eagles have the same wings as the preceding, but only
the upper half of their tarsi invested with feathers, the remainder
being semi-scutellated. They frequent the shores of rivers and of
the sea, and feed chiefly on fish.
F. ossifragus, F. albicilla, and F. albicaudus, Gm. (The Ossi-
fragus and Pygargus.) Form but one species, whichat first has
a black beak; tail blackish, spotted with white, and the plumage
brownish, with a deep brown streak on the middle of each
feather, (Enl. 112 and 415; Naum. 14; the F. ossifragus,) and
which, when older, becomes of a uniform brownish grey, paler
on the head and neck, with an entirely white tail, and the beak
of a pale yellow. (Frisch, xx; Naum. 12 and 13—the / albi-
cilla.)(2) It generally attacks fish, and is found in the whole
north of the globe.
F. leucocephalus, L.; Eni. 4113; Wilson, 1V, xxxvi, and VIL,
lv, 2. (The Bald Eagle.) A uniform deep brown; head and
tail white; beak yellowish, and almost as large as the Common
Eagle of Europe. It inhabits North America, and is continually
occupied in fishing. It appears occasionally in the north of
Europe. When young, the head and body are of a cinereous
brown. It must not be confounded, however, with the old
White-Headed Pygargus.
Ff, ponticerianus, Gm.;3 Enl. 416; Vieillot, Gal. 10. (The
* Garuda.) ‘Less than a Kite; of a fine lively chesnut red ; head,
neck and breast, white, or pearl grey. It is from India, and is
the Garuda Eagle, which, in the religion of the Bramins, is
sacred to Vishnu.(3)
makes an European species of the Aigle Bonnelli, Col. 288 ; but we have not got
it in all its states, :
' Add the Griffard, Vaill. Afric. I, (F. armiger, Sh.);—the Malay eagle, (F.
malaiensis, Reinw.) Col. 117;—the Petit Migle de Senegal, (F. Senegallus, Cuy.)
similar to the Spotted, or Little Eagle of Europe; the nostrils not so round, nume-
rous small, grey bands underneath the tail of the young.—The Petit Aigle du Cap,
(F. nevioides, Cuv.) variegated with brown fawn colour and blackish.
(1) F. fuscosus, Col. 32.
(2) This change has been verified more than once in the menagerie of the
museum. As to the Little Pygargus, /. Albicaudus; it is merely the male of the
great one, F. albicilla.
(8) Here should come the Blagre, Vaill. Afric. 5, (Fale. blagrus, Sh.) which is pro-
bably the F. leucogaster, Lath. or Aigle oceanique, Col. 49;—the vocifer, Vaill. Af. 4
(F. vocifer, Sh.;—the Aigle de Macé of Bengal, (F. macez, Cuy.) Col. 8 and 223;—the
236 AVES.
Panpion, Savigny.
The Ospreys have the beak and feet of the Fisher Eagles; but their
claws are round underneath, while in other birds of prey they are
grooved or channelled; their tarsi are reticulated, and the second
quill of their wings is the longest.
Only one species is known, which is found along the shores of
fresh waters in almost every part of the globe, varying but little in
plumage: itis the
Falco halixtus, L.; Enl. 414, and better, Catesby, II; Wils.
V, xxxviis Vieillot, Gal. ii; Naum. 16. (The Osprey.) A third
smaller than the Ossifragus; white, with a brown mantle; a
brown band descending from the angle of the beak towards the
back; brown spots on the head and neck, also «a few on the
breast; the cera and feet, sometimes yellow, and sometimes blue.
The species of the genus
Circartus, Vieillot,
Are in a manner intermediate between the Fisher-Eagles, the Os-
preys and the Buzzards. ‘They have the wings of the Eagle and
Buzzard, and the reticulated tarsi of the Osprey. :
F. gallicus, Gm.; F. leucopsis, Bechst.; F. brachydactylus,
Tem.; Enl. 413; Naum. 153 Jean le Blane. Superior in size ta
the Osprey; the curvature of its beak is more sudden than in
the other Eagles, and the toes are shorter in proportion. It is
brown above, white beneath, with pale brown spots; three light
bands on the tail. Its carriage is rather that of a Buzzard than
of an Eagle, and it feeds chiefly on Frogs and Serpents. ‘
F. ecaudatus, Sh.; Le Bateleur, Vaill. Afric. 7 and 8. An
African species, remarkable for the extreme shortness of its
tail, and its beautifully variegated plumage. The cera of its
beak is red.(1)
America produces Eagles with long wings, like the preceding
ones, and naked scutellated tarsi, in which a more or less considera-
ble portion of the sides of the head, and sometimes of the throat, is
Aigle aguia, (F. aguia, T.) Col. 302;—the F. ichtyxtus, Horsf. Jay.;—the Milva-
£0 ochrocephalus, Sp. 1, or Chimachima, Azz. or F. degener, lig. We should also
remember that the transition from the Eagles to the Buzzards is effected by insen-
sible gradations.
(1) Add the Crowned Eagle, Azz. (F. coronatus, Tem.) Col. 234;—the Circaéte
du Sénégal, (C. cinereus,) Vieill. Gal. pl. xii;—the Caracara ati oe Nove Ze-
fandiz, Lat.) Col. 192 and 224.
ACCIPITRES. Zot
destitute of feathers. They have received the common name of
Caracara.(1)
F. braziliensis, Gm.; Polyborus vulgaris, Vieillot, Galer. pl.
7; the young, Spix, I Large as an Osprey; striped trans-
versely, with white and black; feathers long and slender, and
white on the throat; a black calotte slightly elongated into a
crest; the wing covers, thighs, and tip of the tail, blackish.
The most common bird of prey in Paraguay and Brazil.(2)
F. aquilinus, Gm.; Enl. 417 ; lbycter leuco-gaster, Vieillot, Ga-
ler. 6. Black; the abdomen and inferior coverts of the tail
white; throat, naked and red. The
Harpyia, Cuy.(3)
Or Fisher-Eagles with short wings, are also American Eagles,
whose tarsi are very thick, strong, reticulated, and half covered
with feathers like those of the true Fisher Eagles, from which they
only differ in the shortness of their wings; their beak and claws are
even stronger than those of any other tribe.
The Great Harpy of America; Migle destructeur of Daudin;
_ Grand Aigle de la Guiane of Mauduit, and probably the Falco
harpyia and the F. cristatus, Lin.; F. Harpyia and imperialis, Sh.
Col. 14.(4) Ofall birds, this possesses the most terrific beak and
claws ; it is superior in size to the common eagle; the plumage
is ash coloured on the head and neck ; the mantle and the sides
of the breast, a blackish brown; whitish above, and striped with
brown on the thighs: it hasa black tuft on the back of the head,
formed of long feathers, and when it erects them and removes
those on the cheeks, its physiognomy greatly resembles that of
the Strix ulula, Gm. Its external toe is also very frequently di-
rected backwards, like the thumb. Such are its powers, that
(1) Azzara, Voy, iii, p. 30, et seq.
(2) It is the true Caracara of Marcgrave, though it could never be recognized
from the description. A better one may be found in Azzara. Our own is taken
from nature, The F. cheriway, Jacq. Beyt. p. 15, No. 11, may easily be a variety
from age. Add the Black Caracara, Tem. (fF. aterrimus, T.) Col. 37 and 342, or
Dapirius ater, Vieill. Gal. pl. v;—Gymmnops fasciatus, Spix,1V. His Gymnops strigi-
latus is the young of the same.
N. B. It is from my Caracaras that Vieillot has made his genera Darrnivs, Isye-
rer, and Potyzorvs, according to the greater or less extent of the bare spot on
the head.
(3) Vieillot has adopted this genus and name.
(4) It is most certainly the Yzquautzli of Fernandez; but that author greatly ex-
aggerates its size in comparing it to a sheep. Itis also the V. cristatus of Jacq.,
and consequently the Fale. Jacquini of Gmelin.
+ "238. AVES.
it is said to have cleft a man’ s skull with its beak; its ordinary
food is the Sloth, and it frequently carries off es 6
Moruenvs, Cuv.(1) _ ” #
The Morphni, like the preceding, have wings shorter ‘than the
tail; but their elevated and slender tarsi compel us to separate
them. .
Some of them have naked and scutellated tarsi. nd ‘
F. guianensis, Daud.; Petit Aigle de la Guiane, Maud. Encyc.
It has singular Hesdntblditee § in colour and crest to the Great
Fisher Eagle of the same country ; but it is not solarge, and its
naked and scutellated tarsi sufficiently distinguish it ; the man-
tle is blackish, sometimes variegated with a deep grey ; abdo-
men white, undulated more or less strongly with fawn colour ;
head and neck sometimes grey, and sometimes white ; the occi-
pital tuft, long and blackish.
the tail, white. When young, brown Royals fawn coloured, sprin-»
kled with brown beneath (Col. 55). This beautiful bird hunts
on inundated grounds.(2) )
Others have elevated tarsi feathered throughout.
F. occipitalis, Daud. ; 3 Huppart, Vaill. Afr. LS ii; Bruce,
Abyss. pl. xxxil. As large as a Crow; black; a long crest or
>
tuft pendent from the occiput; the tarsi, borders of the wings, —
and of the bands under the tail, whitish. Throughout all Africa.”
F. ornatus, Daud.;(3) F. superbus and coronatus, Sh.; Crested
Goshawk, Vaill. Afric. I, xxvi; Sptzaetus ornatus, Vieillot,
Galer. 21; Aigle moyen de la Guiane, Maud. Encyclop.; Booted
Sparrowhawk, Azz. Calotte, and crests black; sides of the
neck of a bright red ; mantle black, variegated with grey, un-
dulated with white ; above, white; flanks, thighs, and tarsi
striped with black ; tail, black, with four grey bands. A beau-
tiful bird of South America, varying from black and white to
a deep brown.(4)
(1) Morphnus, the Greek name for an undetermined bird of prey. It is from my
Morphnus that Vieillot has made his Spizaetes.
(2) The Filol longipes, Mlig.; the 4g. picta, Spix, 1, appear to me to be young
Urubitingez—Add the Aigle-autour moucheté, (4g. maculosa,) Veill. Amer. pl. iii,
bis;—the Panema, (Aq. milvoydes) Spix, Id. '
(3) This is certainly the Urutaurana of Maregrave; but that author describes it
as being of the size of an Eagle, which isa#4east one-third too large. The Har-
pyia braccata, Spix, Ul, is the young bird of the same species.
(4) Add here, of crested species, the-blanchard, yeu Afr. 3, acs albescens, Sh.);
F. urubitinga, L.; Spix, 1. Black ; no crest; rump and base of
’
‘ACCIPITRES. 239
Finally, America produces birds with beaks similar to the pre-
ceding ones $ very short reticulated tarsi half covered with feathers
in front ; wings shorter than the tail, and whose most distinguishing
character consists in their nostrils, which resemble fissures. We
may form them into a small tribe under the name of Cyminpis, Cuv.
(1) Such is
fF. Cayennensis, Gm.; Le Petit Autour de Cayenne, Buff. Enl.
473; Spix, VIII. It has another peculiar character in a small
_ tooth at the spot where the beak curves. The adult is white,
» with a bluish-black mantle, cinereous head, and four white bands
onthe tail in the young bird the mantle is variegated with
brown and red, and the head is white, with some black spots. (2)
Astur, Bechst.—DarpeEtion, Savig.
_ The Goshawks, which form the second division of the Ignobles,
like the last three tribes of Eagles, have wings shorter than their tail;
but their beak is curved from its base, as in all those which are to
follow. We particularly designate as Gosuawxs those which have
rather short and scutellated tarsi.
F. palumbarius, L.; Enl. 418 and 4613 and the young & galli-
narius, Gm. Enl. 4253; and Frisch, LX XII; Naum. 17 and
18.(3) (The Common Goshawk.) The only species in France;
brown above, with white eye-brows; white beneath; the adult
transversely striped with brown; longitudinally sprinkled when
syoung; five browner bands on the tail. It equals the Gerfalcon
in size, but not in courage; always stooping obliquely upon its
prey. Falconers, however, sometimes use it for the weaker kinds
of game. Common in hills and low mountains.
Among foreign Goshawks, we may remark that of New Hol-
land, alco Nove Hollandiz, White, Voy. p. 250, which is
very often entirely of a snow white; but it seems that it is a va-
—F. tyrannus, Pr. Max. Col. 73 ; L’ Autour cristatelle, Temm. Col. 285: of species
without crests, ?Autour neigeux, Temm. Col. 127;—/’Aut. incolore, Id. ib. 134, or
Falco lineatus, Horsf. Java.
(1) Cymindis, the Greek name for an undetermined bird of prey.
(2) Lam not sure whether it is not a young Cymindis that is represented in the
Buse mantelée, (F. palliatus, Tem.) Col. 204, very different from that which has
_ the same Fr ench name, Col. 457.
Add the F. hamatus, Mig. Col. 61 and 231, F oben Spix, UH, the F.
uncinatus, Id. Col, 103, 104, 105. These birds vary greatly in colour with age.
N..B. The Gottingen Eagle, (F. glaucupis, Merrem. Beytr. U, pl. vii,) is a Com-
mon Buzzard. The White Eagle (F. albus, Sh.; John White, Voy.) isa Goshawk.
(3) Also probably F. gyrfalco, F. gentilis, Gm;—so badly determined were the
birds of prey at the period of the first edition.
240 AVES. *#®
riety of a bird of the same country, which is ash coloured above,
white beneath, with vestiges of grey undulations.(1)
We may also approximate to the Goshawks some American birds
with short wings and tarsi; the latter, however, reticulated. y oe
F. cachinnans, L.; Nacagua, Azz.; Vieill. Gal. 19; Spix,
(The Laughing Falcon.) So called free its cry; white; the man-
tle and a band which extends from the circumference of the eye
to the neck, where it joins a corresponding one on the opposite
side, brown; brown and white bands on the tail. From the
marshes of South America, where it feeds on Reptiles and Fish,(2)
The name of SparrowHawk, (Nisus, Cuv.) is generally appro-
priated to those whose tarsi are higher and scutellated; but the tran-—
sitions from one division to the other are almost insensible.
F. nisus, L.; Epervier Commun, Enl. 412 and;467; Naum. 19,
(The Common Sparrowhawk.) Coloured like the Goshawk,
but its legs are longer, and it is a third less in size. It is employ-
ed however by falconers. The spots beneath on the young bird
red and arrow-shaped, or like elongated tears—the feathers of
its mantle are also edged with red.
There are foreign species still smaller;(3) but there are some
also much larger.
F. musicus, Daud.; Faucon chanteur, Vaill. Afric. xxvii. As
large as the Goshawk; cinereous above; beneath, and the rump,
white, streaked with brown; brown, varied with red, when
young. Found in Africa, where it pursues partridges and hares,
and builds on trees. The only bird of prey known that sings:
agreeably.(4)
(1) Other foreign goshawks, F. poliogaster, Tem. Col. 264 and 295;—F- trivirga-
tus, Tem. Col. 303;—F. leucauchen, Tem. Col. 306 ;—F. radiatus, Lath. Col. 123,
V’Aut. poliosome, Quoy and Gaym, Voy.de Freycin. pl. xiv ;—~F leucorrhous, lb.
pl. xiii; —F. wnicinctus, Tem. col. 313. These three last, in shape, closely resemble
the urubitinga. The F. pennsylvanicus, Wils. IV, liv, 1;—the F. borealis, L. Vieill.
Am: pl. xiv, bis ; Wils. li, 1 ;—#. /everianus, Wils. lii, 2 ;—F. striolatus, T. Col.
87 and 294, or Asturine cendrée, Vieill. Gal. 20 ;—F. monogrammicus, T'. Col. 314 ;
—F. Dussumiert, T. Col. 308 and 386. The latter conduct us insensibly to the
Sparrowhawks.
N. B: The F. cxrulescens forms the genus Hierax of Vigors': the species with
two teeth, as the didentatus, &c. or the Bivens of Spix, are the Harracus of the
same gentleman.
(2) Here comes the F. melanops, Lath. Col. 105. It is from this schinieibion that
Vieillot has made his Herreruorueres.
(3) As the Gabar, Vaill. Afr. 33, (F- Gabar, Sh.) Col. 122 and 140;—the F.. mi-
nullus, Sh.
(4) Other Sparrow-Hawks foreign to Europe : The Mixed Lead-coloured Buzzard,
Azz. No. 67, (F. hemidactilus, T.) Col. 3 and 91; Fale. magnirostris, Enlum. 460,
ACCIPITRES. 241
Mitvvus, Bechstein.
_ The Kites have short tarsi, and weak toes and nails, which, added
to a beak equally disproportioned to their size, render them the
most cowardly species of the whole genus; they are distinguished
by their excessively long wings, and their forked tail, which give
them great powers of flight.
Some of them have very short tarsi, which are reticulated and half
invested with feathers above, like the last small tribe of eagles (the
Exanus, Savigny). Such are,
Falco melanopterus, Daud.; Le Blac, Sav. Eg. Ois. pl. 2, f. 2;
Vaill. Afr. xxxvi and xxxvii; Bonap. Am. II, xi, 1. As large
as a Sparrowhawk ; plumage soft and silky; tail but slightly
forked ; cinereous above ; white beneath; the small wing coverts
blackish : the young is brown, varied with fawn colour. This
bird is common from Egypt to the Cape, and appears to be
found in India, and even in America.(1) Insects are almost its
only game.
F. furcatus, L.; The fork-tailed Kite, Catesb. iv; Wils. li, 2 ;
Vieillot, Am. 10. White ; wings and tail black ; the two exter-
nal quills of the latter very long ; larger than the preceding.
It attacks reptiles.(2)
Kirss, properly so called,
Have stronger and scutellated tarsi.
F, milvus, L.3; Milan commun, Enl. 422 ; Naum. 31, f. 1. Fawn
coloured; quills of the wings, black ; tail, red; of all the birds
of Europe this remains longest and most tranquilly on the wing.
It usually attacks nothing but reptiles.(3)
Col. 86 ;—Falco columbarius, Catesb. 4, Vieill. Am. pl. 2 and Wils. II. xv, 3 ;—
Ep. tachiro, Vaill. Afr. 24, (F. tachiro, Daud.) Col. 377 and 420;—F. cuculoides,
Temm. Col. 110 and 129 ;—F. xanthothorax, T. Col. 92; F. virgatus, T. Col.
109;—F. brachipterus, T. Col. 14 and 116, or F- concentricus, Wlig.;—F-. pileatus, Pr.
Max. Col. 205 ;—F. gymnogenys, Col. 307; F. pennsylvanicus, Wils. V1, xlvi, 1 ;
very different from the Goshawk so called, Id. pl. liv, and the young, col. 67 ;—F.
velox, Wils. VI, xlv, 1, is the young female of it, according to Charles Bonap.;—
’ F. lineatus, Wils. V1, liii, 3 ;—F. hiemalis, Wils. IV, xxxv, 1;—F. striatus,
. Vieill, Am. pl. 14;—F. niger, Vieill. Gal. 22. See Append. XIIT of Am. Ed.
(1) This we consider a mistake of our author; it has never been found in this
country. The bird alluded to has been ascertained by Temminck to be a distinct
_ species, and is called by him F: dispar. Am. Ed.
(2) Add the F. riocourii, Vieill. Col. 85 ;—the Irregular-tailed Kite, (F. dispar,
Tem.) Col. 319.
(3) Add the Parasite, Vaill. Afr. 22, or the Milan noir, Enl. 472, Naum. 31, f.
2; Savigny, Eg. Ois. pl. iii, f. 1, is the Fale. ater, F. egyptius, and the Fale. Fors-
Vou. I.—2 F
242 AVES.
Pernis, Cuv. (1)
The Honey-Buzzards, with the weak beak of the Kites, have a very
peculiar character in the space between the eye and the beak, which,
in all the rest of the genus Falco, is naked, and simply furnished
with a few hairs, but in these is covered with a dense plumage, the
feathers of which are cut like scales ; their tarsi are half feathered
above and reticulated: their tail is equal, wings long, and their beak
curved from its base like all those which follow. There is but one
species in Europe.
F. apivorus ; la Bondrée Commune, Enl. 420; Naum. 35, 36.
(The Common Honey-Buzzard.) Somewhat smaller than the Buz-
zard 3 brown above ; variously undulated with brown and whitish
beneath ; the head of the male ash coloured at a certain age. It
pursues Insects, and, principally, Bees and Wasps.
There are some others in foreign countries.
P. cristata, Cuv. (The crested Honey-Buzzard of Jaya) All
brown ; head, ash coloured, like that of Europe; but it has a
black tail, with a whitish band on the middle ; a brown crest on
the occiput. Brought from Java by M. Leschenault.(2)
Burro, Bechstein.
The Buzzards have long wings; the tail equal ; the beak curved
from its base; the space between it and the eyes, naked 5 the feet,
strong.
The tarsi of some of them are feathered down to the toes. They
are distinguished from the Eagles by the curving of their beak from
the base, and from the Goshawks, or Goshawk- -Eagles, with feather-
ed tarsi, by their long wings.
F. lagopus, Gm.3(2) the Booted Buzzard, Frisch, a
Vaill. Afr. xviii ; Wilson, IV, xxxiii, 1 ; Naum. 34. Irregularly
variegated with a darker or lighter brown, and a more or less
yellowish white. It is one of the most universally diffused birds ;
kahlii, Gmel., the F. parasiticus, Lath. and Shaw;—F. mississipiensis, Wils. II,
xxxv, 1, or the Ictinie ophiophage, Vieill. Galer. pl. 17.
N. B. The Fale. austriacus, Gmel., is the young of the Common Kite.
(1) Pernis or pernes, according to Aristotle, the name of some bird of prey.
N.B. The F. rtocourti forms the genus Naucrervs of Vigors.
(2) M. Temminck has figured this bird, (Col. 44,) under the name of Buse ptil-
orinque.
(3) Itis the Falco lagopus, Brit. Zool. Ap. vol. i; the Falco communis 2 leucocepha-
lus, Frisch, 75; the Falco Sancti Johannis, Arct. Zool. pl. ix ; the Fale. communis
fuscus, F. variegatus, F’. albidus, F. versicolor, Gm. are merely different states of the
Common Buzzard.
ACCIPITRES. 243
it is found every where, and has almost always been considered
as a variety of some other bird.(1)
But the greater number of Buzzards have naked and scutellated
tarsi. The only one in Europe is,
F. buteo, L.; la Buse Commune, Enl. 419; Naum. 32, (The
Common Buzzard.) Brown; belly and throat more or less un-
dulated with white; the most noxious and common bird of
prey in Europe. It remains the whole year in the forests,
souses upon its prey from the top of a tree, and destroys much
game.(2)
Some species are crested. ,
Le Bacha, Vaill. Afric. pl. xv. Size of the preceding ;
brown ; small, white, round spots on the sides of the breast,
and on the abdomen ; a black and white crest ;.a broad white
band on the middle of the tail. A very savage bird of Africa,
which preys chiefly on the Hyraces.(3)
Circus, Bechstein.
The Harriers differ from the Buzzards in their elevated tarsi, andin
a kind of collar on each side of their neck, formed by the tips of the
feathers which cover their ears.
There are three species in France, which have been multi-
plied by the nomenclaturalists on account of the variety in their
plumage.
F. pygargus, L.3 LaSoubuse, En. 443 and 480; Naum. xxxviii,
2, and xxxix, 1 and 2. Brown above; underneath, fawn coloured,
(1) Add the Buse acalotte notre, (F. atricapillus, Cuy.) Col. 79, or the Buteo me-
lanoleucos, Vieill. Galer. 14;—the Black Buzzard (F. niger,) Wils. V1, liii, 1 and
2, which M. Ch. Bonap. thinks is the F. Sanct. Johan. of Pennant.
(2) Add the Rouw-noir, Vaill. Afr. 16 (F. jackal, Daud. and Sh.);—the Tuchard,
Id, 19 (F. tachardus, Sh.);—the Buseray, Id. 20 (F’. bursarellus, Sh.);—the Grey
cheeked Buzzard (F. polygenis, Tem.) Col. 325.—the Brown buzzard, (F. fuscus)
Vieill. Am. 5;—the Tuchiro, Vaill. 24 (F. tachiro, Sh.)—the Milan Cresserelle,
Vieill. Am. 10, bis, and the young female, Col. 180; a species of which the F.
plumbeus, Spix, VIII, is perhaps the adult, and in which the lateral festoon, in
some individuals, is sharpened into a tooth, although the quills are those of the
" ignobles.—The Long-winged Buzzard (F. pterocles, Tem.) Col. 56 and 139.—The
Buse a dos tacheté (F. pzxcilonotos, Cuv.), Col. 9.—La Buse mantelée, (F. lacer-
nulatus, T.) Col. 427.—La buse pale, (F. liventer, T.) Col. 438.—La Buse d queue
ferrugineuse, (But. ferruginicaudus, ) Vieill. Am. 6.
Also, F. borealis, Wils. pl. lii, f. 1. Am. Ed.
(3) Add the White-crested Buzzard of India, (F. albidus, T.) Col. 19.
N. B. The Buse roussatre, Tem. Col. 25, somewhat approaches to the Harrier
by its elevated tarsi, but is deficient in the collar; the transitions between these
two divisions, also, are almost insensible.
244 AVES.
longitudinally spotted with brown 5 the rump white. The Hen
Harrier—Falco cyaneus and F. albicans,(1) Enl. 450; Naum. xxxix,
1; cinereous, with black wing quills, is merely the male in its
second year. This species builds on the ground, keeps con-
stantly in the fields, flies near the earth, and towards night
hunts rats, young partridges, &c.
F’. cineraceus, Montag.; Le Busard Cendré, Naum. 40 ; Vieill.
Galer. pl. 13... More slender than the Soubuse, and with longer
wings ; the old male is cinereous; its primary quills, and a
band on the secondary ones, are black ; both male and female,
in the second year, are brown above, white beneath, with brown-
ish streaks on the breast; the whole under part of the young
bird is red. Its habits are much like those of the preceding
species.
F. rufus, L.; La Harpaye; Enl. 470 ; Naum. 37, 1. Brown-
ish and reddish ; the tail, and primary quills of the wings, cine-
reous. The Busard du marais—Falco xruginosus, Enl. 424 ;
Naum. 38, brown, with a light fawn colour on the head and
breast, is considered as the same bird at a more advanced age;
but some observers pretend it is a different species. Both of
‘them keep within reach of water courses, in order to hunt rep-
tiles.(2) Finally, the
Serpentarius, Cuv.—GypocEranvs, Illig.(3) ©
The Snake-Eater, or Secretary, is an African bird of prey,
whose tarsi are’at least double the length of those of the prece-
ding ones, which caused some naturalists to place it among the
(1) Itisalso the F. communis, F. albus, Frisch, pl. lxxy, the F. montanus, B,
the F. griseus, Gm. and even his F. bohemicus. A ee
N. B. The M. cresserelle of Vieillot has become his genus Ierrnra.
(2) Add the Acoli, Vaill. Afr.31 (F. acoli, Sh.);—the Tehoug, Id. 32, and: Son-
nerat, If, 182 (fF. melanoleucos).—F. palustris, Pr. Max. Col. 22.—The Frogeater,
Vaill. Afr. 28 (F. ranivorus, Sh.).—The Busard roux, Vieill. Amer. pl. ix, which
this author considers as identical with the F. hudsonius, Edw. 107.—The Busard
d’hiver, (Circus hyemalis,) Vieill. Amer. 71, which does not appear to be the F.
hiemalis, Wils. 1V, xxxv, 1.*—The Busard @ crowpion blane (Cire. europogistus,)
Vieill. Amer. 8.—Probably, also, the /. wliginosus, Edw. 291, belongs to this sub-
genus, but until the changes of plumage, produced by age, are ascertained, it will
be very difficult to determine its species. M. Ch. Bonaparte says that the F. uli-
ginosus is a young female of the cyaneus.
(S) M. Vieillot has changed these names into OrntorueErzs, Gal. pl. 260.
* Our author here seems to be in error; the bird figured by Wilson, Vol. 1V,
pl. xxxv, fig. 1, isthe true Falco hyemalis,Gm. Am. Ed.
4
ACCIPITRES. 245
Grallatoriz, or Waders ; but its legs completely invested with
feathers, its hooked and cleft beak, projecting eye-lids, and all
its anatomical details place itin the present order. The tarsus
is scutellated, its toes short in proportion, and the circumfer-
ence of the eye naked ; it has a long stiff crest on the occiput,
and the two intermediate quills of the tail extend much beyond
the others. It inhabits the dry and open grounds in the
vicinity of the Cape, where it hunts reptiles on foot ; its claws
consequently become much worn. Its chief strength lies in the
leg. It is the Falco serpentarius of Gmel. Enl. 7215 Vieill.
Galer. 260. The inhabitants of Martinique have endeavoured to
multiply the breed, in order to destroy the Lance-headed Viper
with which that island is infested.
THE NOCTURNAL BIRDS OF PREY.
Have a large head; great eyes, directed forwards, sur-
rounded by a circle of fringed feathers, the anterior of which
cover the cera of the beak, and the posterior, the opening of
the ear. Their enormous pupil permits the entrance of so
many rays of light, that they are dazzled by that of day.
Their cranium, which is thick, but formed of a light substance,
is excavated by large sinuses, which communicate with the
ear, and which probably assist in strengthening the sense of
hearing ; but the organs of flight are not very vigorous ; their
fourchette is weak ; their feathers being soft, and covered with
a fine down, make no noise in flying. They can direct their
external toe either forwards or backwards. ‘These birds are
chiefly on the wing during twilight, and when the moon shines.
When attacked in the day time, they do not fly off, but stand
more erect, assume odd postures, and make the most ludicrous
gestures. P
Their gizzard is tolerably muscular, although their prey is
wholly animal, consisting in mice, small birds, and insects;
but it is preceded by a large crop; their ceca are long and
wide at bottom, &e. Small birds have a natural antipathy to
them, and frequently assemble from all quarters to attack
them. They form but one genus,
Strix, ‘Lin.
Which may be divided by their tufts, the size of their ears, the extent
246 AVES.
of the circle of feathers which surrounds their eyes, and some other
characters.
Those species which have a large and complete disk of fringed
feathers round the eyes, itself encircled by a ring or collerette of
scaly feathers, between which is a large opening for the ear, are
further removed, as to form and habits, from the diurnal birds of
prey, than those in which the ear is small, oval, and covered by
fringed feathers, which spring from under the eye. ‘Traces of these
differences may be seen even on the skeleton. Among the first spe-
cies we will particularize, .
Orus, Cuv.
The Horned Owls, or those which have two tufts of feathers on
the forehead, (vulg. horns,) which they can erect at pleasure; the
conch of whose ear extends in a semicircle from the beak to the
top of the head, and is furnished in front with a membranous oper-
culum. Their feet are feathered down to the nails. Suchin Europe
are the
Str. ascalaphus, Savig. Eg.; Brit. Zool. tab. B, 3. A fourth
larger than the common one, and like it, fulyous spotted with
brown, and vermiculated on the wings and back ; but the belly
transversely striped with narrow lines, and the crests.or tufts
very short. It properly belongs to Africa, but is sometimes
seen in Europe.(1)
Str. otus, L.; Moyen Duc, Buff.; Frisch, Ixxxix; Brit. Zool.
tab. B, iv, f. 1; Naum. 45, 1. (The Common Owl.) Fawncolour-
ed, with longitudinal brown spots on the body and underneath ;
wings and back vermiculated with brown ; horns half the length
of the head ; eight or nine bands on the tail.
Str. ulula and Str. brachyotos, Gm.; Moyen Duc a huppes
courtes, Enl. 438 3; Frisch, c ; Naum. 45, 23 Brit. Zool. tab. B,
iv, f.2; Wils. IV, xxxiii, 3. As to colouring, nearly similar’
to the preceding ; back, not reticulated; narrow longitudinal
lines on the belly, and four or five brown bands on the tail.
The tufts or horns are only found on the male, and are so small
and so seldom erected, that this bird was for a long time left
among the species without tufts, and even formed two species.
Found almost every where.(2)
(1) Witness the one represented in Brit. Zool. whose figure has so much em-
barrassed the naturalists.
(2) Add the American Owl, (Str. mexicana,) Gm. or Str. clamator, Vieill. Am.
20, or Str. longirostris, Spix, 1X, which only differs from our Common Owl in the
greater blackness of the spots—The Hibow tacheté du Cap, (Str. africana, T-)
ACCIPITRES. 247
We may reserve the name of
Uuuta, Cuv.
Or the Howlers, for those species which have the beak and ears of
the Otus, but not the horns. There are none such in Irance, but
they are to be found in the north of both continents, viz.
Str. laponica, Gm. Almost as large as the Grand Duc of
France ; above, grey and brown mixed, whitish ; longitudinal
brown grey spots beneath. Inhabits the mountains in the north
of Sweden.(1)
Strix, Savigny.
The ear as large as in Otus, furnished with a still larger opercu-
lum ; but the elongated beak is only curved near the end, while in all
the other subgenera it is arcuated from the point. They have no
horns ; their tarsi are feathered, but they have only hairs on the toes.
The mask formed by the fringed feathers, which surround the eyes,
has a greater extent, and renders their physiognomy more singular
than that of any other nocturnal bird.
_ The species common in France, Str. flammea, L.; Enl. 440 ;
Frisch, Ixxxxvii, Naum. 47, 2, appears to be diffused over the
whole globe. The back is shaded with a fawn and an ash co-
lour, or brown, prettily picked in with white points, each of
which is enclosed by two black ones; the belly is sometimes
white, sometimes fawn coloured, with or without brown spots.
It builds in steeples, towers, &c., and is particularly considered
by the vulgar as a bird of ill omen.(2)
Syrnium, Savigny.
The mask and collerette of the preceding ; but the conch Is re-
duced to an oval cavity which does not extend to half the height of
the cranium ; they have no aigrettes, and the feet are feathered down
to the nails.
Str. aluco and stridula, L.; Chat-huant, Chouette des bois, &c.3
Col. 56, or Str. maculosa, Vieill. Gal. 23.—The Hibou @ gros bec, (Str. macrorhyn-
“ chos, T.) Col. 62.—The Hibou a2 joues blanches, (Str. leucotis, T.) Col. 6.—The
Yellow-cheeked Owl, (Str. otus,) Wils. VI, li, 3, differs from the Otus of Europe.—
The Spotted Owl of America, (Str. nevia, Lath.) Wils. III, xix, 1, of which the Str.
asio, Id. 1V, xhi, 1, is probably the young bird, or the female.
(1) Add the Chouetie grise du Canada, (Str. nebulosa, Gm.) Vieill. 17, Wils. IV,
" Xxxiii, 2. !
(2) Add Str. badia, T. Col. 54.—N.B. The Chouette d queue fourchue du Bré-
sil, Col. 432, does not appear to differ from the Str. flammea, exceptin the varia-
tion caused by stuffing.
248 AVES.
Enl. 441, 437; Frisch, Ixxxxiv, Ixxxxv, Ixxxxvi; Naum. 46 and
47,1. Somewhat larger than the Common Ow]; covered with lon-
gitudinal brown spots, transversely denticulated on the sides;
white spots on the scapulars, and towards the anterior edge of
the wing. The ground. of the plumage in the male is greyish,
in the female reddish, from which circumstance they were con-
sidered for a long time as two species.(1) They build in the
woods, frequently lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, and keep
themselves in the hollows of old trees.(2)
We reserve the name of
Buso, Cuv.
Or Ducs, for those species, which, with as small a conch as that
of the Syrnii, and the disk of feathers less strongly marked, are fur-
nished with tufts. Those which are known have large feet feathered
to the nails; such is
Str. bubo; The Grand Duc of naturalists; Enl. 434; Frisch,
Ixxxxiii; Naum. 44. The largest of the nocturnal birds; fawn
coloured, with a brown streak, and lateral points on each fea-
ther; the brown predominates above; fawn coloured underneath;
tufts almost entirely black.(3)
Tue Turrep Cuoveres, Vaill. Afr. xliii,
Are mere Ducs, whose tufts more widely separate, and placed
farther back, can scarcely be elevated above a horizontal line. They
are found in both hemispheres.(4)
Noctua, Savigny.
Neither tufts, nor an open or deeply set conch; opening of the ear
oval, and hardly any larger than in other birds; the disk of fringed
(1) The Str. sylvestris, rufa, noctua, alba of Scopoli, andthe Str. soloniensis, which
Gmelin has intercalated in his system, are too undetermined to be considered other
than varieties, and probably of the stridula. It is well to know that in the whole
of this genus the females are redder than the males—by not attending to this, the
species have been improperly multiplied.
(2) Add the Str. pagodarum, Tem. Col. 220.
(3) We cannot admit the Str. scandiaca, L. whose only foundation is a figure of
Rudbeck, probably taken from a variety of the Grand Duc, Add Str. magellanica,
Enl. 585, from which the Str. virginiana, Daud. II, 13, and Wils. Am. VI, I, 1, or
Str. pinicola, Vieill. Am. 19, only differs in being of a more reddish tint. —Str.
lactea, T. Col. 4.
(4) Str. griseata, Sh.; Vaill. Afr. 43, of Guiana.—Sir. es T. Col. 174, and
of Batavia, 229.
Add Str. cinerea, Gm., Bonap. Am. Orn. pl. xxiii, f. 2. Am. Ed.
ACCIPITRES. 249
feathers is smaller, and less perfect than in the Bubo, Cuv. Their
relations to the diurnal birds of prey are very evident, even in their
habits.
Some of them are remarkable for along, cuneiform tail, and have
the toes thickly clothed with feathers; they are the Surnia, Dumer.
It appears that there exist in all the North some closely allied spe-
cies or varieties, but imperfectly distinguished under the names of
Str. funerea, hudsonia, uralensis, accipitrina, &c.
The best known species, Str. nisoria, Wolf.; Enl. 473; Naum.
42. 2, from the north of the whole globe, is about the size of
the Sparrowhawk; blackish brown above, with small white
spots on the head, which form transverse bars on the scapulars;
transversely striped with brown and white beneath, with ten
transverse white lines on the tail. It hunts more during the
day than the night.
The species from the Uralian mountains, Str. uralensis, Pall.
"Naum. 42, 1, is nearly as large as the Harfang; brown, with white
spots, above; white, with long brown spots, beneath; five trans-
verse grey bands onthe tail. It also hunts during the day, and
is sometimes seen in Germany. It is probably the Hybris or
Ptynzx of Aristotle, 1. ix, c. 12.
The species, called of Acadia, Str. acadica, Naum. 43, f. }
and 2; Wils. Am. IV, xxxiv, 1, is also sometimes found there,
but it belongs to the whole north of the globe. It is thé'small-
est of the Ululz, and is hardly larger than the Common Finch.
It does not fear the light of day, but Vaillant has described one
of these Surnie from Africa, (Choucou, No. xxxviii,) all white
beneath, with fourteen or fifteen lines on the tail, and which,
according to his account, is more nocturnal than the other
Ulule.
There are other Noctue which have a short tail and feathered
toes. The largest, and in fact the largest of all the nocturnal birds
without tufts, is
Str. nyctea, L.; Le Harfang, Enl. 458; Wils. IV, xxxii, 1;
Naum. 41. (The Snowy Owl.) This bird almost equals the
Grand Duc in size. Its snow-white plumage is marked with
transverse brown spots, which disappear with age. It inhabits
the north of both continents, builds upon high rocks, and pur-
sues Hares, Grouse, &c.(1)
There are some smaller species, such as
Str. tengmalmi, Gm.; Str. dasypus, Bechst.; Naum. 48, f. 2
Ls
(1) The Chouette blanche, Vaill. Afric. 45, is only an old Harfang. The alleged
_ difference in the proportions depends upon the stuffing.
Vor. .—2°G /
t
250 AVES.
and 8. Back brown, sprinkled with white spots; underneath
paler, with larger white spots ; four white lines across the tail ;
lives in the woods. ‘The Str. passerina, Meyer and Wolf, is its
female.
The greater number, however, of these small species have only a
few scattered hairs on the toes, such as
Str. passerina, Gm.; Str. pygmza, Bechst. Enl. 439; Naum.
48, 1. Somewhat smaller than the preceding, but with nearly
the same plumage. The tail a little shorter, and with five larger
pale bars: it lives in old walls. There are several closely allied
species in America, the Indies, &c.(1)
Some of these naked-toed Noctuz are nearly as large as the Hu-
lotte. Cayenne produces several beautiful species, and particularly
the three following:
Str. cayennensis, Gm.3; Enl. 442. A fawn-coloured ground,
irregularly, transversely, and finely striped with brown.
Str. lineata. Sh.; the Huhul, Vaill. Afr. XLI.; Str. lineata, Sh.;
’ Str. albomarginata, Spix, X, a. Transversely striped with white
~ ona black ground; four white lines on the tail. So little does
it fear the light, that it is styled the Diurnal Chouette. The
size of these two species is that of the common Chouette of
‘France.
Str. torquata, Daud.; Vaill. Afr. XLII. Brown above; whitish
b@feath; circumference of the eyes and a band on the breast,
brown. It is larger than the Chat-huant, and is the Nacurutu
without tufts of Azzara.
There are others again in America, whose tarsi are naked as well
as their toes, the Chevéche nudipeéde for instance—Str. nudipes, Daud,
Vieill. Amer. XVI. Finally, we have
ar
Scops, Savigny,
Which, in addition to the prominent ears, imperfect disk and
naked toes of the preceding, have tufts similar to those of a Bubo.
There is one of them in France, Str. scops, Enl. 436; Naum.
43, 3, hardly as large as a Thrush, with cinereous plumage,
more or less shaded with fawn colour; prettily variegated with
little narrow black streaks, and with transverse vermicular grey
(1) Str. brama, T. Col. 68, which scarcely differs from the passerina.—Str.
Sonnerati, Col. 1.—Str. urucurea, 1d. of which the Str. grallaria, 1d. Col. 136, is
the female.—Str. castanoptera, Hoff. or Str. spadicea, Reinw. Col. 98.—Str pumila,
Illig. or cabouré of Azz. Col. 39, of which the Str. pusserinoides, Col. 344, is pro-
bably the male.—Str. ferruginca, Pr. Max. Col. 199.—Str. hirsuta, VT. Col. 289.—
Str. occipitalis —The Str. meugei, Col. 46, is already tolerably large.
°
ACCIPITRES. 251
lines; a suite of white spots on the scapulars, and six or eight
feathers in each tuft; a beautiful little bird.(1) ‘i
Certain large species have the legs naked as well as the
toes.(2) °
ORDER II.
PASSERIN Zt.
This order is the most numerous of the whole class. Its
character, at first, seems purely negative, for it embraces all
birds which are neither swimmers, waders, climbers, rapa-
cious, nor gallinaceous. By comparing them with each other,
however, we soon perceive a great mutual similarity of struc-
ture, and particularly such insensible transitions from one
genus to another, that it is extremely difficult to separate them
into subdivisions.
They neither have the violence of the birds of prey, nor
the fixed regimen of the gallinacez, nor of the water-birds;
insects, fruit, and grain constitute their food, which consists
the more exclusively of grain, in proportion to the largeness
of their beak, and of insects, as it is the more slender. Those
which have strong beaks pursue even small birds. |
Their stomach is a muscular gizzard. ‘They have, gene-
rally, two very small ceca. Among them we find the singing
birds, and the most complicated inferior larynx.
The proportional length of their wings, and their power of
flight are as various as their habits.
i
(1) We can find no difference between the Str. zorca of Cetti, the Str. carniol-
ica of Scopoli, the Str. pulchella of Pallas and the Scops ; these gentlemen must
have considered their birds as distinct, because Linneus described the tuft of his
as consisting of a single feather. Add the St. nudipéde, (Bub. nudipedes,) Vieill.
Amer. 22.—The Str. atricapilla, T. Col. 45, or Str. crucigera, Spix, 1X.—The Str.
noctula, T. Col. 99.
(2) The Str. ketupa, T. Col. 74, and the Str. Leschenauldi, 1d. Col. 20, will be
found at most to form but one species.
252 AVES.
The adult sternum usually has but one notch on each side
of its lower edge. There are two, however, in Coracias,
Alcedo, and Merops, and it is totally wanting in Cypselus and
Trochilus.
Our first division is founded upon the feet; we then have
recourse to the beak.
The first and most numerous comprehends those genera in
which the external toe is united to its fellow by one or two
phalanges only.
FAMILY I.
DENTIROSTRES.
In this family the beak is emarginate on the sides of the
point. It is in this family that we find the greatest number of
insectivorous birds, though almost all of them likewise feed
on berries and other soft fruits.
The genera are determined by the general form of the
beak, which is strong and compressed in Lanius and in
Turdus, depressed in Muscicapa, round and thick in Tanagra,
slender and pointed in Motacilla; but the change from one
of these forms to the other is so gradual, that it is an extremely
difficult matter to fix the limits of the genera.
Lantus, Lin.
The beak conical or compressed, and more or less hooked at the
point. —
Lantus, properly 30 called.
The true Shrikes have a beak triangular at base, and compressed
on the sides. ,
Shrikes live in families, ane ‘Ay irregularly and precipitately,
uttering shrill cries; they build on trees, lay five or six eggs, and
take great care of their young. They have a habit of imitating, on
the spot, a part of the songs of such birds as liye .in their vicinity.
The upper part of the females and of the young is marked with
fine transverse lines.
Some of them have the upper mandible arcuated; those in which
its point is strong and much curved, and in which the notch forms
PASSERINE. 253.
a small tooth on its sides, are so courageous and cruel, that many
naturalists have thereby been induced to place them among the birds
of prey. In fact, they pursue small birds, and successfully defend
themselves against the larger ones, even attacking the latter when it
is necessary to remove them from their nests.(1)
There are four or five species of this subdivision in France.
Lanius excubitor, L.; Enl. 445; Naum. 49. As large as a
thrush; ash coloured above; white beneath; wings, tail, and a
band around the eye, black; some white on the scapulars, the
base of the wing-quills, and on the external edge of the lateral
quills of the tail. It remains in France the whole year.
In the south of Europe there is a race, or perhaps a species of a
deeper colour, with a vinous tint underneath—JZan. meridionalis,
Temm. There are others in America still more closely allied to
it. (2)
Lan. excubitor minor, Gm.; Enl. 32, 13 Lan. minor, Naum. 50.
(The Little Shrike.) Somewhat smaller than the Common
Shrike, the beak shorter and thicker, wings and tail similar;
. cinereous above; reddish on the belly; the black bands of the
eyes united, on the forehead, in a large bandeau. A very dis-
tinct species.
Lan. collurio-rufus, and Lan. pomeranus, Gm.; Enl. 9, 2;
Lan. rutilus, Lath.; Lan. ruficollis, Sh.; Lan. rufus, Naum.
51. (The Red Shrike.) The bandeau, wings and tail of the
preceding; not quite so large; top of the head and neck, a
vivid red; back black; the scapulars, belly and rump, white.
Lan. collurio, Gm.; Enl. 313 Naum. 52. (The Butcher Bird.)
Still smaller; top of the head and rump ash coloured; back and
wings fawn coloured; whitish above; a black band over the
eye; wing-quills black edged with fawn colour, those of the tail
black, the lateral ones white at base. It destroys small Birds,
young Frogs and great numbers of Insects, which it sticks upon
the thorns of bushes, in order to devour them at leisure, or to
find them again when wanted.
The last three species leave France during the winter.
Other countries have several of these Shrikes with arcuated beaks,
(1) It is from this first subdivision that M. Vieillot has made his genus Lanius,
Gal. pl. cxxxy.
(2) Lan. carolinensis, Wils:., 1, xxii, 5,and his Lan. excubitor, 1, v. 1, which he
- considers as the same. M. Ch. Bonaparte makes two species of them, and refers
them to the Lan. ludovicianus, and Lan. septentrionalis of Gm.; or to the Lan.
ardesiacus and borealis of Vieillot, Am. 51 and 50; we must confess, however, that
there is but little resemblance between these different figures.
254 AVES.
the points of which latter diminish, and become weak, according to
the species so gradually, that it is impossible to fix a limit between
this subgenus and the Thrushes.(1)
There are other Shrikes, whose superior mandible is straight, and
only hooked at the tip. Their form passes by insensible gradations
to that of the Fauvets and other Motacillz.(2)
(1) The species with the strongest beaks are, for instance: the Cape-Shrike,
(Lan. collaris, Gm.); Enl. 477, 1; Vaill. Afric. pl. Ixi, Ixii—The Boubou, Vaill.
68 (Lan. boulboul, Sh.)—The Brubru, Vaill. 71 (Lan. capensis, Sh.).—La Petile
Pie-gr. de Madag. (Lan. madagascariensis, Gm.) Enl. 299.—La Petite Pie-gr.
bleue (Lan. bicolor, Gm.); Enl. 298.—La Pie-gr. dela Louisiane, (Lan. americanus, )
Enl. 397.—The Sourciroux, Vaill. 76, 2, or the Tangara verderoux of Buff. ( Tana-
gra guianensis, Gm.).—The Black-Headed Shrike of the Sandwich Islands, (Lan.
melanocephalus, Gm.) Lath. Syn. I, 165.—La Pie-gr. a queue pointue, (Lan. pyrr-
honotos,) Vieill. Gal. 135
The genus Lanro of Vieill. is founded on an arcuate-beaked Shrike; the edges
of whose upper mandible are somewhat angular. It is the Tangara mordoré of
Buff. Enl. 809, 2 (Lan. atricapilla, Gm.).
Among those species most nearly allied to the Thrushes, we may admit the Mus-
cicapa tamnophiloides, Spix, 26, 1.—L’Oliva of Vaill. 75 and 76,1 (Lan. oliva-
ceus, Sh.) —The Gonolec, (Lan. barbarus, Gm.); Enl. 56, Vaill. 169.—The Lan.
gutturalis, Daud. Ann. Mus. ILI, 144, pl. xv; or the Pie-gr. Perrin. Vaill. 286.—
Le Merle @ plastron noir (T'urdus zeilonus, Gm.); Enl. or the Bachakiri, Vaill. 67
(Lan. bachaleiri, Sh.).—La Cravatte blanche, Vaill. 115 (Motac. dubia, Sh.).—The
Turdus crassirostris, Gm.; Lath. Syn. IU, 34, which is the same as the Tunagra
capensis, Sparm. Carls. pl. xlv, and several others quite as equivocal. It is from
this subdivision, with weak bills, that Vieill. has established his genus wees |
Galer. 143.
His Vireo only differs from it in the beak being a little shorter and more slender,
Vir. flavifrons, Vieill. Am. 54, or Muscic. sylvicola, Wils., I, vii, 3.—V. musicus,
Vieill. 52, or Music cantatrix, Wils. I, xviii, 6, or Music. noveboracensis, Gm.—
V. olivaceus, Ch. Bonap., or Museic. oliv. Wils. Ul, xii, 3, or tamnophilus agilis,
Spix, 34, 1.—V.gilvus, Ch. Bonap., or Muse. melodia, Wils. V, xlii, 2. vi lead
us almost directly to the true Fauvets.
(2) Le Blanchot, Vaill. Afr. 285, (Lan. icterus, Cuv.) or Thamnophilus, Vieill. Ga-
ler 139.—The Grand battara, Azz. or Thamnophilus magnus, Pr. Max. or Th. albi-
venter, Spix, 32. —The tchagra, Vaill. 70; (Lan. senegalensis, Spix, Lan. eollurio
melanocephalus, Gm.) Enl. 479, 1 and 279, 1.—The Fourmillier huppé, Buff. (Tur-.
dus cirrhatus, Gm.) The Pie-gr. a huppe rousse d’ Amerique, (Lan. canadensis, Gm. )
Enl. 479, 2, is the female.—The Tachet, Vaill. 77, (Lan. punctatus, Sh.).—The
Pie-gr. rayée de Cayenne (Lan. doliatus) Enl. 297, 2, or radiatus, Spix,35, 2.—The
Pie-gr. bridée, (Lan. virgautus, Tem.) Col. 256, 1.—The Pie-gr: masquée, (Lan. per-
sonatus, Id. or Lan. nubicus, Licht.) Col. 256, 2—The Thamnophilus lineatus,
Spix, 33.—Th. strigai Id. 36, 2.—TZh. melanoceph. 1d. 39, 1—Th. leuconotos,
Ib. 2, , 4
The Pie-gr. rousse eo Madag. (Lan. rufus, Gm.) Enl. 298. Oi
It is also among these straight beaked Shrikes that must be placed the Geni
longup., Vaill. 42, (Lan. galericulatus, Cuy.), but it leads to the Vanga.
¥
PASSERINE. 255
In some of these straight-beaked Shrikes, that organ is very stout,
and its lower mandible much inflated. (1)
Others, whose beak is straight and slender, are remarkable for
vertical tufts of feathers.(2)
Around these Shrikes, properly so called, some other subgenera,
which differ from them more or less, form natural groups. Such
are the
Vanea, Buff.
Which have a large beak, very much compressed throughout, its
tip much hooked, and that of the inferior mandible bent down-
wards.(3)
Ocyrrervs, Cuy.(4)
The beak, conical, rounded, without a ridge, slightly arcuated
towards the end, with a very fine point slightly notched on each
side; the feet rather short, and the wings as long as the tail, and
longer; from which circumstance their flight is rendered similar to
that of the Swallow; but they have the courage of the Shrikes, and
do not fear to attack even the Crow. (5)
Numerous species inhabit the coast and islands of the Indian
I also place here that bird which has been so bandied about by naturalists, the
Merle de Mindanao of Buff. Enl. 627, Turdus mindanensis, Lath and Gm. the
same as their Gracula saularis, Little Pie of the Indies, or Dial-bird, Albin. III, 17
and 18, Edw. 181, Vaill. Afr. 109 (Sturnus solaris, Daud.)—and even the Tbrat
boulan ( Turdus orientalis), Enl. 273, 1, might be approximated to it, but is also
very closely allied to the Turdoides.
The genus Tuamnorntius or Battara of Vieillot is formed by one of these
straight beaked Shrikes, but is so badly determined that other authors have refer-
red to it, Vireos, &c.
(1) Lanius lineatus, Leach, Zool. Miscell. pl. vi.—Zhamnophilus guttatus,
Spix, 35.
(2) The Geoffroy, Vaill. Afr. 80 and 81, and Vieill. Gal. 142 (Lan. plumatus, Sh.),
of which Vieill. has made his genus Prionors, or Bogadais, Galer. 142 and the
Manicup. Buff. Enl. 707 (Pipra albifrons,Gm.}, which has nothing more in common
with the Pipra than 2 somewhat unusual prolongation of the union between the
two external toes. Vieill. has made his genus Preys, Galer. 129, from it.
(3) The Vanga, Enl, 228, (Lan. curvirostris, Gm.) and new species, such as the
V. destructeur, Cuy. Col. 273.—The V. strié huppé, Voy. de Freyc. pl. xviii and
_ xix, or Thamnophilus Vigorsii, Zool. Journ. Supp. VIL and VIL.
(4) Ocypterus or oxypterus—rapid wings, pointed wings—the Greek name of
an unknown bird, very pumas to these. It is from this genus that Vieill. has
’ made his ARTAMUs.
(5) Sonnerat, Pr. Voy. p. 56.
256. AVES.
Ocean, where they are constantly and rapidly flying about in
pursuit of Insects.(1)
Barira, Cuy.(2)—Cassicans, Buff.
A large conical beak, straight and round at base, which scallops out
a circular notch in the feathers on the forehead; round back, com-
pressed sides, hooked point, and sloped laterally. The nostrils,
small and linear, are not surrounded by a membranous space.
They are large birds of New Holland and its neighbouring
islands, which have been arbitrarily placed in several genera.
They are said to be very noisy and clamorous. They pursue
small Birds.(3)
Cuatypzus, Cuv.
A beak similar to that of the Barite, but somewhat smaller at base,
and the nostrils pierced in a large membranous space. The species
known are from New Guinea, and are remarkable for their beautiful
tints, which resemble browned steel.
C. paradiseus, Cuv.; Paradisza viridis, Gm.; Enl. 634. The
feathers on the head and neck like curled velvet,—which, added
to the lustre of its hues, has caused it to be placed among the
Birds of Paradise.
C. cornutus, Cuv.; Barita Keraudrenii, Less. and Garn. Voy.
de Duperr. pl. 13. Two pointed tufts of feathers on the occi-
put; its trachea forms three circles, before it reaches the lungs.
Psaris, Cuv.(4)—Bercarpes, Buff.
The beak conical, very stout and round at base, but does not scallop
out the feathers on the forehead; the point slightly compressed and
hooked. From South America. The best known species is the 2
(1) Here come Lan. leucorhynchos, Gm. Enl. 9, 1, the same as Lan. dominicanus,
Sonnerat, Voy. I, pl. xxv.—Lan. viridis, Enl. 32, 1-—Ocyp. cinereus, Val.—Ocyp-
terus fuscatus.—Ocyp. rufiventer. Consult the monography of M. Valenciennes
cn this genus published in the Mem. du Mus. tom. VII, p. 20, pl. 7, 8, 9.
(2) Barita, the Greek name of an unknown Bird. M. Viellot has given to my
Baritzx, the name of Cracricvus.:
(3) We place here the Cassican, Buff. (Coracias varia, Gm.; Gracula varia,
Sh.) Enl. 628.—Le fititewr, (Coracias tibicen, Lath. second suppl.; Gracula tibicen,
Sh.) Voy. de Freycin. pl. xx.—Corvus graculinus, J. White; Coracias strepera,
Lath. Ind. Ornith.; Gracula strepera, Shaw; Réveilleur de L’Isle de Norfolk, Daud. ;
Gr. calybé, Vaill. Ois. de Par. 67; Vicill. Galer. 109, and one species with a taper-
ing tail, Bar. anaphoresis, Temm.
(4) Psaris, the Greek name of an unknown Bird. Vieill. has changed it into
Tiryna, Galer. 134, 1; Spix into Pachyrhynchus, Ay. Brasil, 44.
the
PASSERINE. 257
Lanius cayanus, Gm. ; Enl! 304 and 3073; Vieill. Galer. 134;
Spix, 44, 1. Cinereous ; head, wings and tail, black. Its habits
are those of the Shrikes.(1)
Gravcatus,(2) Cuy.—Cuovcaris, Buff.
The beak less compressed than in the Shrikes; the upper ridge
is sharp pointed, and regularly arcuated, the commissure slightly
so. The feathers which sometimes cover their nostrils have caused
them to be referred to the Ravens, but the emargination of their
beak removes them from that genus. From the remotest parts of
the Indian Ocean.(3)
Beruytus, Cuy.(4)
The beak stout, short, arched every where, slightly compressed
near the point.
' _ One species only is known, which, as to shape and colour, is
a miniature resemblance of the common European Magpie. (5)
Fatcuncuuus, Vieill.
The beak compressed, nearly as high as it is long; the upper ridge
- arcuated. .
. The species known,—Lanius frontatus, Lath.; Second Suppl.
Col. 77; Vieill. Galer. 137, is of the size of the Finch, and
bs)
(1) Buffon has improperly extended the name of Bécarde, (Psarts, C.) to a
Tyrannus (Lan. sulfuratus), and to a Shrike closely allied to the Thrushes
(Lan. barbarus). Add Pachy yrhynchus semifasciatus, Spix, 44, 2, which is the
Psaris Cuvieri, Swains.—the Psaris erythrogenis, Selby, Zool. Jour. I, p. 484.—
The Pachyrhynchus, niger, Cuvieri, cinerascens, rufescens, Spix, 45 and 46, have
a smaller beak but the same form.
(2) Graucalus, the Greek name of an ash- coloured Bird; three out of four of
these being of this colour. Vieillot confounds them with his Coracrna, which
_comprize the Gymnoderus and Gymnocephalus, of which we shall speak hereafter.
(S) Corvus papuensis, Gm.; Enl, 630; Vieill. Galer. 113.—Corvus nove Guinex,
Enl. 629.—Corvus melanops, Lath—Rollier a masque noir, Vaill., Ois. de Par., &e.
86.—Another, entirely of a brilliant violet of browned steel, the female greenish,
which forms the genus Prroxtxt of Temm., or Pritonoruyncuvs of Kuhl, founded
on the head feathers being more like velvet. The genus SpnecotuErs of Vieill.,
Galer. 147, Choucari vert of the Voy. du Freycinet, pl. xxi, only differs from the
others in being a little more naked about the eye.
(4) Bethylus, the Greek name of an ae Bird: Vieillot has changed it
into that of Pillurion or Crssorts.
* (5) It is the Pie-griéche, Vaill. Afr. 60, and Vieill. Galer, 140. Zanius leveri-
anus, Sh. Lanius picatus, Lath. Wliger makes a Tangara of it. Wemay approxi-
mate to it the Lan. corvinus, Sh.; Vaill. Afr. 78, the beak of which, however, is
more compressed.
Vou. L.—2H
258 AVES.
coloured nearly like the Purds ‘major. The feathers on the
head of the male form a tuft. From New Holland.
PARDALOTUS, Vieill.
The beak short, but slightly compressed; upper ridge sharp-
pointed, and arcuated; the point emarginate. Very small Birds,
with a short tail.
The best known species, Pipra punctata, Sh. Zool. Misc. UI;
Col. 78; Vieill. Gal. pl. 73, is partly sprinkled with white.
From New Holland.(1)
Muscicapa, Lin.
The Fly-Catchers have a horizontally. depressed beak, furnished
with hairs at its base, and the point more or less hooked and emar-
ginated. Their general habits are those of ‘the Shrikes, and they
live on small Birds or Insects, according to their size. The weakest
of them gradually approach the form of the Wagtails. We divide
them as follows: ee
Tyrannus, Cuy.(2) , fy
The Tyrants have a very stout, long, straight beaks end’ upper
ridge blunt; the point curved suddenly inte a hook. They are
American Birds, as large as the European Shrikes, and equally
courageous. They defend their young even from the Eagle, and
drive all Birds of prey from their nest. The larger species feed on
small Birds, and do not always despise carrion.(3) ,
*
(1) Add Pardal. ornatus, Temm., Col. 394, 1.—P. percussus, Id. 394, 2. They
lead us to the first subdivision of the Tanaers.
(2) Vieillot has adopted this name and genus, Galer. 133
(3) The bentaveo, or Spoon-billed Tyrant of Brazil, Enl. 212 (Lanius pitangua,
Gm. ).—Le Tyran a ventre jaune, (Lan, sulfwraceus, Gm.) Enl. 296, the same as
the Garlu or Geai a ventre jaune de Cayenne, (Corvus flavus, Gm.) Enl. 249.—
The Muse. velata, Spix, 22.—Muse. polyglotta, 1d., 24.—Musc. similis, Id., 25, of
which his Muse. rufina, Ib. 131, is the young.—The Muse. cinerea, Spix, 26, 2.—
Le Tyran 4 ventre blanc, (Lan. tyrannus, Gm.) Enl. 537 and 676, Vieill. Galer.
133.—Muse. cinerascens, Spix, 22.—Le Tyran @ queue rousse, (Muse. audax, Gm.)
Enl. 453, 2; Wils. Am. II, xiii, 1—Le Petit tyran, (Musc. ferox, Gm.), Enl. 571,
1, or Muse. furcata, Spix, 19. Vhe Muse. vetula, Spix, 18.—Le Tyran @ queue
fourchue de Cayenne, (Musc. tyrannus, Gm.), Enl. 471, 2.—Le F. dq. f. dw Mexique,
(Muse. forficata, Gm.) Enl. 677. The Fork-Tuiled Tyrant of Brazil, (Muse. longi-
cauda, Spix, 17) Zool. Journ. I, pl. iv—Le Tyran a huppe verte (Muse. crinita,
Gm.) Enl. 569; Wils. Am. IT, xiii, 2?
Add also Muse. verticalis, Am. Orn. Bonap. I, pl. ii, f. 2. dm. Ed. f
» »
i a =
‘PASSERINE. 259
_. Musoreta, Cuv.
The beak long, much compressed, double its height in breadth,
even at its base; the ridge very obtuse, sometimes however very
acute; the edges slightly curved; the point and emargination weak;
long setz or mustachios at its base.
They are too powerless to capture any thing but Insects, and sev-
eral of them are ornamented with long tail feathers, beautiful crests
on the head, or at least with brilliant colours. The greater num-
ber inhabit Africa and the Indies. (1) ;
Some species allied to the Muscipete, (PLaryruyncuus,) are dis-
tinguished by a still broader and more depressed beak.(2)
(1) We should first of all distinguish the Roi des Gobe-mouches, Buff. (Todus regius,
Gm.) Enl. 289. Then we have the crested species, and which have long feathers
in the tail, such as the Moucherolle de paradis (Muse. paradisi and Todus paradisia-
cus, Gm.), Enl. 234. N.B. All these figures represent females; the tail of the
males is much longer. —Le Petit Moatherlle de Paradis or Schet of Madagascar
(Muse. mutata). Two birds which Buffon describes elsewhere under the name
of Vardiole or Pie de paradis.—Then follow those species without crests, whose
tail feathers are somewhat elongated ; The Moucher, Yetapa (Muse. psalura, T.),
> Col. 286 ‘and 296, or Muse. risora, Vieill. 131; the Moucher 2 queue de cog; Gallita
of J 20 ; Muse. alector, P. Max.; Col. 155, Vieill. 132.—Plathyrh. filicauda,
Spix, 14.
Some species are distinguished by a membranous circle round the eye : Muse.
melanoptera, Gm.; Enl. 567, 3—M. telescophtalma, Less. and Garn., Voy. de Du-
perr:, Zool. pl. xviii.
Others are remarkable for a long, flat, and obtuse beak, similar to that of the
'Todies, but it has a notch which is wanting in the true Todies, whose feet also are
ifferently formed. 7! cinereus, Desmar. or T. melanocephalus, Spix, ix, 2. The
young is, Z' cinereus, Spix, x, 1 and J: maculatus, Desm.—T: griseus, Desm.
Finally, a multitude of other species, as the mantelé, Vaill. 151 or Muse. borbon-
ted, Enl. 573, 1.—WM. cristata, 573, 2, and T'chitrec, Vaill., Afr., I, 142, 1.—Muse.
cxrulea, Enl. 666, 1.—Todus leucocephalus, Pall., Sp., VI, pl. iii, f. 2, or Muse, dom-
inicana, Spix, 29, 2. M. albiventer, Id. 30, is its female.—7T" sylvia, Desm—Pla-
tyrhinchus chrysoceps, Spix, X1, 2.—Plat.. ruficauda, Ibs 1.—Plat. hirwndinaceus,
Spix, 13, 1.—Plat. cinereus, Ib. 2.— Muse. barbata, Enl. 830, 1, of which M. xan-
thopygus, Spix, IX, 1, appears to be the female-—Muse. coronata, Enl. 675.—The
molenar, Vaill. 160, 1, 2, or M. pistrinaria, Vieill—The G. m. a lunettes, Ib. 152,
1.—M. flammiceps, Tem. Col. 144, 3.—M. mystax, Spix, 31.—M. murantia,
Enl. 331, 1—M. querula, Vieill. Am. 39, from which the Plat. cinereus, Se
XID, scarcely differs.—WM. cucullata, Lath., &c.
N.B. The Mus. barbata has become the genus Tyrannvra, Swainson; and
the M. querula the Mytacra of Vigors and Horsfield.
(2) It is from this division that M. Vicillot has made his genus Platyrhynchos,
’ Gal. 126. Such are Muse. awrantia, Enl. 831, 1.—Todus macrorhynchos, Lath.
Syn. I, pl. xxx, or Todus rostratus, Lath., Desmar. and particularly Todus platyr-
hynchos, Pall., Spic., VI, pl. iii, c. We see that many of the Muscipete have
#
260 aves.” ¢
" . e. &
Others, whose beak is also broad and depressed, are remarkable
for their long legs and short tail. Two or three only are known, all
from America; they feed on Ants, which caused them to be united
to the little tribe of Thrushes called Ant-catchers, Myothere of Illi-
ger.(1)
Musotcapa, Cuv.
The Flycatchers, properly so oalledthave shorter mustachios
and a narrower beak than the Muscipetes it is still, however, de-
pressed with an acute ridge above, straight edges, and a slightly
hooked point.
Two species of this subgenus are found i in France during the
summer, and lead a melancholy life on high trees. The most
common is,
M. grisola, Gm. Enl. 565, 1. (The’Grey Fly- ets Grey
above, whitish underneath, with a few greyish spots on the
breast. In some countries it is kept in houses to fig flies.
The other,
M. albicollis, Tem.; Gobe-mouche a collier, Enl. 563, .2 and 33
and better, Hist. des Ois. tom. IV in 4to, pl. 25, f 2, the male
in wedding plumage; Naum. 65, in its different states. “(The
Collared Flycatcher.) Very remarkable for the changes of thes
male’s plumage. Similar in winter to the female; that i ds, erey,
with a white band on the wing. In the nuptial season it be-
comes agreeably variegated, with pure black and white; calotte,
back, wings and tail, black; the forehead, collar, and all the
upper part of the body, a large spot on the wing, a smaller one’
in front, and the external edge of the tail, white. It builds on
the trunks of trees.(2)
A species subject to the same changes has lately been disco-
been placed among the Todies, and although Pallas has set us the example of
doing so, the notch in the beak, and the separation of the external toe forbid it.
Add, Plat. olivaceus, T. Col. XI, 1, or sulfurescens, Spix, XIL—Plat. cancromus,
Id. Ib. 2.
(1) Here come Furdus auritus, Gm., Enl. 822, and Vieill. Gal. 127, the same as
Pipra leucotis, but which is neither a Thrush nor a Pipra.—Pipra nexvia, Enl. 823,
f. 2. It is upon this distinction that Vieill. has founded his genus Conopormaca,
Galer. 127. 7
(2) The ancients knew this bird by the names of Sycalis and Ficedula, in its ordi-
nary plumage, and by that of Melancorhynchos and Atricapilla, in its wedding livery;
but as the name of Bee-figue (Becca-fico), is given in the south, and in Italy, to
various species of Fauvet and Anthus, naturalists have applied the united attributes
of these birds to a certain state of this Flycatcher, and formed the imaginary spe-
cies presented by this same name of Bec-figue in Buffon, and in those who have
PASSERINE. a 261
vered; the neck of the male, however, in the nuptial season, be-
ing as black as the back, and wanting the little white spot on
the edge of the wing. It is the
M. luctuosa, Tem.; Naum. 64; Edw. 30, 1; The female, Enl.
668, 1. Which is found farther north than the preceding.
A small reddish species has lately been discovered in Ger-
many. JZ. parva, Bechst.; Naum. 65, 3. ,
The beak of the Flycatchers becomes more and more slender, and
finally approaches that of several species of Regulus.(1)
Some species in which the ridge is somewhat higher, and arched
towards the point, lead to the forms of the Saxicolz.(2)
Various genera or subgenera of birds are closely allied to certain
links in the series of Flycatchers, although they greatly exceed them
in size, viz.
Gymnocepuaus, Geoff.
Or the Bald Tyrants. They have a beak similar to that of the
Tyrants, except that its ridge is somewhat more arcuated; a great
part of their face is destitute of feathers.
followed him. Itis very certainly the M. albicollis, and not the M. luctuosa, that
_ is the Becca-fico of Aldrovandus, Ornith. II, 758 and 759.
* (1) We also refer to the true Flycatchers, the Gillit (Musc. bicolor), Enl. 675, 1.
r ee Pririt, Vaill. 161; Enl. 567, 1 and 2 (MZ. senegalensis, Gm.).—WM. albicapilla,
_ Vieill. Am. 37.—M. armillata, Ib. 4, 2.—M. diops, Tem., 144, 1.—M. eximia, Ib.
2.—WM. ventralis, 1d. Col. 275, 2.—M. virescens, Tb. 3.—M. obsoleta, Ib. 1. M. flabel-
lifera, Ib., Gmel. Lath. Syn. I, part I, pl. 49.—M. serita, Vaill. Afr. 154.—M.
ruticilla, Gm. Enl. 556: Vieill. Am. 35 and 36 ; Wils. I, vi, 6—Platyr. paganus,
Spix—Pi. marinus, Id. 2.—Pipra elata, Id. VIII, 2. See App. XIV. of Am. Edit.
(2) Such are the Oranor, Vaill. IV, 155, and several neighbouring species, simi-
lar to the Musc. ruticilla, so far as regards the distribution of colours, but differ-
ing in the beak, such as Musc. miniata, Tem. or Turdus speciosus, Lath. Col. 156.
—WM. flammea, Forst. Zool. Ind. 25 and Tem. Col. 263, or Parus malabaricus, Lath.
—WM. hyacinthina, Col. 30.—The Azuroux (M.azurea), Vaill. Afr. 158, 2—M. niger-
rimad, Vieill. Dict. Spix, 18, 1—M. galeata, Spix, 17, 2 different species.—M€. stel-
lata, Vieill., Vail. 157, 2. M. longipes, or the Miro-Miro of New Zealand, Less.
and Garn. Voy. de Duper. Zool. pl. 19, 1. AZ chrysomelas, tb. pl. 18.—M. nivea,
Spix, 29,1. WM tcterophis, Vieill., Dict.—M. mirundinacea, Tem. Col. 119.—The
Muse. multicolor, Gm. Lath. Syn. 2, is so intermediate between the Flycatchers and
the Mot. phenicurus, that we hesitate to assign its position.
The species of this type which have the ee beaks appear to constitute
the Drimoruites of M. Temminck.
N.B. The Mus flabellifera has become the genus Rirrpura of Vig. and Horsf.
and the Mf, ruticilla, the Srroruaca of Swainson. The JZ sternura, T. Col. 167,
3, is the Srernura of Swains.: and the species whose head is enlarged by feathers,
such as the ©. australis, White, p. 239, his genus, Pacuycrruana. The neigh-
bouring genus, Srisura, is formed from the J'urdus volitans, Lath.
262 . : AVES. *
One species only is known, which is the size of a rook, and
the colour of Spanish snuff. From Cayenne.(1)
Ly A CrrHuALorreRus, Geoff.
*
In this subgenus, on the contrary, the base of the beak is furnished
with feathers which open at top, and form a large panache resem-
bling a parasol. ©
One jpeotedgniyts is known; it is as large as a Jay, and black;
the feathers at the bottom of the breast form a sort of pendent
dewlap. From the banks of the Amazon; Cephalopterus ornatus,
Geoff., Ann.” du Mus. XIII, pl. xv; Coracina cephaloptera,
Vieill. Galer. 1142 Temm. Col. 2553 Corac. ornata, Spix, LIX.
See App. XV of Am. ee
AmPELis 5 Lin.
The Crown-Birds haye.the debe sed beak of the Flycatchers, ot '
it is somewhat shorter in' proportion, tolerably broad and 7 Avia
arcuated. , ,
Those in which it is the most pouited and strong, have still : a de-
cidedly insectivorous regimen: they are called PiavHAU from their, ¢
note—the QurruLa, Vieill. They inhabit America, where Sate
sue Insects, in flocks.(2) Re oni @ te
«
TuE Common Crown-Birps, ie te a te ‘,
Whose beak is rather weaker, besides insects, feed on berries and
tender fruits. They inhabit the low grounds of America, the ve ’
being remarkable, at the nuptial season, for the brilliancy of their
purple and azure plumage. During the rest of the year both sexes:
are grey or brown.
A. carnifer, L.; L’Ouette, Enl. 378; Spix, V. The calotte,
rump and belly scarlet; the rest brownish red; fourth quill of the
wing narrowed, shortened and tough, or something like horn.
A. pompadora, L.; Le Pompadour, Enl. 279. A fine light
purple; wing-quills white; the barbs of the great coverts are
(1) It is the Choucas chauve, Buff., Enl. 521 (Corvus calvus, Gm.), the Oiseau
mon pére of the negroes of Cayenne, Vaill., Ois. d’Am. et des Indes, pl. xxix.
(2) Here comes the Common Piauhau; black, witha purple throat, (Muse. rubri-
collis, Gm.) Enl. 381; Vieill. Gal. 115, and the Great Piauhau entirely purple (Co-
tinga rouge, Vail., Ois. d’Afr. et des Indes, pl. xxv, and xxvi, Coracias militaris,
Shaw). La Cotinga gris (Amp. cinerea), Enl. 699, is more nearly allied to the Piau-
haus than the common Crown-birds.
The Piauhau a gorge aurore (Coracias scutata, Lath. or Coracina scutata, T. s Col.
40, has a narrower beak, and approaches more to Cephalopterus.
a
PASSERINE. * 263
stiff and arranged on two planes in an acute “angle like a
roof. “f
A. cotinga, L.; Le Cordon bleu, Enl. 186 en Of the
most beautiful ultramarine, with a violet breast, frequently’ tra-
versed by a large blue band and spotted with pa mere)
Tersina, Vieill.
This subgenus consists of Crown-Birds whose beaks are a little
wider at base.(2)
Crsieryris, Cuy.(3)
Has, in addition to the beak of the Crown-Birds, a singular cha-
racter which consists in the somewhat prolonged, stiff and spiny
» stems of their rump feathers. They are found in India and Africa,
where they feed upon caterpillars which they collect upon the highest
trees, but they have nothing of the lustre of the true Crown-Birds.
Their tail somewhat forked in the middle is sloped on the sides. (4)
We may also separate from them,
HH wes).
, sf ‘Bownverta, Briss.
The Chatter ers, in which the head is ornamented with a toupet of
“+ feathers somewhat longer than the rest, possessing moreover another
hy hi singular character in the secondary quills of the wing, the ends of
“the stems being enlarged into an oval, smooth, and red disk. There
ies ‘is one in Europe, named, we know not why,
eae serrulus, L. Enlt 261. (The Bohemian Chatterer.) Some-
cb fi what larger than a finch; plumage of a vinous grey; throat black;
tail black, edged with yellow at the tip; wings black, varie-
gated with white. This bird visits Europe in flocks, at long
intervals, and without regularity, from which circumstance,
its presence, for a long time, was considered as an evil omen.
It is very stupid, is easily captured and brought up; eats of
every thing, and a great quantity. Its habitat is thought to be
the extreme North. The flesh is esteemed a great delicacy.
(1) Add 2. cayana, Enl. 624.—.4. maynana, Enl. 299.— A. cucullata, t., Col. 363,
Swains. Zool. Ill. 37.—A. caprea, Merremic. Av., 1, 2, appears to*be a variety of
the carnifex. ;
(2) A. tersa, Gm., La Tersine, Buff., Vieill, 119 or Procné tersine, Tem., Col. 5,
or Procnias hirundinacea, Swains. Zool. ill. TH, 21.
(3) The Greek name of an unknown bird. Vieillot has since given to this genus
the name of Campephaga.
(4) Such are the Muse. cana, Gm., Enl. 541, or the Echenilleur cendré, Vaill.
Afr., pl. clxii, Vieill., Galer. 130; the Echenilleur noir, Vaill. Ixiv. His Ech. jaune
is the young of the Turdus phenicopterus, Tem. Col. 71.—Add Cebl. fimbriatus,
Tem., Col. 249, 250.
264 wy. AVES.
There. is i, SNe species in America extremely similar, but
rather ‘smaller, Ampelis garrulus, b, Lin.; Amp. Americana,
Wils. I, vii, 13 Bombycilla carolinensis, Wils.; Bomb. cedrorum,
* Vieill., Gal. 1185 Vaill., Ois. de Par., I, pl. 50,
‘, ere is also one in Japan, B. phanicoptera, Tem.; Col. 450,
which has no appendages to the wings, and the tips of whose
tail and little wing-coverts are red.
Hofmansegg and beer, with equal propriety, separate from the
Crown-Birds,
>
~ Procnias, Hofman.
The commissure of whose beak, which is acaker and more de-
pressed, extends under the Ton They inhabit America and feed on
Insects. Ay OR” "4 '
We may subdivide them still ‘more.
The Proontas, properly ogni have the throat furnished with
feathers. P
One species, d4mpelis Ciremeulien. Gm., Enk. 7935 is di stin-
guished by a long, soft caruncle on the base ~ of bis bef In
the perfect state it is white, at other times’ gre ni
a2 ;
The Averanos (Casmaruyncuos, Tem.) are bes .
throat.
In one species, the naked portion of the male’ °s thre
vered with fleshy caruncles. It is the ane of
457; Amp. variegata, Lin.; Col. 51.
Another, Prach. araponga, Pr. Max. Col. 368, and 383, , or -
Casmar ecarunculatus, Spix, 4,only has some very staal,
scattered feathers in that place. These birds are white i eir
perfect state; the young male and the female are sedan
Finally, directly after the Crown-Birds, should come
Gymnopervs, Geoff.
Where the beak is but very little stronger; but the neck is partly
naked, and the head covered with velvet feathers. The species
known is also from South America. It is mostly frugivorous, is of
the size of a Pigeon, black, with bluish wings; it is the Gracula nu-
dicollis, SW; the Corvus nudus and the Gracula a Gm. Enl.
609.(1)
(1) The species of Vaill., Ois. de PAmeriq. et des Indes, pl. xlv, and xlvi, is
perhaps different.
N.B. Vieillot unites Graculus, Gymnoderus and Cephalopterus, in his genus Co-
RACINA,
PASSERINE. 265
Epouius, Cuv.(1)
Belongs also to the great series of the Flycatchers; the beak is de-
pressed and emarginate at the end; its upper ridge is acute; but
what distinguishes it is, that both mandibles are slightly arcuated
throughout their length; the nostrils are covered with feathers, and
there are, besides, long hairs forming mustachios.
The species are numerous in the countries bordering on the
Indian Ocean. They are generally of a black hue, have a forked
tail, and live on insects; some of them, it is said, sing as sweetly
as the Nightingale.(2)
Purpatura, Vieill.
The ridge of the beak arcuated as in Edolius, but the beak itself
is one half shorter than the head.
The species known, (PA. flavirostris,) Vieill. Gal. 74; Tem.
Col. 118; Ph. cristata, Goains. Zool. Ill. pl. 31, is from Brazil.
The tail is much forked; the plumage is spotted with black and
yellow; the feathers of the head with red, recalling to our minds
certain Tyrants and Flycatchers.
“‘TanaaRa, Lin.
The Tanagers have a conical beak, triangular at base, slightly arcu-
ated at its ridge, emarginate near the end; wings and flight short.
They resemble the Finches in habits, and feed on grain as well as on
berries and insects. The greater number are remarkable for their
bright colours. We subdivide them as follows.(3)
(1) Vieillot has preferred the name of Dicrurvs.
(2) Species. Lanius forficatus, Gm., Enl. 189, Vaill. Afr. IV, 166 fad Vieill.
Gal. 141.—Lanius malabaricus, Shaw, Vaill. 1V, 175, Sonnerat, Voy. aux Indes et
a la Chine, pl. xevii, which is also the Cuculus paradiseus, Briss. 1V, pl. xiv, A. 1.
—Lanius cerulescens, Gm., Edw. pl. xlvi, Vaill. Afr., LV, 172-—Corvus balicassius,
Gm., Enl. 603.—The Drongolon, Vaill. 1V, 171.—The Drongo bronzé, Id. 176, and
bom new species.
N. B. The Bec-de-fer, Vaill. Afric., 79, Gorn which Iliger has made his genus
_Sparactes, and which is copied, Vieill. Gal., pl. cxxxi, having been examined by
Temminck, is found to be a Pogonias, to which, other feet had been added, to-,
gether with a crest. This was done by a dealer, in joke, to impose upon the late
M. Raie de Breukelewaerd, a rich Dutch amateur. ;
(3) For this genus and those of Pipra and Todus, see the work of M. Desmarest
_and of Pauline de Courcelles, now Madame Knip.
Vou. I.—2 I
266 o AVES.
Buiurincu TANAGERS.
A short beak, when viewed vertically, showing an enlargement on
each side of its base; the tail proportionably shorter. (1)
GrossBEAK TANAGERS.
The beak conical, thick, convex, as broad as it is high, the back
of the upper mandible rounded.(2)
TanaGErs, properly so called.
A conical beak, shorter than the head, as broad as it is high, the
upper mandible arcuated, somewhat pointed.(3)
Or10oLe TANAGERS.
The beak conical, arcuated, pointed and notched at the end.(4)
CarpINAL TANAGERS.
Beak conical, somewhat vaulted, an obtuse salient tooth on the
side.(5)
(1) Tanag. violacea, Enl. 114, 1, 2—T". cayennensis, Ib. 3—Ptpra musica, Enl.
809, 1— Tun. diademata, Natterer, Col. 243 or Lindo bleu, Azz., or Bouvreuil azuré,
Vieill. Gal. page Lindo bleu doré, Azz. (Tan. chrysogaster, Cuy.)—Tan. viridis,
Vieill. Col. 56,
(2) Tuan. magna, Enl. 205.—Tan. atra, Enl. 7 14, 2.—Coracias cayennensis, Enl.
616.—Tun. flammiceps, Pr. Max. Col. 177-—Tan. superciliosa, Spix, 57, 1.—Tan.
psittacina, Ib. 2.—Tun. atricollis, 1d. 56,2. It is on this division that Vieillot has
founded his genus Hasra.
(3) Lun. talao, Enl. 127, 2.—tricolor, Enl. 33.—mexicano, 290, 2 and 155, 1.—
gyrola, Enl. 201, 2, and 290, 1.—episcopus, Enl. 178.—celestis, Spix, 55, 1.—
varia, Desm. ( Motacilla velia, L.) Enl. 669, 3, of which the 7. Schrankit, Spix; 51,
is probably the young.—7" punetata and siaca, Enl. 133, L.—T" multicolor, Vieill.
Gal. 76, or Fring. zena, L. Catesby, I, 42.—T" thoracica, Tem. Col. 42, 1.—T! citri-
nella, Ib. 2.—T. vittata, Ib. 48.—T: penicillata, Spix, 49.—T. auricapilla, Id. 52.—
T. vittata, T. Col. 48.—T. leucoptera, or Oriolus lewcoperus, Lath. Syn.
(4) The J! gularis, Enl. 156; pileata, 720, 2, and speculifera, Spix, 36, 1, ap-
proach the Motacillz in their more slender beak. T' nigricollis, 720, 1, is a true
motacilla, a sort of Regulus with a rather large beak.
(5) T. cristata, Enl. 7, 2 and 301, 2, of which the 7! brunnea, Spix, 49, 2, is the
young.—nigerrima, Enl. 179, 2,and 711.—olivacea.—archiepiscopus, Desm. Spix,
56, 2.—Tan. rufiventer, Sik: 50, 1.—rufigularis, \d., 56, 5.—Saira, Id. 48, 1.—
viridis, lb. 2. This division has been named Tacuyruonus, by Vieillot, Gal. 82.
But we should also refer to it, “his genus Pyranea, which is solely founded on an
individual deformity. “We will name his species Tan. cyanictera.
The Palmiste, Buff. Enl. 509, 1. (Turd. palmarum, Gm.), Vieill. Am. I, 69, also
belongs to it; its notch is Pai 3 sensible, and it almost wholly disappears in a
neighbouring species, of which Vieillot has made his genusIcrexra, Ict. dumicola,
PASSERIN-E. 267
RaMPHoceELInE TANnaGERs.(1)
A conical beak, the branches of whose lower mandible are enlarged
behind. (2)
Turpvus, Lin.
The Thrushes have a compressed and arcuated beak, but its point
is not hooked, and its emarginations do not form such deep notches
as in the Shrikes; as we have already stated, however, there are
gradual transitions from one genus to the other.
Their regimen is more frugivorous, generally feeding on berries.
Their habits are solitary.
The term Thrush is more particularly reserved for those species
in which the colours are uniform, or are distributed in large masses.
The most widely disseminated is, ;
T. merula, L., Naum. 71. (The European Blackbird.) The
male, (Enl. 2,) is entirely black, with a yellow beak; the female,
(Enl. 555,) is brown above; reddish brown beneath; the
breast spotted with brown. It is a very mistrustful bird, but
is easily tamed, and can be taught to sing well, and even to
speak. It remains in Europe during the whole year.
A neighbouring species, which, however, is a bird of pas-
sage, and prefers the mountains, is,
T. torquatus, L.; Le Merle a plastron blanc; Enl. 168 and
182; Naum. 70. (The Ring Ouzel.) Feathers, black, partly
edged with white; the breast marked with a shield of the same
colour.
The high mountains in the south of Europe contain two
species, the 7. savatilis, L.; Enl. 562; Naum. 73, and the 7.
cyaneus, L.; Enl. 250; Naum. 72, from which the 7" solitarius,
L. does not differ.(3) The first, which is most frequently found
Vieill, Am. and Gal., pl. Ixxxy, or Pipra polyglotta, Wils., 1, vi, 2. This spe-
cies leads to Ploceus. Tunagra mississipiensis, Enl. 742, or T: xstiva, Wils. Am.
VI, 3, 4.—T. rubra, 156, 1.—T. ludoviciana, Wils., Ml. xx, 1.
N.B. Swainson separates the 7’ ¢a/ao and some others from the Tanagers under
the name of Acrata, and makes a genus of my Tanagers a bec fin, called Srzr-
MAGRA.
(1) From this Vieill. has made his Jacara, or Ramrnocetes, Galer. 79.
(2) Tanagra jacapa, Enl. 128.—T. brasilia, Enl. 127, 1.—T. nigrogularis, Spix,
N.B. The Tunagra atricapilla, 809, 2 and the guwyannensis are Shrikes. The
T. cristatella, Spix, or Fringilla cristata, Gmel., T. graminea and. T. ruficollis, Spix,
are Buntings.
(3) Obs. Bonnelli.
268 AVES.
in the North, is the best known; it nestles on inaccessible
cliffs, in ruins, and sings well. The head and neck of the male
are of a blue ash colour, the back brown, rump whites; beneath,
and the tail, orange.(1)
The name of Grives is given, in France, to those species, whose
plumage is what is termed in that country grivelé, that is to say,
marked with small black or brown spots. here are four of them in
Europe, all with brown backs, and spotted breasts; they are singing
birds, which live on insects and berries, migrate in large flocks,
and whose flesh is an agreeable food.
T. viscivorus, L.; La Drenne. (The Missle Thrush.) Enl.
489; Frisch, xxv; Naum. 66, 1. Is the largest; the underpart
of its wings is white; it is extremely fond of the misletoe, and
contributes to the dissemination of that parasitical plant.
T. pilaris, L.; La Litorne, Enl. 490; Frisch,, xxvi; Naum.
67, 2. Which is chiefly distinguished from the Viscivorus by
the ash colour on the top of its head and neck.
T. musicus, L.; La Grive, properly so called, Enl. 406;
Frisch, xxvii; Naum. 66, 2. Underpart of, the wings yellow;
the best songster of the four, and the one most commonly eaten.
T. iliacus, L.; Le Mauvis, Enl. 51, Frisch. xxviii; Naum.
67, 1. (The Mavis.) The smallest of the whole number ;
under part of the wings and flanks, red.(2)
The species of the genus Thrush, foreign to Europe, are very
numerous. We will particularly notice
T. polyglottus, L.; Catesb. xxvi. (The Mocking-Bird.) From
North America; ash coloured above, paler beneath, with a white
band onthe wing. It is celebrated for the astonishing facility
with which it imitates the notes of other birds, and even all
kinds of sounds.(3)
(1) It is possible, as is observed by Shaw, that it was by confounding it with the
Siberian Jay, that Linnzus attributed to it the habits of a Harpy, and at one time
calls it Corvus, and at another, Lanius infaustus. J
We may approximate to the saxatilis the Rocar, Vaill. Afr. 101 and 102 ;—the
Espionneur, 1d. 103. 7
The other species, allied to the Solitary Thrushes by their speckled plumage,
are Turdus manillensis, Enl. 636; probably the same as 7! violaceus, Sonnerat, 2d
Voy. pl. cviii;—Z’ eremita, Enl. 339;—T. varius, Horsf.;—Myiothera Androme-
dz, Tem. Col. $92.
(2) Two additional species have been taken, though very arelaet in Germany;
the Thrush, with the back und flank spotted with red (T. Naumanni), Nae 68,
and that with a black breast and throat (T. Bechsteinii), Naum. 69.
(3) The Little Mocking-bird, (T. orpheus), Edw.,78 ; Le Moqueur de St Domingue,
(T. dominicus), En]. 558, 1, are very closely allied ts it, as wellas the T. gilvus,
Vieill. Am. 68.
PASSERINE. 269
Some of these birds appear to approach the Shrikes, in habits,
although there is nothing in the form of their beak which can dis-
tinguish them from other Thrushes.(1)
There are no sensible characters by which we can distinguish cer-
tain African Thrushes, which live in flocks, are extremely clamor-
ous, feed on insects, and do much mischief in gardens. Several of
them are remarkable for the brilliant tints of their plumage, which
is of a browned steel colour,(2) and one of the former, by its cunei-
form tail, which is one-third longer than the body.(3)
Add, of species foreign to Europe, with the breast or under part of the body
spotted; Z' rufus, Gm., Enl. 645, and Vieill. Am. 59;—7" fuscatus, Vieill. Am.
57, biss—7Z. minor, Gm. or JT. mustelinus, Wils., or Gr. tanneé, or Gr. solitaire,
Vieill. Am. 62 and 63; 7° interpres, Kuhl., Col. 458.
With the throat only spotted, at least in the adult, 7’. migratorius, L. Enl. 556;
Catesb. 29; Vieill. Am. 60, 61;—T! ocrocephalus, Col. 136;—T. plumbeus, Enl.
560, Vieill. Am. 58;—T’ Falelandiz, T.;—T. olivaceus, Gm.;—the grivron, Vaill.
Afr. 98;—T. campestris, Pr. Max.
With the flanks only spotted, Z° punctatus, Sh. Zool. N. Holl. 1, pl. ix, which is
the genus CrncLosoma, Vig. and Horsf., Lin. Trans. XV, p. 219.
Of those not spotted underneath, 7. brasiliensis, Lath. ;—T" perspicillatus;—T.
melanotis, or Reclameur of Vaill. or T. vociferans, Zool. Wl. 179;—T. nxvius, Vieill.
Am. 66;—T. lividus, or Catbird of Wils. 14, 2 ;—7T"’. citrinus, Tem. Col. 445;—T.
rubripes, Id. 409;—T. leucogaster, ¥.nl. 648, 1;—T. madagascariensis, Enl. 557, 1;—
T. australasiez, Sh. Nat. Miscel. 1013;—Malurus frenatus, Tem., Col. 385;—T.
pectoralis, Enl. 644, 1; T. cinnamomeus, Enl. 560, 2;—T. rufifrons, Enl. 644, 10.
These last three species have been improperly referred by Buffon to the Ant-
catchers. ;
N.B. Turdus aurocapillus, Lath., Enl. 398, 2 and Vieill. Am. 64, (Motac- aurocap.,
L.,) is a true Motacilla, and must be placed with the Fauvets;—7Z'urdus calliope
(Lath. Syn. Supplement, fig. of the title), should go with the Redbreasts;—Turdus
eayanus, Enl. 515, is a female Ampelis;—T" guyanensis, En]. 398, fig. 1, is a female
of the Zunagra dominica, Enl. 156, 2, of which Vieill. has made his Dulus palma-
rum, Gal. 146. See App. XVI of Am. Ed.
(1) We have already spoken, while on the Shrikes, of some species usually
placed among the Thrushes, such as, 7'urdus zeilonus, Enl. 272. It seems we
might also approximate to it the 7! cafer, Enl. 563, Vaill., 107, which differs very
little even in colouring fromthe Lanius jocosus, Enl. 508. These two species would
also take along with them the 7! capensis, Enl. $17, Vaill. 105, and the 7. chrysorr-
heus, Tem., Vaill. 107. :
On the other hand, it would be difficult to separate from the zeilonus, the Hausse-
col noir, Vaill. Afr., 110, and the Cravatte noir, Id. 115.
(2) Particularly T'urdus auratus, Enl. 540 (Nabirop, Vaill. Afr. 89), and T'ur-
dus nidens, Enl. 561, (Couigniop, Vaill., 90.)
Here also come the Oranvert (JT. chrysogaster, Gm.) Enl. 358;—the Sprédo (T:
bicolor, Gm.), Vaill., Afr., 83, or the Corvus rufipennis, Sh.; and probably the
Eclatant, Vaill. 85, and the Choucador, 1d. 86, (Corvus splendidus, Sh.)
(3) Turdus zneus, Enl. 220 ( Vert doré, Vaill., 87).
270 AVES.
We consider it proper to approximate to it the Thrush of
New Guinea, whose tail is three times the length of the body,
and has a double tuft on the head, which has been considered a
Bird of Paradise—Paradissea gularis, Lath., and Shaw; Par.
nigra, Gmel.; Vaill. Ois. de Par. 20 and 21; Vieill. Ois. de Par.
pl. viii, and Galer. 107, simply on account of the singularity
and incomparable magnificence of its plumage.(1)
Other Thrushes, with brilliant plumage, have the feathers of the
occiput pointed like the Starling; they are the Srournes or Lampro-
rornis of Temminck.(2)
Some of them have so slender a beak, that they approach the Saxi-
cole—the Turpoiprs, or Ixos, Temm.;(3) others again have a
slender but strong and straight beak, and among them are some with
a widely forked tail, Entcurses, T.(4)
There are some of them also, which are distinguished by the
height of their legs, which gives them the appearance of Waders,
they are the Gratiines of Vieill. Galer. 150; or the Tanypus of
Oppel. Mem. Acad. Munich, 1812, pl. viii.
The Crinicer, Temm., comprehends those Thrushes, which have
very strong setz on the beak, and whose neck feathers sometimes
have a setaceous termination. Such is the Criniger barbatus, Col.
88.
Buffon has very properly separated from the Thrushes, the
Myoruera, Illig.(5)
The Ant-Catchers are known by their long legs and short tail. They
(1) Vieillot has given to this bird the generic name of AsTrRarra.
N.B. I think it is proper to approximate to the Thrushes which are allied to
the Shrikes, the Muscicapa carinata, Swains., Zool. Ill., 147, of which Vigors and
Horsfield make their genus Monarcua. ,
(2) T'urdus mauritianus, Gm., Enl. 648, 2 and Col. 149;—7! cantor, Sonnerat,
Voy. I, pl. lxxiii;—Lamprotornis metallicus, Tem. Col. 266. We should distin-
guish the Lampr. erythrophris,on account of its beautiful red eye-brows formed of
cartilaginous feathers. ,
(3) Such are the Podobé (T: erythropterus, Gm.), Enl. 334 ;—the Janfredic, Vaill.
Afr. 111;—the Grivetin, Id., 118;—the Coudor, Id., 119;—the T'urdus trichas, Enl.
709, 2. The Terat-boulan (T'urdus orientalis, Gm. Enl. 273, 2,) approximates this
group to the straight-beaked Shrikes.
Add, Ixos chaleocephalus, Tem. Col. 453, 1;—J. sguammatus, Tb. 2;—R. atriceps,
Col. 137, and particularly 7° dispar, Col. 137, which has red cartilaginous feathers
under the throat similar to the appendages of the wing of the Chatterer. |
(4) nicurus coronatus, Tem. Col. 113, or T'urd. Leschenaultit, Vieill. Gal. 145,
or Motacilla speciosa, Horsf.;—.#nic. velatus, Tem. Col. 160. There is quite as
uch reason for approximating them to the straight-beaked Shrikes.
(5) Vieill. has changed this name into MyrmoTuEra.
PASSERINE. 2tt
live on insects, and chiefly on ants. They are found in both conti-
nents. :
Those of the eastern world, however, are remarkable for the
brilliant colours of their plumage: they are the Breves of Buf-
fon(1)—Corvus brachyurus, Gm., Enl. 257 and 258; Edw. 324,
to which have been added since, several other beautiful spe-
cies.(2) We must also add the 2zurin—Turdus cyanurus, Lath.,
and Gmel.; Corvus cyanurus, Shaw, Enl. 355,(3) which only
differs in the tail, which is somewhat pointed.
The species belonging to the western continent, are much more
numerous, their tints are of a deeper brown, and they vary as to
strength, and the length of the beak. They obtain their living from
the enormous ant hills which abound in the woods and deserts of
that country; the females are larger than the males. These birds
seldom fly, and have a sonorous cry, which, in some species, is
even extraordinary.
Among those with a thick and arcuated beak, we remark,
M. rex; Turdus rex, Gm.; Corvus grallarius, Shaw, Enl.
702. (King of the Ant-Catchers.) The largest of all, and
stands the highest; its tail, on the other hand, is the shortest,
and at the first glance it might be taken for a Waders; it is
about the size of a Quail, and its grey plumage is agreeably
chequered. Itis more solitary than the others.(4)
The species with a straighter, but still tolerably strong beak are
allied to the Shrikes, with a similar one.(5)
(1). Vieillot has given to these birds the name of Pirra.
(2) Such as the Pitta erythrogaster, Cuv., Enl. 212;—P. gigas, Tem. Col. 217;—
P. cyanoptera, Id. Ib., 218;—P. superciliosa, C._—P. strepitans, Leadbeater, Col.
333.
N.B. The Breve des Philippines, Enl. 89, is not, as Vaillant says, that of Angola,
Edw., 324, with the head of a Thrush artificially attached to it; we have a natural
specimen of the same.
(3) The Azurin is not from Cayenne, as Buffon declares it to be, but from the
East Indies. It is the Pitta cyanura, Vieill., 153. Add Myiothera affinis, Horsf.
and even his T’urdus cyaneus, which is the Bréve-blewet, Tem. Col. 194, but which
leads to the straight-beaked Shrikes.
The Pitta thoracica, Tem., Col. 76, which Messrs Horsf. and Vigors make the
type of their genus Turaxra, is but little removed from the azurin, if we except
its sombre hues and its beak, which latter diminishes more regularly in front, and
thereby approaches the Tanagers.
(4) M. Vieillot has taken his genus Grattarra, Galer. 154, from this bird.
Add the Grand beffrot ( Turdus tinniens), Enl. 706, 1 of which Vieill. makes his
genus Myoruera: its beak is smaller;— Wyrmothera guttata, Vieill. Gal. 155.
(5) Such are the Tetema (T'urdus-colma, B.) Enl. 821;—the Palicour (T: forme-
civorus,) Enl. 700, 1;—the Petit beffroi (Turdus lineatus), Enl. 823, 1;—the Tham-
" #6«CF
272 AVES. '
Others have a slender, sharp beak, which, with their ebRat ee tail,
approximates them to the Wren.(1)
The Orrnonyx, Tem. may be approximated to the Ant- catchers.
They have the beak of a Thrush, but, it is short and slender;, their
legs are long, the nails almost straight, and the quills of the tail.
terminate in a point like those of the Creepers. )
We must also separate from the Thrushes:
Cincius, Bechst.(2)
Or the Water-Thrushes, which have a compressed, straight beak,
with mandibles of an equal height, nearly linear, and becoming
sharp near the point; the upper one hardly arcuated. There is but
one in Europe. °
Sturnus cinclus, L.; Turdus cinclus, Lath.; Enl. 940; Vieill.
Gal. 152. (The Water Thrush.) Legs rather long, and a short
tail, which approximate it to the Ant-catchers. It is brown,
with a white throat and breast, and has the singular habit of
descending into the water, not swimming, but walking about on
the bottom in search of the little animals which constitute its
food.
Africa, and the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean, produce
a genus of birds neighbours of the Thrushes, which I call
nophilus stellaris, Spix, 39;—Thamn. myotherinus, Id.42. The M. leucophris, Tem.
Col. 448, although from Java, seems to approach this group.. The Brachypteryx
montana, Horsf. Jay. also approximates to it in the height of its legs, but its tail is
longer in proportion, and the beak is somewhat allied to that of the Saxicolz.
(1) Such are the Bambla (Turd. bambla), Eni. 703; the Arada (T. cantans), Enl.
706, 2. Here comes the genus Ruamrnoceng, Vieill. 9, 128. ,
We are compelled, however, to replace among the Thrushes, several species
which Buffon arranged with the Ant-catchers, on account of some relative simi-
larity of colour, viz. the Carillonneur (T. tintinnabulatus), Enl. 700, 2;—the Merle
a cravatte (T. cinnamomeus), Enl. 560, 2;—those of the pl. Enl. 644, 1 and 2, which,
contrary to all appearances, he considers as varieties of the formicivorus. I place
in the same class the Thamnophilus griseus, Spix, 41, 1 and 48, 2 ;—striatus, Id.,
40, 2;—melanogaster, 1d., 43, 1. The Myothera capistrata, melanothorax, Tem.
Col. 185, {and M. obsoleta, Bonap. I, p. 1, 2. Am. Ed.]. We must also send back to
the Thrushes, notwithstanding their smallness, the long-tailed species, called by
Buffon Fourmilliers rossignols (T. coroya and T: alapi, Gm.), Enl. 701, as well as
the Myiothera malura, Natterer, Col. 953 and the M. ferruginea and rufimarginata,
Col. 132, which are even closely allied to the 7' punctatus and grammiceps;—the
M. gularis and pyrrhogenis, Tem. 442, 448.
The Myiothera mentalis and strictothorax, Natterer, 179, appear to me should be
placed among the Shrikes. There is no group which has been more overloaded
with species foreign to it, than that of the Ant-catchers. We must confess, how-
ever, that it is not more rigorously limited than the other groups of the Dentirostres.
(2) Vieillot has changed this name into that of Hrprosara.
PASSERINE. 273
PuILepon.(1)
Their beak is compressed, slightly arcuated throughout its length,
and emarginate near the points nostrils large, and covered by a car-
tilaginous scale; their tongue terminated by a pencil of hairs.
The species, generally remarkable for some singularity of con-
formation, have been bandied about by authors in all kinds of genera.
Some of them have fleshy bobs at the base of the beak.(2)
In others, portions of the skin on the cheeks are divested of feath-
ers.(3) .
» Even in those which are completely feathered, we still observe, at
times, a singular disposition of the plumage.(4) :
» — (1) Commerson had an idea of thus naming the Polochion (Merops moluccensis,
Gm.), which is of this genus. See Buff. Hist. des Ois., VI, 4to, p. 477. Vieillot
places the greater number of these birds in his genus Polochion, and in Latin he pre-
fers calling it Philemon rather than Philedon, Gal. 189. The genus Mexrruaca of
Lewin also is comprised in it.
(2) Here comes the New Holland bird called by Daudin, Ornith. Il, pl. xvi, Pie
a pendeloques, or Corvus paradoxus, Vieill. Gal. 24, the same as the Merops caruncu-
latus of Phillip., of Latham and of Shaw, but which has not the feet of a Merops,
and whose beak is notched, the tongue pencillated, and nostrils without feathers.
The Sturnus carunculatus, Lath. and Gm., or Gracula carunculata, Daud. and Shaw
(Lath. Syn., Il, pl. xxxvi), and the Certhia carunculata, Lath. and Gm. (Vieill.
Ois. Dor., LI, pl. lxix), also appear to me to belong to it. The latter bird, it is
said, sings delightfully, and belongs to the Friendly Islands. It is from this sub-
division that Vieillot has taken his genus Creapion, Gal. 94.
(3). The Merops phrygius of Shaw, Gen. Zool. VIII, pl. xx;—the Goruck, Vieill.
Ois. Dor., H, pl. Ixxxviii (C. goruck, Sh.);—the F'uscalbin, Id. 1b., pl. Ixi, (C. luna-
ta);—the Graculé, Id, Ib., pl. Ixxxvii, (C. graculina’;—the Polochion of Buff. (Me-
rops moluccensis, Gm. );—the Ph. @ oreilles jaunes, Less. Voy. de Duperrey, pl. 21,
bis, and some new species belong to this division.
(4) Particularly in the Merops Nove Hollandix, Gm. and Brown, Ill. ix, or Merle
a cravatte frisée, Vaill., Afr., or Merops circinnatus, Lath. and Shaw, Gen. Zool.
Vill, pl. xxii. They are the feathers of the ears which become frizzled, as they
descend to almost in front of the breast.— Melliph. auricornis, Swains., Zool. Ul. p. 43.
Add Certh. auriculata, Vieill. Ois. Dor. 85;—C. Nove Hollandiz, Ib. 7.
The species which have none of these singularities are the Certhia xantotus, Sh.
Vieill. Ois. Dor., Il, pl. 84;—C. australasiana, 1b. 55;—C. mellivora, Ib. 86;—C.
cerulea, Ib. 83 ;—C. seniculus, lb. 50. I am even of opinion that the Cap noir,
Vieill. pl. 60, (Certhia cweullata, Sh.) belongs to them, notwithstanding the length
of its beak;—Merops niger, Gm. or fasciculatus, Lath. or Gracula nobilis, Merrem.
Beytr. Fasc., I, pl. ii, is still more likely to be one of them—at all events it
is no Merops. [also place in this genus: the Verdin de la Cochinehine, Enl. 643,
which is the second J'wrdus malabaricus, No. 195 of Gm.—for the first, No. 51 is
a Gracula, Cuv.—and the Certh. cocincinica, Sh. Vieill. 77 and 78.—Add the Philed.
cap négre, Tem. (Certhia atricapilla, Lath.), Col. 335, 1;—Philéd. moustac. (Mel-
liph. mystacalis, Tem.) Ib. 2;—the Philéd. grivelé (Melliph. maculata, T.); Col. 29; 1;
Vou. L.—2 K
274 “AVES!
a a
Evtases, Cuv.
¢
The birds of this genus are closely allied to those of the preceding
one. Their beak is nearly that of a Thrush;, their nostrils are round
and smooth. Their distinguishing mark consists in broad strips of
naked skin on each side of the occiput, and_a bald spot on the cheek.
Linnzus has confounded two species of them under the name of
Gracula religiosa.(1) ‘
E. indicus, Enl. 268, the species of India,’ is si size of a
Thrush; black, with a white spot near the base of the pri-
maries. The feet, beak, and bald parts of the) head, yellow. °,
E: javanicus, Vieill. Gal. 95, has a broader beak, the commis-
sure extending higher up, more hooked at the end, and without
a notch—consequently, it should come after Colaris, Cuv.; but ©
in every thing else it is precisely similar to the other and par-
ticularly in the strips of bare skin about the head.(2) Of all
birds, this one is said to imitate most completely the language
of man. ,
GracuLa, Cuv.(3)
Is another genus allied to the Thrushes. The species inhabit Africa
and the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean. Their beak is
compressed, very little arcuated, and slightly emarginate; its com-
missure forms an angle like that of the Starling. The feathers on
the head are almost always narrow, and there is a naked space round
the eye. They have the habits of Starlings, and like them, pursue
insects in flocks.
One species is occasionally seen in Europe,
Turdus roseus, L.3 Pastor roseus, Meyer; Merula rosea, pi
33 Enl. 251; Vaill. “Afr. A brilliant black; back, rump, scapu-
ba and breast of a pale rose; feathers of the head narrow, and
Phil. réticulé ( Melliph. reticulata’, Ib. 2;—the Ph. 4 joues blanches (M. leucotis), Col.
435;—Phil. Dumerilii, Voy. de Duperr. pl. xxi, and perhaps the White headed Ixos,
Ruppel, Av. 4.
N.B. The Creavron or Pie a pendeloques is the genus AnTHocuxRA of Swainson,
to which he joins the Merops phrygius, &c.. The long and slender billed Phile-
dons, such as the Certhia cucullata, Vieill., form the genus Myzomexa of Swainson.
(1) This appellation of religious was only given to it on account of a peculiar
trait in its character, related by Bontius (Med. Ind. or. p- 67,) and foreign to its
natural habits. I have made it my generic name by translating it into Greek.
(2) Nothing can possibly be more. perplexing to methodists than this difference
between the beaks of two such-similar birds.
(3) Vieillot has changed this name into that of CripotuEres, Galer. 148.
—
PASSERINE. 275
lengthened out intoatuft. It is of great use in warm climates,
by destroying Grasshoppers.(1)
Another species, Paradisza tristis, Gm.; Gracula pare Lath.
and Shaw; Gracula gryllivora, Daud. Enl. 219, has become cel-
ebrated for similar services rendered to the Isle of France. It
feeds, however, on every thing, builds on the Palms, and is very
docile. Its size is that of a Thrush; brown, blackish about the
head; a spot near the tip of the wing; the lower part of the abdo-
men and the tips of the lateral tail quills are white.(2)
(1) Since my first edition was published, I have satisfied myself of the certainty
of the generic affinity of this species with the Gracula, Cuy.
(2) Itis difficult to imagine how Linnzus was induced to make it a Bird of Para-
dise. To this genus also belong the Gracula cristatella, Enl. 507 and Edw. 19,
which can hardly be considered a yariety of the common one;--the Porte lambcauz,
Vaill. Afr. pl. xciii, and xciy, which is the Gr. carunculata, Gm., or the Gr. larvata,
Shaw, or the Sturnus gallinaceus, Daud.;—the Martin brame, Rete pagodarum,
Vaill. Afr., 95, and Vieill. Gal. 148. The first 7! malabaricus, the T. ginginianus,
the TY dominicanus, Enl. 627, 2; the Martin gris de Fer, Vaill. Afr. 95, 1, and the
Sturnus sericeus, Gm. also belong to it, as well as some new species. I also refer
» “C0. aL conjecturally, the J'urdus ochrocephalus, Lath. (Sturn. ceylanicus, Gm.)
_ Brown, a | XK.
N.B. We cannot ascertain what type was taken by Linnzus and his followers
for their genus GRacura. Linneus first formed it in his tenth edition of seven very
} discordant species, viz. I religiosa, Eulabes, C.; 2, fetida, which I suspect to be the
Cél nu, that is to say allied to Ampelis; 3, barita, and 4, quiscala, which belong to
Cassicus; 5, cristatella, which is a Gracula, Cuy.; 6, saularis, or rather solaris, which
isa straight-beaked Shrike, and the same bird as 7° mindanensis, Enl. 627, 1;
\ finally, 7, .4tthis, which is a Thrush.
In the 12th ed. he added the Gracula calva, and placed the common gracula, Cuy.
among the birds of Paradise.
Gmelin, in imitation of Pallas, added a xanthornus (Gr. longirostra.).* He also
‘placed there the porte-lambeaux (Gr. carunculata), still leaving the common one
among the Birds of Paradise; finally, he placed there the Gr, cayennensis, which
isa Creeper. M. Latham has transferred to it the Gr. tristis, the Col. nu (Gr. nuda)
and one of my Philedons (Gr. icterops).{ Daudin has placed some species after
the said Gracula which in fact resemble it, and two of which Gmelin had left among
the Thrushes (J'wrdus pagodarum and malabaricus). Finally, Shaw has put the
finishing touch to the matter, by transferring to the genus in question three Baritz,
(his Gr. strepera, varia and tibicen,) and adding to them the T'alapiot, which is a
Creeper or a Nuthatch (Gr. picoides). Genera, thus formed, certainly excuse the
ill humour of the enemies of systems, if they do not justify it. See the Mem. of M.
Lichtenstein, Acad. of Berlin, 1817.
* Ido not know the Gracula sturnina of Pallas.
} Neither dol know the Grac. melanocephala and viridis of Latham; but I suspect
they also belong to my Philedons.
276 AVES.
Manoruaina, Vieill.
The beak much compressed, but little arcuated, and slightly
sloped; large nostrils, almost entirely closed by a membrane, which
reduces the opening to a narrow slit; the neckis short. The feathers
on the forehead, which are as soft as those of young birds, incline
partly over the nostrils.(1)
Pyrruocorax, Cuv.(2)
The compressed, arcuated, and sloped beak of the Thrushes; but
their nostrils are covered with feathers, asin the Crows, to which
they were for a long time united. There is one in a We about the
size of the Corv. monedula. f
Corvus pyrrhocoraz, ie Chocard des Alpes, En\. 5315 Vieill.
Galer. 106; Naum. 57,1. All black; the beak yellow; feet,
brown at first, then mg and red in the adult; builds in rocky
fissures of the highest mountains, whence, in the winter, it de-
scends into the valleys in large flocks. It feeds on insects, snails,
grain, and fruit, and does not despise carrion. %
There is another in India, .e.5 &
Pyrr. heranemus, Cuv.; the Sicrin, Vaill. Afr. pl. Ixxxii.
Distinguished by three barbless stalks as long as the body, which
grow oneach side among the feathers which cover the ear.
I can find no character sufficient to warrant removing from the
Thrushes 6
Orrouus, Lin.
Or the Orioles, whose beak, similar to that of the Thrushes, is
merely a little stronger; the feet a little shorter, and the wings a little
longer, in proportion. Linnzus, and most of his followers, impro-
perly united Cassici with them, to which they have no other resem-
blance than that of colours.
O. galbula, L.; Le loriot d’Europe, Enl. 26; Golden Thrush,
Yellow Thrush of the Germans, &c. Somewhat larger than the
Thrush. The male is of a fine yellow; wings, tail, and a spot
between the eye and the beak, black; tip of the tail yellow.
During its two first years, however, the yellow is replaced by
an olive, and the black by a brown, which is always the case
with the female. This bird suspends its skilfully wrought nest
to branches of trees, feeds on cherries and other fruits, and in
the spring on insects. It is very shy, remains in France but a
little time during the summer, and travels in pairs, or by threes.
i NR! A ew
(1) Manorhina viridis, Vieill. Gal. 149; ;—Merops albifrons, Shaw ?
(2) Vieill. has adopted this name and genus.
PASSERINE. 277
India produces some species tolerably similar to the prece-
ding,(1) but we must particularly distinguish from among that
number the Oriolus regens, Col. 320—Sericula regens, Less.
which is of the finest silky black, with beautiful orange yellow,
velvet feathers on the head and neck, and a large spot of the
same colour on the wing.(2)
Gymnops, Cuv.
The same strong beak as the Orioles; the nostrils round, without
scales or surrounding membrane; a great part of the head naked.(3)
Some of them have prominences on the beak.(4) In these the
tongue is pencillated as in Philedon.
Mzura, Shaw.
These Birds, whose size has induced some authors to refer them to
the Gallinacez, by the separation of their toes, (the first joint of the
external and middle ones excepted, ) evidently belong to the order of
the Passerinz, and approach the Thrushes in their beak, which is
triangular at base, elongated, slightly compressed, and emarginate
near the point. The membranous nostrils are large, and. partly
covered over by feathers, as inthe Jays. They are distinguished by
the great tail of the male, which is very remarkable for the three
sorts of feathers which compose it, viz. the twelve common ones
_ with very fine and widely separated barbs; two more in the middle
only one side of which is furnished with thickly set barbs, and two
external ones curved into the figure of an S, or like the arms of a
lyre, whose internal barbs, large and thickly set, form a kind of
broad riband, while those that are external are very short, becoming
(1) Oriolus chinensis, Enl. 570;—Or. melanocephalus, Enl. 79, or Loriot rieur,
Vaill. Afr. 263;—the Loriot d’or, Vaill., 260; Vieill. Gal. 83;—the Coudougnan,
Vaill., 2, 61;—the Oriolus xanthonotus, Horsf. Jav.
(2) M. Lesson (Voy. Duperr., pl. xx,) gives as its female, a Thrush-coloured
bird which differs considerably in its proportions.
(3) The Goulin gris (Gracula calva, Gm.), Enl. 200;—the Goulin vert (Mino Du-
montii, Less. ), Voy. de Duperr., pl. xxv;—the Goulin olive ( Gracula cyanotis, Lath. ;
Merops cyanotis, Shaw).
(4) The Corbicalao, Vaill., Ois. d’Am. et des Indes, pl. xxiv (Merops corniculatus,
Lath. and Shaw,) and a neighbouring species whose larger tubercle is directed
towards the front (Mer. monachus, Lath.). These two New-Holland birds are
neither Horn-bills nor Bee-eaters, for their external toes are not more united
than those of the most common Passerinz.
N.B. The Or. regens is the Melliphaga regia of Lewin and the Sericulus chryso-
cephalus of Swainson.
The Corbicalae forms the genus Trorrporayncavs of Swainson.
278 AVES.
longer only near the tip. The female has only twelve ordinary
quills.
This singular species, Menura lyra, Vieill. Ois. de Par. pl.
xiv, xv, and Gal. 192, Sh. Nat. Misc. 577, inhabits the rocky
districts of New Holland; its size is somewhat less than that
of the Pheasant. .
Moraci.ia, Lin.
The Warblers form an excessively numerous family, known by the
beak, which is straight, slender, and ‘similar to a bodkin. When
slightly depressed at base, it approaches that of the Flycatchers;
when compressed, and its point is curved a little, it leads to the:
straight beaked Shrikes. An endeavour has been made to divide
them as follows:
SAXICOLA, Bechst.(1) '
The beak a little depressed, and rather broad at base, which partic-
ularly allies these birds to the last small tribe of the Flycatchers.
They are lively, and stand tolerably high. The French species build
on the ground, or under it, and feed exclusively on insects. | 4 Les
Motacilla rubicola, L.; Le Traquet, Enl. 678; Naum. 90, 35;
5. A small brown bird, with a red breast, black throat, and
some white on the sides of the neck, on the wing, and.on the
rump. It is constantly flitting about the bushes, and i its weak
note resembles the tick-tack of a mill, whence its French. name.
Mot. rubetra; Le Tarier, Enl. 678; Naum. 89, 3, 4. Closely
resembles the preceding; but the black is on the cheek instead
of under the throat. It is somewhat larger, and keeps more on
the ground. France.
Mot. xanthe; Le Motteux, Enl. 554; Naum. 89,1, 2 (The
Wheat-Ear.) The rump, and the half of the lateral tail feathers,
white. The maleis ash coloured above, reddish-white beneath;
the wing, and a band over the eye, black. In the female, all is
brownish above, and reddish beneath. It is found in the ploughed
fields, where it feeds on the worms turned up with the furrow.
France.
We should distinguish from them,
Sazicola strapasina, T.; M. roux, Buff.; Naum. 90,1, 2. A
species from the south of Europe that sometimes visits France.
There is a bird in the south of France that should be placed
near this species, which is black, the rump, and the two supe-
rior thirds of the tail, white, and which has been referred to the
(1) Vieill. has changed this name to Motteux (J=nanTHE).
PASSERINE. 279
Thrushes. It is the Zurdus leucurus, Lath., Synops. II, pl.
383(1) or the Saaxicola cachinnans, Tem.
Sytvia, Wolf and Meyer.—Ficeputa, Bech.
The beak a very little narrower at base than in the preceding.
They are solitary birds, generally nestling in holes, and feeding on
insects, worms and berries. There are four species in France.
Mot. rubicola, L.; Rouge-gorge, Enl. 361, 13 Naum. 75, 1, 2.
(The Stonechat.) A brown grey above; throat and breast red;
belly white; builds near the ground in the woods, is prying and
familiar. Some of them remain during the winter, and seek
for refuge from the extreme cold in houses, where they soon
become tamed.
Mot. suecia, L.; Gorge-bleue, Enl. 361, 2; Naum. 75, 3, 4, 5.
Brown above, blue throat, red breast, white belly; rarer than
the preceding, nestles on the edge of woods and marshes.
Mot. phenicurus, 1.3 Rossignol de muraille, Enl. 3513 Naum.
79, 1, 2. Brown above; throat black; breast, rump, and lateral
quills of the tail, light reds; it nestles in old walls, and has a
soft song, with something of the modulations of the Nightingale.
Mot. erithacus, tytys, gibraltariensis, atrata, Gm.; Edw. 29;
Naum. 79, 3, 4. Differs from the preceding, and principally
in the breast, which, as well as the throat, is black. It is much
more uncommon.(2)
Curruca, Bechst.
A straight beak, slender throughout, slightly compressed before;
the upper mandible a little curved near the point. The most cele-
brated of this subgenus is
(1) Add to the saxicole, Mot. caprata, Enl. 235;—WM. fulicata, Enl. 185, 1;—M.
philippensis, Ib. 2;—the patre, Vaill. Afr. p. 180.
And to the wheat-ear, M. leucothoa, Enl. 583, 2;—the zmitateur, Vaill., Afr. 181,
Id.;—the familier, 1d. 183 ;—the montagnard, Id. 184;—the fourmillier, 186;—Mot.
leucomela, Falc. Voy. Ill, xxx, and Col. 257, 3. Add, Sazic. aurita, t., Col. 257,
1;—S. monacha, Col. 359, 1;—S. deserti, Ib. 2.
The Mot. cyanea, Gm., Lath., Syn. Il, pl. liii, has the beak of a Saxicola, and
only differs from it in having a rather longer tail. Vieill. Gal. 163, has placed it in
his genus Merron or Matunus, afterwards converted into a receptacle for all kinds
of birds with elongated and cuneiform tails, such as the Mérion bridé, Tem. Col.
385, which is a Thrush;—the M. natté and the M. leucoptére, Quoy and Gaym. Voy.
de Freycin. pl. 23, which approach the Coly; the flateur of Vaill. (AZ africana),
Afr. 112, which is closely allied to Synallaxis, &e.
(2) Add the Blue bird of Amer. Mot. sialis, Enl. 590; Mot. Calliope, Lath. Syn.
Supp. I, front. [See App. XVIT of Am. Ed.]
280 AVES.
Mot. luscinia, L.; Enl. 615, 2; Naum. 74, 2. (The Nightin-
gale.) A reddish brown above; whitish grey beneath; the tail
somewhat redder. Every one knows this songster of the night,
and the varied melody with which it fills the woods. It builds
on trees, and does not begin to sing until the young ones are
hatched. The male, then, as well as the female, is occupied in
providing them with food.
The eastern part of Europe produces a Mightuizatt, which
is a little larger, and whose breast is slightly variegated with
greyish tints. Mot. philomela, Bechst.; Naum. 74, 1.
The remaining species have the common name of Fauvettes; they
are, nearly all, good singers, lively and gay in their manners, con-
stantly flitting about in pursuit of insects, and building in bushes,
generally in the vicinity of water, among reeds, &c.
I place a species at the head of the list, which is so large that
it has been almost always classed with the Thrushes.(1) It is
Turdus arundinaceus, L.; Sylvia turdoides, Enl. 515; Naum.
81,1. Reddish brown above; yellowish beneath; throat white;
a pale streak over the eye; a little less than the Mavis, (Zurd.
iliacus, L.) and the beak almost as much arcuated. It nestles
among the reeds, and feeds almost exclusively on aquatic
insects.
Mot. arundinacea, Gm.; La Petite Rouserolle, Naum. 81, 2.
Similar to the preceding in habits and colour, but not so large
by a third.
Mot. salicaria, Gm.; La fauvette de Roseaux, Enl. 581, 2.
Still smaller than the last, and the beak proportionably shorter;
an olive grey above; very pale yellow beneath; a yellowish
streak between the eye and the beak. vt.
There are also several small Spotted Fauvettes, inhabiting
marshes, &c., which were long confounded under that general
name, (Mot. nevia, Gm.) and which are not yet satisfactorily
distinguished.(2)
(1) There are some intermediate Fauvettes between the Mot. arundinacea, Gm.
and the Turd. arundinaceus, L., and between the former and the Mot. salicaria,
Gm., so that, in my opinion, it is impossible to separate the latter from the Fau-
vettes, although [acknowledge the result is an almost insensible transition between
the Thrushes and the Motacillz, just as there is between the latter and the straight
beaked Shrikes, and between the Thrushes and the Shrikes with arcuated beaks.
All these genera are closely allied.
(2) See the S. phragmitis, Naum. 82, 1;—S. cariceti, Id. 2, 3 ;—S. aquatica, Id.
4 and 5;—S. fluviatilis, Id. 83, 1;—8S. locustella, 1d. 84, 2, 3. Compare them with
the S. locustella, Roux, 229;—S. Schenobenus, Id. 230;—S. paludicola, 1d. 231,—S.
cysticola, Id. 232 ; as well as the figures of Buff., Brisson, Bechstein, &c. There is
PASSERINE. 281
Of the above, we will merely notice the F :ysticole—F. cys-
ticola, Tem. Col. 6, 3, with a fawn coloure. tack, spotted with
black, a light fawn colour beneath; the tail cuneiform, each
feather of which has a black spot on its inferior surface. This
species is from the south of Europe, and makes its nest by
approximating the leaves of a tuft of grass or carex, which it
sews together with the filaments of various seeds.(1)
Among the species which prefer the higher grounds, we observe
first,
Mot. atricapilla, L.; Fauvette a téte noire, Enl. 580, 1 and 23
Naum. 77, 2, 33 Roux, 205, bis. Brown above; whitish beneath;
a black calotte on the male, a red one on the female.
Mot. orphea, Tem.; La Fawvette, Enl. 579, 13; Naum. 76, 3,
4; S. grisea, Roux, 213. One of the largest; ashy brown above,
whitish beneath; some white on the tip of the wing; two-thirds
of the external quills of the tail white, the succeeding one
marked with a spot at the end, and the rest with a selvage.
There have been distinguished within the last few years,
Sylvia nisoria, Bechst.; Fauvette rayée; Naum. 76, 1, 2, Roux,
222. Which has much less white on the tail, the abdomen of
the female being transversely undulated with srey; the largest
of the European species.
Mot. curruca, L.3 Brit. Zool. pl. v, No. 4; Frisch. 21; Naum.
77, 13 Roux, 216. (The White Throat.) Smaller than the
preceding ones, and the beak more slender, but the same white
ona great part of the first quill of the tail. The head is ash
coloured, back brownish.
Mot. sylvia, Gm.; S. cinerea; Fauvette roussdtre; Naum. 78,
1, 23 Riet-vink, Nosem. II, pl. 97; Enl. 579, 3; Roux, 220.
’ Reddish brown-grey above, white beneath; the white on the
tail as in the two preceding ones; the quills and coverts of the
wings edged with red.
Mot. salicaria, L.; Sylv. hortensis, Bechst.; La petite Fau-
vette, Naum. 78, 3; Nosem. 723 Enl. 579, 2; Roux, 221. Has
no genus which stands more in need of a monography and an approximation of the
synonymes of different authors, than this.
' Add to the aquatic Fauvettes of Europe, Sylv. galactodes, T. Col. 251, 1;—S.
luscinioides, Savi. Egypt. Ois. XIII, A;—S. ce/ti, Marmora or la Bouscarle, Enl. 6,
55, 2; Roux, 212;—S. melanopogon, Tem. Col. 245, 2.
(1) See Notizia sul nido del Beccamorchino (Sylvia cysticola, Tem.) by S- P. Savi.
Pisa, 1823.
~ Vow L—2L |
282 AVES.
no white on the tail, and is of a brownish grey, or olive above,
and of a yellowish white beneath.(1)
Bechstein has separated from the other Fauvette his Aduearen,
which is the Fauvette des Alpes, Buft.—Mot. alpina, Gm.; Enl. 668, or
the Pegot, Vieill. Gal. 156; Naum. 92, 13(2) because the edges of its
slender beak, which is more exactly conical than that of the other
Motacille, are slightly depressed.
It is a fulvous bird, with a white throat, sprinkled with black;
two rows of white spots on the wing; some bright red on the
flanks. It is found in the pastures of the upper Alps, where
it feeds on insects, and whence, in winter, it descends into the
villages in search of grain, &c.
I think I have observed the same beak in the Fawvette d’hiver.
Mot. modularis, L.; Traine-buisson, &c.3 Enl. 615, 13; Naum.
92, 3, 4.(8) The only species that remains in France during
the winter, and that in some measure relieves the dreariness of
the season by its delightful notes. It is of a fawn colour, spot-
ted with black above, and a slaty ash colour beneath. It builds
twice a year, and in the summer proceeds to the North, and
seeks the mountain forests. During the winter, or where insects
are not to be had, itis contented with grain.
The gizzard of these two birds is more fleshy than that of
the other Fauvettes.(4) We may add to them,
Acc. montanellus, Tem.; Naum. 92. A bird from ‘the south-
east of Europe.
We may also distinguish some long and cuneiform tailed
Motacillz, which have been left among the Fauvettes.(5)
(1) The descriptions of the Fauvettes are so yague, and the greater part of their
figures—those of Nauman excepted—are so bad, that it is almost impossible to de-
termine their species. Each author arranges them differently. Our descriptions,
therefore, may be confidently depended upon, but our synonymes not so much so;
we think, however, we agree with Mess. Nauman and Roux.
To the species abovementioned, must; be added: Sylv. ruscicola, Rot, 8.
passerina, Col. 24, 1;—S. sarda, Ib. 2;—S. Nattereri, Ib. 3;—S. subalpina, Bon-
~ nelli, or Lewcopogon, Meyer, Col. 6, 2. and 251, 2 and 3, Roux, 218. aR: Es
N.B. According to Sayi the S. passerina, Tem. Col. 29, 4, is the young male cf
the S. subalpina.—The Pitchou (S. ferruginea), Enl. 635, 1; Roux, 219. The small
species lead to Reevcus. Daa 4
(2) It is also the Sturnus montanus, and the S. colluris of Gmelin,
(3) I see this approximation has been adopted by Mess. Temm. and Neue ;
(A) Nitsch., ap. Naum., II, p. 959.
(5) Mot. fuscata, Gm. Enl. 584, 1;—Motacilla macroura, Gm. Enl. 752, 2; or the
Capolier, Vaill. 129, 130, 1;—Malurus galactodes, T., Col. 65, 1; Mal. marginalis,
T. Ib. 2;—Mal. clamans, Ruppel. pl. 2;—Mal. squamiceps, 1d. xii. —Mot. subflava,
Gm. Enl. 584, 2, probably the same as the Citrin, Vaill., Afr., 127;—the Double
PASSERINE. 283
Some of the species are very skilful in the construction of
their nests, with cotton or other filaments, which they arrange
with much art.(1)
Recutus, Cuy.
The beak slender, forming an extremely perfect and a very sharp
pointed cone; when viewed from above its sides even appear slightly
concave. They are small birds, which live among trees and pur-
sue Gnats. There is in France,
Mot. regulus, L.3; the Roitelet, Enl. 651,33; Naum. 93, 1, 2, 3.
The smallest of the European birds; an olive colour above, a
yellowish white beneath; head of the male marked with a beau-
tiful spot of a golden yellow, edged with black, the feathers of
which are erectile. It constructs on trees a globular nest, with
a lateral opening, suspends itself to the branches in every posi-
tion like a Parus, and keeps near our houses in winter.(2)
_A still smaller species has lately been observed, the yellow of
which inclines more to the orange, and which has a black streak
before and behind the eye.—Regulus a ED Naum. 93,
4, 5, 6.
Motac. trochilus, L.; Le Pouillot, Enl. 651, 1; Naum. 80, 3,
Somewhat larger than the roitelet, of the same colour, but
without the crown; its habits are similar, but it has a more
agreeable song, and it removes on the approach of winter.
Motac. hypolais; Le grand Pouillot; Bechst. Wl, xxiv; Enl.
581, 2; Naum. 81, 1. _ Is still a little larger, and the abdomen
more on a silver.(3)
mi. The species foreign to Europe are extremely numerous, and
are very often agreeably coloured. (4)
ae
<¥
sourcil, Id. 128. It is partly from this subdivision that Mess. Vieill. and Temm.
have taken their genus Merion or Malurus; I should not, however, like the former,
place in it the Mot. cyanea, Gm. which has the beak of a Saxicola.
N.B. The Malurus galactodes, Tem. has become the genus Mzeaturus of
Vigors and Horsfield.
' (1) Certain Fauvettes, such as the S. sarda, have a little circle round the eye.
They form the genus Zosrerors of Vigors and Horsfield.
(2) Add the Roitelet omnicolor, Vicill. Galer. 166.
(3) Add of European species: Mot. sibilatrix, Col. 245, 3; Naum. 80, 2;—M.
jitis, Naum. 80, 3;—M. rufa, Naum. 80, 4
(4) Such are the Tscheric, Vaill. 111,-121;—the Cow-jaune (Mot. pensilis), En}.
685, 5;—WMot. zxstiva, Enl. 58, 2;—the Mot. ludoviciana, Enl. 731, 2;—the Fig.
a@ poitrine jaune (Mot. mystacea), Enl. 709, 2, Edw. 237, 2;—the Fig. cendré du
Canada (M. Canadensis), Enl. 685, 2;—the Fig. de Disle de France (M. mauritiana,
y Enl. 705, 1;—the Plastron noir, Vaill. 111, 123;—Sylvia venusta, Tem. Col. 293,
284 AVES.
TroGLopytEs, Cuy.
The only difference between the Wrens and the present subgenus
is, that in the latter the beak is still a little more slender and slightly
arcuated. But one species is found in Europe.
Mot. troglodytes, L.; Roitelet, Enl. 651, 2; Naum. 83, 4. (The
European Wren.) Brown, transversely striated with black;
some white on the throat and the edge of the wing; a turned-up
and short tail. It builds on the ground, and cheers us with its
pleasing song eyen in the middle of winter.(1)
Moracitia, Bechst.
The Wagtails, to a still slenderer beak than that of the Fau-
vettes, add a long tail which they are continually raising and de-
pressing, lone legs, and scapular feathers sufficiently extended to
cover the tip of the folded wing, which gives them an affinity with
the greater number of Waders.
Moraciiia, Cuy.
The true Wagtails still have the nail of the thumb curved like
the rest ofthe group. They live along the shores of water courses.
That of France (Mot. alba and cinerea, L.), Enl. 652, is ash
~ coloured above, white beneath; a calotte on the occiput; throat
and breast, black. 2
The south of Europe produces one which when old has a
black back, but resembling the preceding when young. It is
the Mot. lugubris, Roux, 194.
Bupyres, Cuy.(2)
In addition to the other characters of the true Wagtails, the nail
of the thumb is here elongated and but slightly arcuated, which *
approximates these birds to the Larks. They generally remain in
, +
1;—S. speciosa, 1b. 2;—S. palpebrosa, Ib., &c. &c. Those whose beak is somewhat
broad at base, are closely allied to the narrow-beaked Flycatchers. For the cata-
logue of species in the United States, see the paper by M. Ch. Bonaparte. Ann.
New York Lyc. July 11, 1826, p. 76, etseq. See App. XVIII of Am. Ed.
(1) The Wrens foreign to Europe are allied to the Ant-catchers on the one
hand, and to the Creepers on the other. Add the Thriotore @ long bec (Thr. lon- é.
Sirostris, Vieill. Gal. 168, or Kampylorhynchus scolopaceus, Spix, 79). [Add
Trog. aedon. Wils. I, pl. iii, f. 3;—Trog. palustris (Thyothorus arundinaceus,
Vieill.), Wils. II, pl. xii, f. 4;—Trog. ludovicianus (Sylvia ludoviciana, wig )
Wils. UH, pl. xii, f. v. Am. Ed.} '
(2) Budytes, from its being seen among cattle, Ps ;
PASSERINE. 285
pastures, and pursue insects among the cattle. The most com-
mon is,
Mot. flava; Bergeronnette de printems; Enl., 674, 2. Ash-
coloured above, olive on the back, yellow beneath; the eyebrow
and two-thirds of the lateral quills of the tail, white.(1)
Antuus, Bechst.
The Meadow Larks were long united to the Larks (Alauda), on ac-
count of the long nail of their thumb; but their slender and emarginated
beak approximates them to the other Warblers, at the same time that
their secondary quills and coverts, which are as short as usual, will
not allow them to be confounded with Budytes. Those which still
have the nail somewhat arcuated are in the habit of perching.
A. arboreus, Bechst.; Alauda trivialis and minor, Gm.; the
Pipi; Enl. 660, 13(2) Naum. 84, 2, Roux. Olive-brown above,
reddish-grey beneath; breast spotted with black; two pale, trans-
verse bands on the wing.
The thumb nail of others is exactly that of an alauda, and they ge-
nerally remain on the ground.
A. pratensis, Bech. ; 4lauda pratensis, Gm.; Alouette depré, Enl.
661, 23(3) Naum. 84, 3 and 85, 1. Olive-brown above, whitish
beneath; brown spots on the breast and flanks; whitish eye-
brows; edges of the external quills of the tail, white. It prefers
low or inundated meadows, and builds among reeds and tufts
of grass. It becomes excessively fat in autumn by feeding on
grapes, and is sought for at that period in France by the name
of Bec-figue and Vinette.(4)
We will terminate this family of the Dentirostres with some
birds distinguished from all preceding ones by their two exter-
nal toes, which are united at base for about a third of their
length, a circumstance which approximates them to the family
of the Syndactyli.
(1) Add the Mot. boarula, L. Edw., 259, and Vieill. Gal. 162.
(2) Under the false name of Faurlowse; the Pivote ortolane, Buff. Enl. 642, 2 (Mo-
* tacilla maculata, Gm.), is the young bird. See Roux, 288.
(3) Improperly called Alouette pipi; Nauman refers this figure to his Anthus
aquaticus, of which he thinks it is the young male. We may observe that the
synonymes of this subgenus are not less obscure tian those of the Fauvettes.
(4) Add the Anthus aquaticus, Naum., 85, 2, 34;—La Rousseline, (Anth. Cam-
_ pestris), Enl. 661, 1; Naum., 84, 1; or Mauda mosellana, Lath. of which the young
is called Fist in Provence, Enl. 654, 1 (Motac. massiliensis, Gm.) See Roux, p.-
292 ;—the Anth. Richardi, Vieill. Id. 101, and Roux, 189, 190. Among those
foreign to Europe place the Alauda capensis, Enl. 504, 2;—.Al. rufa, Tb. 238, 13
pprobably the rubra, Edw., 297 ;—.Anthus rufulus, Vieill. Gal. 161.
me.
286 AVES.
Pipra, Lin.
The Manakins havea compressed beak, higher than it is broad, and
emarginated; large nasal fosse. Their feet and tail are short; the
general proportions of their form have long caused them to be
considered as very similar tothe Titmouse. At their head, butina
‘separate group, should be placed,
Rupico.a, Briss.
The Rock Manakins, or Cocks of the Rock, which are large birds,
and have a double vertical crest on the head, formed of feathers
arranged like a fan. The adult males of the two American species,
Pipra rupicola, Gm. Enl. 39 and 747; Vieill. Gal. 189, and Pip. pe-
ruviand, Lath. Enl. 745, are of a most splendid orange colour; the
young of an obscure brown. They live on fruit, scratch the ground
’ like the common Hen, and construct their nests with pieces of dry
wood, in the depths of rocky caverns. The female lays two eggs.
; CatyrromMeEnes, Horsf.
Only differs from the preceding by the feathers on the head not
being disposed like a fan; this same character, in a minor degree,
may be observed in the Pip. peruviana.
There is a species found in the archipelago of India of the
most beautiful emerald green—Cal. viridis, Horsf, Jay. which
is not larger than a Thrush.
Pripra, Cuy.
The Manakins proper. are small, and remarkable in general for
their lively colours.(1) They live in small flocks, in forests, on low
grounds. ” ‘
v
Euryxtaimus, Horsf.
Toes similar to those of the Manakins and the Rock Manakins; but
the beak, as strong as that of the Tyrants, is enormously broad and
depressed, the base even surpassing the width of the forehead. The
point is a little hooked, and slightly emarginate on each side; the
ridge is blunt.
(1) Pipra militaris, Sh. Nat. Misc., 849 ;—Pipra caudata, Sh. Nat. Misc., 153,
Spix, 6;—Pipra filicauda, Spix, 8;—Pipra pareola, Enl.j 637, 2, and 303, Q; _
superba, Pallas, Sp. I, pl. iii, f. 1;—erythrocephala, Enl. 34, 1 ;—aureola, 34, 3, and
302 ;—rubrocapilla, Col. 54, 3 or cornuta, Spix, 7, 2;—coronata, Sp. 7, 1, 2 ;—se-
rena, Enl. 324, 2, and Vieill. Gal. 72 ;—gutturalis, 324, 1 ; leucocapilla, 34, 2 ;—ma-
nacus, 302, 1 and 303, 1;—strigilata, Pr. Max. Col. 54, 1, 2. %,,
PASSERINA. 287
These birds inhabit the archipelago of India. The ground of
their plumage is black, variegated with patches of bright colours,
and they have something of the air of the Bucco, a genus of a very
different order. They live near water, and feed on insects.(1)_ Ste
App. XIX of Am. Ed.
FAMILY Il.
FISSIROSTRES.
The Fissirostres form a family, numerically small, but very
distinct from all others in the beak, which is short, broad, hor-
izontally flattened, slightly hooked, unemarginate, and with
an extended commissure, so that the opening of the mouth is
very large, which enables them to swallow with ease the in-
sects they capture while on the wing.
They are most nearly allied to the Flycatchers, and to the
Procniz in particular, whose beak only differs from theirs in
being emarginate.
Their decidedly insectivorous regimen eminently qualifies
them for birds of passage, which leave us in the winter.
They are separated, like the birds of prey, into two divi-
sions, the diurnal and the nocturnal. The genus’
Hirunpo, Linn.
Or the Swallow, comprehends the diurnal species, all of which are
remarkable for their dense plumage, extreme length of wing, and
velocity of flight. Among them we distinguish,
CypsELUs, Illiger.
Of all birds, these have the longest wings in proportion to their
size, and the greatest powers of flight. Their tail is forked; their
extremely short feet have this very peculiar character: the thumb is
directed forward almost as much as the other toes, and the middle
(1) Todus macrorhynchos, Gm., Lath., Syn. M1, pl. xxx and Col. 154, under the
name of Euryl. nasutus;—Euryl. javanus, Horsf., and Col. 130 and 131, under the
name of Euryl. Horsfieldii;—Eur. cucullatus, Tem. Col. 261; Eur. Blainvillii, Less.
and Garn. Voy. de la Coquille, pl. xix, f. 2. The character of the beak is excess-
ively developed in the Eur. corydon, Temm. Col. 297.
288 AVES.
and external ones consist each of three phalanges like the internal
one.
The shortness of their humerus, the breadth of its apophyses,
their oval fourchette, their sternum not emarginate beneath, all in-
dicate, even in the skeleton, their fitness for vigorous flight; but the
shortness of their feet, together with the length of their wings, pre-
vents them, when on the ground, from rising, and consequently they
pass their lives, if I may so express it, in the air, pursuing in flocks,
and with loud cries, their insect prey through the highest regions
of the atmosphere. They nestle in holes of walls, or fissures in
rocks, and climb along the smoothest surfaces with great rapidity.
The common species, Hirundo apus, L., Enl. 541, 1, is black,
with a white throat.
That from high mountains, Hirundo melba, L.; Edw. 27; Vaill.
Afr. 243; Vieill. Gal. 121, is larger, brown above, and white be-
neath, with a brown collar under the neck.(1) ©
Hirunpo, Cuv.
The Swallows proper have the toes and sternum disposed like
those of the Passerine generally. In some of them the feet are in-
vested with feathers down to the nails; the thumb still exhibits a
disposition to incline forward; the tail is forked, and of a moderate
size. ;
H. urbica, L.; Hirondelle de fenetre, Eni. 542, 2. The Mar-
tin.) Black above; underneath, and the rump, white. The
substantial nest it constructs of earth, at the angles of windows,
under eaves of houses, &c. is well known to every one.(2)
Others have naked toes, and the forks of the tail very often ex-
tremely long.
H. rustica, Enl. 543, 1. (The Chimney Swallow.) Black
above; forehead, eyebrows, and throat, red, all the remaining
under part white. The name is derived from its usual place of
residence.
H. riparia; Hirondelle de rivage; Enl. 453, 2. (The Sand
Martin.) Above, and the breast brown; the throat, and under-
neath, white. It lays in holes along the banks of rivers. That
(1) Add Hir. sinensis;—the Martinet a croupe blanche, Vaill. Afr. 244, 1?—
the Martinet velocifere, Id. Ib, 244, 2?—the Martinet a moustaches (Cyps. mysta-
ceus, Less. and Garn.), Voy. de la Coquille, No. 122;—the M. coiffé (C. comatus,
T.), Col. 268 ;—the M. longipenne (Hir. longipennis, T.), Col. 83, 1. [Add Cyps.
pelagicus, Wils. V, pl. xxxix, f.1.* Am. Ed.]
(2) Add Hirundo cayennensis, Enl. 725, 2 ;—Hir. ludoviciana, Nob. Enl. 725, 1,
and Catesby, 1, 51—Hir. montana;—the same as the rupestris.
PASSERINE. 289
it becomes torpid during the winter, and even passes that season
under water in the bottom of marshes, appears to be certain.
Among the Swallows foreign to Europe, we should remark,
Hir. esculenta, L. A very small species from the Archipelago
of India, with a forked tail; brown above; beneath, and the tip
of the tail, whitish; celebrated for its nest, composed of a
‘whitish gelatine, arranged in layers, and constructed with a
particular species of fucus which it previously grinds and ma-
cerates. The nutritious qualities attributed to these nests in
China, have rendered them an important article in the com-
merce of that country.(1)
There are some Swallows in which the tail is nearly square,(2)
and others where it is short, square, and the quills terminating in a
point.(3)
‘Caprimuteus, Lin.(4)
The Goatsuckers have the same light, soft plumage, shaded with
grey and brown, that characterizes the nocturnal birds. Their eyes
are large; the commissure of the beak extending still higher up than
that of the Swallow, and furnished with stiff mustachios, is capable
of engulphing the largest insects, which are retained there by a
glutinous saliva; the nostrils, formed like small tubes, are at its
‘base. Their wings are long; their feet, short, with feathered tarsi,
(1) Here come: Hir. americana, Wils., V, xxxviii, 1, 2, or rufa, Vieill., Am.
3;—another Hir. rufa, Enl. 724, 1;—Hir. fulva, Vieill. Am. 32 ;—Hir. fasciata,
Enl. 724, 2;—Hir. violacea, Enl. 722, or H. purpurea, Wils., V, xxxix, 1, 2;—
Hir. chalybexa, Enl. 454, 2;—Hir. senegalensis, Enl. 310 ;—Hir. capensis, Enl. 723,
2;—Hir. indica, Lath. Syn. Il, pl. lvi;—Hir. panayana, Sonner. Voy. I, pl.
Ixxxvi ;—AHir. subis, Edw., 120 ;—Hir. ambrosiaca, Briss., I, pl. Ixv, fig. 4 ;-—Hir.
tapera, Ib., fig. 3;—Hir. nigra, Id. pl. Ixvi, fig. 3 :—Hir. daurica ;—Hirondelle a
front roux, \Vaill. Afr.245, 2;—Hir. de marais, Id. Ib. 246, 2 ;—Hir. huppée, 1d. Ib.
247 ;—Cyps. senex, T. 397 ;—Hir. fucata, Tem., Col., 161, 1 ;—Hir. jugularis, Pr.
Max., Col., 209, 2;—Hir. javanica, Lath. Col. 83, 2 ;—Hir. melanolenca, Pr. Max.,
Col. 209, 2;—Hir. minuta, Pr. Max., Col. Ib., 1 ;—Hir. bicolor, Vieill. Am. 31, or
H. viridis, Wils., V, xxxviii, 3.
(2) Hir. dominicencis, Enl. 545, 1 ;—Hir. torquata, Enl. 723, 1 ;—Hir. leucoptera,
Enl. 546, 1 ;—Hir. francica, Enl. 544, 2 ;—Hir. borbonica ;—H. americana ;—Hir.
fauve, Vaill. Af. 246, 1.
(3) Hir. acuta, Enl. 544, 1;—Cypselus giganteus, Col. 364 ;—Hir. albicollis,
Vieill., Galer. 120, or Cyps. collaris, Pr. Max., Col. 195.
(4) Caprimulgus, Goatsucker, Egothelas, names which derive their origin from
the whimsical idea entertained by the vulgar, of their sucking Goats and even
Cows.
N.B. M. Vigors and Horsfield make a genus (Zcorurtes,) of the Caprimulgus
Nove-Hollandiz, Philip., Bot. B., 270.
Vor. L—2M
290 AVES.
and their toes united at base by ashort membrane. The thumb itself
is thus united to the internal toe, and can direct itself forwards; the
middle nail is often dentated on its inner edge, and the external
toe has but four phalanges, a conformation very rare among birds.
Goatsuckers live solitarily, and never venture abroad, except at twi-
light, and in the night during fine weather. They hunt Phalenz and
other nocturnal insects, and lay a small number of eggs on the bare
ground, without taking any pains in the construction of a nest. The
rushing of the air into their immense mouth, while on the wing, pro-
duces a very peculiar humming sound. There is but one species in
Europe, '
Capr. europzeus, L.3; Enl. 193. (European Goatsucker.) Size of
a Thrush; of an undulated greyish-brown, mottled with blackish
brown; a whitish band reaching from the beak to the neck. It
builds in the furze or long grass, and lays only two eggs.
America produces several of these birds with a round or
square tail, one of which is as large as an Owl, Caprim. grandis,
Enl. 325; and another, C. vociferus, Wils. V, xli, celebrated on
account of its loud and peculiar cries in the spring of the
year.(1) One of them is found in New Holland. A
There are some also in Africa,(2) part of which gate a
pointed tail,(3) and others a forked one, an additional indication
of the affinity between this genus and that of the Swallows.(4)
There is even one in America, the forks of whose tail are longer
than the body:(5) the middle nail of these fork-tailed species is
not dentated.
One species, likewise from Africa, but with a round tail, is
very remarkable for a feather twice the length of the body,
which arises from near the carpus of each wing, and is barbed
only near the end: the Caprim. longipennis, Shaw, Nat. Miscell.,
265. |
(1) Add, Capr. virginianus, Edw., 63, or americanus, Wils. Y. xl, 1, 2, which
appears to me at any rate very nearly allied to the guyanensis, Enl. 733; it has
been confounded with the vociferus ;—Capr. carolinensis, Catesb., 8, Wils. V, liv,
2, a species very closely allied to that of Europe ;—C. jamaicensis, Lath., Syn. I,
pl. lvii ;—C. rufus, Enl. 735 ;—C. semitorquatus, Enl. 734 ;—C. cayenensis, Enl.
760 ;—C. acutus, Enl. 752 ;—C. Nattereri, Col. 107 ;—C. diurnus, Pr. Max. Col.
182 ;—C. mystacalis, Tem. ;
(2) C. "infuscatus, Ruppel., pl. vi;—C. isabellinus, T. Col. 379 3—C. eximius,
Ruppel. Col. 398.
(3) C. climacurus, Vieill. Galer. 122.
(4) Capr. furcatus, Cuy. Vaill. Afr. 47 ;—C. pectoralis, 1d. Ib. 94.
(5) C. psalurus, Tem. Col. 117, 151.
PASSERIN®. 291
Poparcus, Cuv.
The form, colour, and habits of the Goatsuckers; but the beak is
stouter, and there are neither membranes between the toes, nor is
the middle nail dentated.(1)
P. Cuvieri; P. cendré; Vieill. Galer. 123. Variegated with
ash, whitish and blackish colours; size of a Rook.
P, javanensis, Horsf. Jav. Red, varied with brown; a white
band along the scapulars. :
P. cornutus, T., Col. 159. Red, varied with white; large
tufts of feathers at the ears.
FAMILY III.
CONIROSTRES.
The Conirostres comprehend genera with a strong beak,
more or less conical, and unemarginate; the stronger and
thicker their beak, the more exclusively is grain their food.
The first genus to be distinguished is,
AvaAupa, Lin.
The Larks are known by the nail of their thumb, which is straight,
strong, and much longer than the others.(2) They are granivorous
birds, and pulverators. They build on the ground, and generally
keep there.
The beak of the greatér number is straight, moderately stout and
pointed.
Al. arvensis ; Alouette des champs, Enl. 368, 1; Naum. 100,
1. (The Sky Lark.) Universally known by its perpendicular
mode of soaring, accompanied by its varied and powerful song.
It is brown above; whitish underneath; spotted throughout,
with a deeper shade of brown; the two external quills of the
tail white outside.
Al. cristata; Le Cochevis, Enl. 503, 1; Naum. 99, 1. (The
Crested Lark.) Nearly the same size and plumage; but it has
the power of erecting the feathers on the head into a tuft; not
(1) M. Vigors considers this subgenus as connecting Caprimulgus with Ulula.
(2) This character is more or less marked in Bupyres, Anaupa, ANTuUS, and
in the Emberiza nivalis.
292 AVES.
so common as the preceding, and frequents the vicinity of
villages, &c.
Al. arborea; Al. nemorosa; Cujeliers Enl. 503, 2; Naum. 100,
2. (The Woodlark.) A small, but not so strongly marked
tuft; it is smaller, and is otherwise distinguished by a whitish
streak round the head, and a white line on the little coverts;
prefers the heaths in the interior of the forests.(1) We some-
times see in Europe,
Al. alpestris, Al. flava, and Al. sibirica, Gm.; Alouette a hausse-
col noir, Enl. 652, 2; Naum. 99, 2, 3; Wils. I, v, 4. From Si-
beria and North America; forehead, cheeks, and throat yellow,
with black streaks; a large, black, transverse spot on top of the
breast; a small pointed tuft behind each ear of the male.
Some of them have so stout a beak, that, with respect to it, we
might approximate them to the Sparrows. Such are
Al. calandra; La Calandre; Enl. 363, 2; Naum. 98, 1. The
largest of the European species; brown above; white beneath;
a.large blackish spot on the breast of the male. From the south
of Europe, and the deserts of Asia. ,
Al. tartarica, and mutabilis, and Tanagra sibirica, Gm.—
Alouetie de Tartarie; Sparm. Mus. Carls. pl. xix; Vieill. Galer.
106. The plumage of the adult black, undulated above with
grey. It occasionally wanders into Europe.(2) ~~ by
In others, the beak is elongated, slightly compressed, and arcuated,
which connects them with Upupa and ae Such is ©
Al. africana, Gm.; Le Sirli; Enl. 712; Vieill. Galer, 159.
Common in all the sandy plains pear sie its plumage scarcely
differs from that of the Arvensis.(3)
Parus, Lin.
The Titmouse has a slender, short, conical and straight beak, fur-
nished with little hairs at the base, and the nostrils concealed among
the feathers. It is a genus of very active little birds, which are
continually flitting and climbing from branch to branch, suspending
a
(1) Add, of European species, the Girole (.41. italica) ;—the Coquillade (.Al. un-
data), Enl. 662; 41. brachydactyla, Naum. 98, 2. Species foreign to Europe, the
Bateleuse, Vaill. Afr. 194;—the Dos roux, Id. 197:—the Calotte rousse, Id., 198.
N.B. The .4/. magna, Catesb., I, 33, is the Sturnus ludovicianus.
(2) Add, the T’racal, Vaill. Afr. pl. exci ;—the .4. gros bec, Id., pl., exciii.
(3) Add, 4. bifasciata, Rupp., pl., 5; Col., 395.
N.B. Swainson separates from Atsaupa the Bateleur of Vaill. pl. 194, under the
name of Bracnonyx; his Sentinelle, 195, under that of Macronyx ; and of my di-
vision with long beaks he makes his Cerrariaupa.
PASSERINE. 293
themselves therefrom in all sorts of positions, rending apart the
seeds on which they feed, devouring insects wherever they see them,
and not sparing even small birds when they happen to find them sick,
and are able to put anend to them. They lay up stores of seeds,
build in the holes of old trees, and lay more eggs than any of the
Passerine. There are six species of Parus, properly so called, in
France.
P. major, L.; La Charbonniere; Enl. 3,13; Naum. 94, 1. (The
Great Titmouse.) An olive colour above; yellow beneath; the
head, as well as a longitudinal band on the breast, black; a
white triangle on each cheek. Very common in gardens, &c.
P. ater, L.3; La petite charbonniere; Frisch, I, pl. xiii, 23
Naum. 94, 2. Smaller than the preceding; an ash colour in
place of the olive, and whitish instead of the yellow. Prefers
the great pine forests.
P. palustris, L.; La Nonnette; Enl. 3, 3; Naum. 94, 4. (The
Marsh Titmouse.) Ash coloured’ above; whitish beneath; a
black calotte.
P. ceruleus, L.; La M. a téte bleue; Enl. 3, 2; Naum. 95, 1,
2. (The Blue-Headed Titmouse.) Olive above; yellowish be-
neath; top of the head a fine blue; the cheek white, surrounded
with black; forehead white. A pretty little bird, very common
in the underwood.
P. cristatus, L.; Le M. huppé, Enl. 502, 2. (The Crested
Titmouse.) Brownish above; whitish beneath; throat and cir-
cumference of the cheek, black; a little tuft mottled with black
» .. and white.
P. caudatus, L.; Le M. a longue queue, Enl. 502, 3; Naum.
95,4, 5, 6. (The Long-tailed Titmouse.) Black above; wing-
coverts, brown; upper part of the head and all beneath, white;
tail longer than the body. It builds its nest on the limbs of
small trees, and roofs it over.(1) The
(1) Several species of the European Titmouse are also represented in the work
of M. Roux, pl. cxvii—cxxiv. Add, Parus bicolor (Catesb. I, 57);—P. cyanus
(Noy. Comm. Petrop., xiv, pl. xiii, fig. 1, and 23, fig. 2) and P. sxlbyensis (Sparm.
M. Carls., pl. xxv) which appear to Bechstein to be the two sexes of one same spe-
cies. Vieill- Gal. 68; Naum. 95, 6 ;—P. atricapillus (Briss. iti, pl. xxix, fig. 1) ;—
P. sibiricus, (Enl. 708, fig. 3) and P. palustris, B. (Enl. 502, 1) which are three
varieties, or very closely allied species ;—P. atriceps, Horsf.; Col. 287, 2.
The Parus malabaricus (Sonner. Voy. Il, pl. cx, 1) and the coccineus (Sparm.
Mus. Carls., 48, 49), P. furcatus, Col. 287, 1, are Saxicole or Flycatchers, neigh-
bours to the Oranor, Vaill., the Mot. ruticilla, L., and the T'urdus speciosus, Lath.
It may be observed, that in every instance where the characters of a bird are not
well defined, it has been bandied about from one genus to another.
294
AVES.
BEARDED TiITMOUSE
Differs from the true ones in the upper mandible of the beak,
the end of which is slightly bent upon the other. There is but one
in France.
Par. biarmicus, L.; La Moustache; Enl. 618, 1 and 23 Vieill.
69; Naum. 96. (The Bearded Titmouse.) , Fawn coloured;
head of the male cinereous, with a black band which surrounds
the eye, terminating in a point behind. It builds among rushes,
and is found, though rarely, throughout the whole of the eastern
continent.
Remiz.
The beak more slender and pointed than that of the common
Titmouse, and there is generally more art displayed in the construc-
tion
The
and
into
of its nest. There is but one found in France.
Par. pendulinuss Le Remiz; Enl. 618, 3; Vieill. 70; Naum.
79. Cinereous; wings and tail brown; a black band on the fore-
head, which, in the male, is continued to behind the eyes.
This little bird, inhabiting the south and east of Europe, is
celebrated for the pretty, purse-shaped nest, formed of the
down from the poplar and willow, and lined with feathers,
which it suspends to the flexile branches of aquatic trees.(1)
Emperiza, Lin.
Buntings have a very distinct character in their conical, short
straight beak, the upper mandible of which is narrow, sinks
the lower, and has a projecting, hard tubercle on the palate.
They are granivorous, and unsuspicious birds, which run into every
snare that is laid for them.
E. citrinella, L.; Bruant commun; Enl. 30, 13 Naum. 102, 1,
2. (The Yellow Bunting.) Fawn coloured back, spotted with
black; head and all the under part of the body yellow; the
inner edge of the two external quills of the tail, white. It
builds in hedges, and approaches our dwellings in winter, in
numberless flocks, along with the Finches, &c.
E. cia, L.; Bruant fous; Enl. 30, 2; Naum. 104, 1,2. (The
Foolish Bunting.) Differs from the preceding, in being reddish-
(1) Parus narbonensis (Enl. 708, 1) appears to be the female of the pendulinus;
add,
the Parus capensis, (Sonner. Voy. Ul, pl. cxii,) whose nest, made of cotton
and shaped like a bottle, has a kind of spout on the edge of the neck, for the male
to perch on.
PASSERINE. 295
grey beneath, and having the sides of the head whitish, sur-:
rounded by black lines, forming a triangle. From mountainous
districts.(1)
EF. cirlus, L.; Bruant des hates; Enl. 653; Naum. 102, 3, 4.
(The Hedge Bunting.) Throat black; sides of the head yel-
low. Builds in the underwood on the borders of fields.(2)
E. scheniclus, L.; B. de roseaux; Enl. 247, 2; Naum. 105.
(The Reed Bunting.) A black calotte on the head; spots of the
same colour on the breast; back, red. Builds at the foot of a
bush on the brink of a stream, &c.(3) The largest species in
France is, .
EL. miliaria, L.; Le Proyer; Enl. 233; Naum. 101, 1. (The
Common Bunting.) Brownish-grey, every where spotted with
a deeper brown. Builds in grass, among grain, &c. The most
celebrated for the flavour of its flesh is,
LE. hortulana, L.; Enl. 247, 1; Naum. 103. (The Ortolan.)
The back, olive-brown; throat yellowish; the inner side of the
two external feathers of the tail, white. Builds in hedges; is
very fat and common in autumn.(4)
E.. melanocephala, Scop.; Naum. 101, 23 Fring. crocea, Vieill.,
Ois. Tab. 27. (The Black-headed Bunting.) Fawn-colour above;
yellow underneath; black head. Is sometimes seen in the south
of Europe. Also,
(1) The Emb. lotharingica, Enl. 511, 1, is the same.
(2) The Emb. passerina is also referred to it; and perhaps the E’mb. provincialis,
Enl. 656, 1, and lesbia, Ib. 2, are only accidental varieties of the same. See Roux,
p. 176 and 178.
(3) M. Wolf thinks that the Emb. chlorocephala, and the Emb. badensis, should
be united with it. :
(4) The Emb. melbensis, Sparm. Mus. Carls., 1, 21, is merely a young Ortolan.
Notwithstanding all the synonymes we have pointed out, we are still compelled
to remove from this genus the mb. brwmalis, which is the same bird as the Fringill.
citrinella, Enl. 658, 2 ;—E. rubra, the same as Fring. erythrocephala, Enl. 665, 1,
2 ;—all the widows, as I shall hereafter remark ;—Zmb. quadricolor, Enl. 101, 2 ;—
Emb. cyanopis, Briss. Ii, pl. viii, fig. 4 ;—Emb. caerulea, Jd. Ib. xiv, 2, the same as
cyanella, Sparm. Carls. Il, 42, 43, which are three cross-beaks ;—Emb. quelea, Enl,
223, 1;—Emb. capensis, Enl. 158 and 564 ;—Emb. borbonica, Enl. 321, 2 ;—Emb.
brasiliensis, Ib. 1, which are four Finches ;—Zmb. ciris, Enl. 158, which is a Lin-
net ;—and, finally, Zmb. oryzivora, Enl. 388, which has the beak of a Linnet, inde-
pendently of the species I have not been able to examine. But we must certainly
place in the genus Emberiza, the Emb. gubernator, T., Col. 63, the same as the
Emb. cristatella, Vieill. Gal. 67 ;—Emb. striolata, Ruppel. Av., pl. 10, a ;—E£mb.
cxsid, 1d. Ib., 6;—The Tunagra cristatella, graminea, ruficollis, Spix, 53, are also
Buntings.
The Empzrrzornes, Tem., Col. 114, appear to be long and taper-tailed (etagé)
buntings whose beak approaches somewhat to that of the Finches.
296 AVES.
E. pithyornis, Pall.; Naum. 104, 3. (The Pine Bunting.) The
throat, and a streak on the side of the head, red chesnut colour.
M. Meyer distinguishes those buntings which have the nail of the
thumb elongated like that of the Lark, by the name of Precrro-
PHANES. Such is
Emb. nivalis, L.; Bruant de neige; Enl. 511; Naum. 106 and
107. (The Snow Bunting.) Known by a broad, longitudinal,
white band on the wing. A northern bird, which becomes nearly
all white in winter.(1) To this we should add,
Fring. laponica, Gm. or calearata, Pall. Fr. Tr. III, pl. 1, 15
Grand Montain of Buff.; Naum. 108. (The Lapland Bunting.)
Spotted with black, on a fawn coloured ground, the throat and
upper part of the breast of the male, black. Inhabits the same
countries as the preceding, is sometimes, but rarely, seen in
France during the winter.
FrineiLua, Lin.
The Sparrows have a conical beak, more or less thick at base; but
its commissure is not angular. They feed generally on grain, and
are for the most part voracious and noxious. We subdivide them
as follows: | .
aay ot 4
Pioceus, Cuv.(2)
The Weavers are provided with such,a large beak, that they have
been partly classed with the Cassici; its straight commissure dis-
tinguishes them from the latter. The upper mandible is moreover
slightly convex. They are found in both worlds, and-most of those
in the eastern continent are very skilful in the construction of their
nest, which they form of intertwined blades of grass, from which
circumstance they receive theirname. Such is
Loxia philippina, L.3 Toucnam-Courvi des Philippines; Enl.
135. Yellow, spotted with brown; black throat. Its nest, which
is a suspended sphere, is pierced by a vertical canal, opening
underneath, which communicates with a cavity on the side in
which the young ones are lodged.(3)
(1) The Emb. montana, and the Emb. mustelina, are merely different states of
the Snow Bunting.
(2) Tlacxevs, Weaver,—Vieill. has adopted this name and genus, pl. Ixxxiv.
N.B. The Emzenizorpes of Temm. have become the Tarpriyora of Swainson,
and the Emb. oryzivora forms the genus Doricnonrx of the same naturalist.
(3) Add, the Capmore, Buff. (Oriolus textor, Gm.), Enl. 375 and 376 ;—Fringilla
erythrocephala, Eni. 665; Vieill., Ois. ch., 28 ;—the pretended Tangara de malimbe,
PASSERINE. 297
Some of them form a single mass of a great number of individual
nests, which contains several distinct apartments. Such is
Loxia socia, Lath.; Paters. Voy. pl. xix. (The Republican.)
An olive brown; yellowish beneath; head ae quills brown or
blackish.
Among those of the western continent, we may remark,
Oriolus niger, Or. oryzivorus, Corvus surinamensis, Gm.; Mau-
geur de riz; Cassique noir, &c.3; Enl. 534; Brown, Il. X; Wils. III,
XXi, 4, which, in immense flocks, devastates the fields of seve-
ral of the warmer portions of America. Its colour is a changea-
ble black, reflecting all the magnificent tints of burnished steel. (1)
Daud. An. Mus. I, p. 148, pl. x, or Malimbe huppé, Vieill. Ois. ch. 42 and 43 ;—
the Malimbe orangé, 1d. 44 ;—Malimbe a gorge noir, 1d. 45 ;—the Tiss. 4 front dor,
(Ploc. aurifrons, Tem., Col. 175, 176);—the Baglafecht (Lox. abyssinica);—the
Neélicourvi (Lox. pensilis), Sonn. Voy. Il, pl. cix;—the Worabee (Fring. abyssinica,
Gm.), Vieill. Ois. 28;—Fring. erythrocephala, Gm., Vieill. Ib., 28. We might dis-
‘tinguish the Ploc. alecto, Tem. Col., 446, which has an inflation at the base of the
beak. ;
(1) Nomenclators have not yet succeeded in putting in order the black birds
of America more or less nearly allied to the Cassici, for the want of sufficiently
detailed descriptions. We think it right to indicate the principal ones here, and
at the same time to point out such of their synonymes as appear to be the most
clearly ascertained.
1. The Cassique noir 4 mantelet, as above.
’ 9. The bird’ mentionéd above, well drawn, but painted without its reflected
tints, Enl. 534, and quoted under Oriolus niger. The Oriolus ludovicianus, Enl.
646, is only an albino variety of the same. It is evidently the Corvus surinamensis,
ra Ill, pl. x.. The Little Choucas of Jamaica, Sloane, Jam. I, 299, pl. cclvii,
1, quoted by Pennant as Gracula barita and as quiscala, is this same bird again.
On the other hand, it is impossible to doubt that Latham had it before him when
me described his Oriolus Oryzivorus.
3. The true Carouge noir, with purple changes, beak rather short, but very
stele given as a Tanager, Enl. 710, and from which the Tun. bonariensis has
been made; but this figure really represents the Oriolus minor. The fig. 2, Enl.
606, is given, but erroneously, for the female, which has a very different appear-
ance.
4. A true Icterus of a deep black wich violet reflections, sharp-pointed and some-*
what arcuated beak, whose tail is hollowed out like a boat. It is the Boat-tailed
Grakle of Penn. and Latham, which both those gentlemen consider as synonymous
with the Graculu barita, and yet it. certainly is the bird of Catesb. pl. 12, of which
Lin. made his. Gracula quiscala; but Catesby has given a bad drawing of the beak.
_5, A black bird with violet and green reflections, somewhat cuneiform, (etagée),
tail, and the beak of an Icterus, but more arcuated near the point, &c.
_N,B. The bird quoted from Wils., II, xxi, 4, is nota Ploceus., It is the Quis-
calus versicolor, Bonap-, or the Gracula quiscala, L. Am. Ed.
feo. Vor. L 2 N af ia
3
298 : . AVES. _
‘7 » Pynerra, Cuy.(1)
In the Sparrows proper the beak is shorter than in the preceding
birds, conical, and merely a little conyex near the point.
Fringilla domestica, Enl. 6, 13; Naum. 115. (The Common
Sparrow.) Builds in holes of walls, and infests inhabited places.
by its audacity and voracity. Brown, spotted with black above,
grey underneath; a whitish band on the wing; sides of the calotte
red in the male; his throat black.
There is a species, or a variety, in Italy, of which the male’s
head is entirely chesnut colour—/Y. cisalpina, Tem.; Fr. Jtaliz,
Vieill. Galer. 68. The black on the throat sometimes extends
to the breastsit is then the Fr. hispaniolensis.
Fr. montana; Le Friquet; Enl. 267, 1; Naum. 116, 1,2. The
Mountain Linnet remains further from our habitations. It has
two white bands on the wing, a red calotte and the side of the
head white with a black spot.(2) © i
, ny ,
F'RINGILLA, Cuv.
The beak of the Finches is somewhat less arcuated than that of tse
Sparrows, a little stronger and longer than in the Linnets. "Their
manners are more lively, and their song more varied than | those of
the former. There are three species in France. "elie
Fring. celebs, L.; Pincon ordinaire; Enl. 54, 1 ; Naum. 118.
(The Chaffinch.) Brown above; beneath, a vinous-red in the
"male, greyish in the female; two white bands on the wings some
white on the sides of the tail. Feeds on all sorts of pratt and
builds indiscriminately on all kinds of trees.
Fring. montifringilla, L.; Pincon de montagne; Enl. 54) 2y
Naum. 119. (The Mout tis Finch.) Black, mottled with fawn
colour above; fawn coloured breast; under part of the wing of
a beautiful lemon. This bird, which varies greatly, builds in the
thickest forests, and never visits the plains till winter.
Pring. nivalis, L.; Niverolle; Briss. III, xv, 1; Naum. 117. |
“() Pyrgita, the Greek name for the Domestic Finch. .
(2) The Hambouwreux, Buff. (Loxia hamburgia, Gm.) is merely the Friquet, dis-
figured by Albin., Ois. III, pl. 24.
We should add to the ordinary Sparrows, the birds that have been scattered
about by naturalists as follows, viz. Fringilla arcuata, Enl. 230, fig. 1, where it is —
much too red; its true tints are those of the Sparrows;—F’r. crucigera, Tem. 269;—
Emberiza capensis, c, Eni. 389, 2 and g, Enl. 664, 2;—Tanagra silens, Enl. om
of which Vieill. has made his genus ARREMON, Gal. 78;—F ring. elegans, Enl. 205,
1, Vieill. Gal. 64;e-Le pape, Emberiza iris, Enl. 159, which forms the genus Pas-
sEninA, Vicill., Gal. 66;—Lowia oryx, Enl. 6, 2;—Loz. ignicolor, Vieill. Ois. Chant.;
59;—Loxia dohanoste, Enl. 55, 2, and the other species, Enl. 103;—Fringilla
aba
PASSERINA. 299
(The Snow Finch.) Brown, mottled with a paler tint of the
same colour above; whitish beneath; head, ash coloured; co-
verts of the wings, and nearly all the secondary quills, white.
The throat of the male, black. From the ro@ks of the upper
Alps, where it only descends in the middle of winter to the lower
mountains. [ See App. XX of dm. Ed. |
CarpDuE.is, Cuy.
The Linnets and Goldfinches have an exactly conical beak without
the least convex protuberance at any point. They live on grain.
Those which have a little longer and more pointed beak are styled
GoLDFINCHES.
Fring. carduelis, L.; Enl. 4; Naum. 124, 1, 2. (The Common
Goldfinch.) One of the prettiest birds in Europe. Brown
above, whitish beneath; the mask of a beautiful red; a fine yellow
spot on the cheek, &c. It is also very docile, quickly learns to
sing and to play all kinds of tricks.(1)
Ry
Linartia, Bechst.
The Linnets also have an exactly conical beak, but it is shorter and
‘more obtuse than in the Goldfinches. ‘They feed on seeds of plants;
those of flax and hemp in particular.
¥ There are some species in Europe, brown, tinted with red, which
are more peculiarly styled Linnets. The quantity of red in the young
‘birds and females is very various, and sometimes is totally wanting.
The beak of the first is almost as pointed as that of the Goldfinch.
Jeise .
Fy. linaria, L.; Le Sisserins Enl. 485, 2; Vieill. Gal. 65; Naum.
126. (The Redpoll.) Brown, spotted with black above; two
‘white bands across the wing; black throat; top of the head as
* .* well as the breast of the adult male, red; the rump is sometimes
of the same colour. A northern bird, of which it is supposed
two races have lately been detected, a large and a small one.(2)
Fr. cannabina, L., Enl. 485, 1; Naum. 121. (The Linnet.)
Back, fawn coloured brown; quills of the wing and tail, black
cristata, Enl. 181;—the Dioch (Emb. quelea) Vieill. Ois. Chant. 23;—the Dioch
rose, 1d., 24;—Lox. capensis.. The latter begins to approach the Grosbeaks,
To these should be added, Pyr. orythrophthalma, Wils. U, pl. x, f. 5;—P. tliaca,
Wils. I, p. xxii, f. xiv. Am. Ed.
(1) Add, Fr. psittacea, Lath., Syn. U, p. 48;—Fr. melba, Edw., 128 and 272;—
F;. coccinea, Vieill. Ois. ch. pl. xxxi;—Fr. lewcocephala, Lath. Id. 26;—F*. tec
lanica, Id. 30.
(2) See the Mem. de M. Vieillot, nea de Turin, tom. xxiii, p. 193, et aed:
300 AVES.
edged with white; whitish underneath; a fine red on the head
and breast of the old male; beak, grey. Builds among the
vines, bushes, &c.
An intergediate species, most nearly auiea however to the
second, Fring. montium, Gm., Naum. 122, is occasionally seen
‘from the North. Its beak is yellow, and there is some red on the
rump of the male.
There are other species, more or less: greenish, which are called
by the French Serins or Tarins. The
Fring. spinus, L.3 Tarin commun; Enl. 485, 3; Naum. 125.
(The Siskin.) Also has a beak more like that of the Goldfinch,
and is even similar in many points to the Redpoll. It is of an
olive colour above; yellow beneath; calotte, wings and tail, black;
two yellow bands on the wing. It builds on the very summits of
the tallest pines.
The other species have the shorter beak of the Linnet.
Fring, citrinella, L.; Le Venturon; Enl. 658, 2; Vieill. Gal. 625
Naum. 124, 3, 4. Olive above; yellowish beneath; back of the
head and neck ash coloured.
Fring. serinus, L.; Le Cini; Enl. 658, 13 Naum. 123. ‘Olive
above; yellowish beneath; spotted with brown; a yellow band
the wing. Two birds from the mountains of the south of Eure
about the size of the Fr. spinus. © . be ,
Fring. canaria, L. En]. 202, 1. (The Canary Bird. Dreskks larger,
and the facility with which it breeds, in a state of confinement, 7
together with its melodious and powerful song, shave dissemi,
nated it every where, and caused it to vary so much in colour, '
that it is difficult to ascertain its original hue, It mixes with
most of the other species of this genus.(1)
‘ ; ’
(1) Among the birds foreign to. Europe, which cannot be distinguished from the
Linnets by any generic character, we place, Fring. lepida;—F'r. tristis, Enl. 202,
2;—Fr. ictera, Enl. 364;—Fr. nitens, Enl. 224;—F. senegalla, Vaill. Ois. ch. pl.
ix;—F. amandava, Eni. 115, 2 and 3;—F. granatina, Enl. 109, 3;—F: bengalus;—
F. angolensis, Enl. 115, 1;—Carduelis cucullata, Swains. Zool. Ill. There are other
species also, called astrils, bengalis and senegallis, in the work of Vieillot, entitled
Ois. chant. de la zone torride, such as the Fr. bicolor, pl. ix;—Fr. tricolor, pl. xx;—
cinerea, 6;—cxrulescens, 8;—melpoda, 7;—viridis, 4 3—erythronotos, 14 ;—quinticolor, ses
15;—rubriventris, 13;—frontalis or Loz. frontalis, L. 16;—F. guttata, 3;—ad "i
Fring. melanotis, Temm. Col. 151, 1;—Fr. sanguinolenta, Ib. 2;—Fr. polyzona, ¥ ,.
3;—Fr. otoleucus, Tem. Col. 269, 2, 3;--#'r. simplex, Lichtenst. Col. ee —
lutea, Col. 365;—Fr. ornata, Pr. Max. Col. 208. The pretended Emberiza oryzt
vora, Enl. 388, has also the same beak; but the stiff and pointed quills of the ‘ail
distinguish it.
See also the numerous Finches described | by M. Ch. Bonaparte, Ann. of New
York Lyc. Il, December 1826, p. 106, et seq. [See App. XXT of Am. Ed.)
PASSERINE. 301
Vinva, Cuv.(1)
The Widows, as they are termed, are birds of Africa and India,
which have the beak of a Linnet, sometimes slightly inflated at the
base, and distinguished by having some of the quills of the tail, or
of its upper coverts, excessively elongated in the males.(2)
There is a gradual transition, and without any assignable interval,
from the Linnets to, (3)
*
CoccoTuraustEs, Cuv. .
Or the Grosbeaks, whose exactly conical beak is only distinguished
by its excessive size.
Loxia coccothraustes, L., Enl. 99 and 1003 Naum. 114. | (The
Common Grosbeak.) Is one of those that are most truly worthy
of the name. Its enormous beak is yellowish; back and calotte
brown; rest of the plumage greyish; throat and quills of the
wings, black; a white band on the wings. It inhabits the moun-
(1) It is not easy to see why Linnzus and Gmelin arranged:them with the Bunt-
ings, by the names of Emberiza regia, (Enl. 8, 1);—Emb. serena, (Ib-, 2);—Hmb.
paradisea (Enl. 194);—Emb. panayensis (Enl. 647);—Emb. longicauda (Enl. 635).
Add, Fringilla superciliosa, Vieill. Gal. 61. If we do not leave the Widows with
the Linnets, there is no other place for them except among the Grosbeaks.
+(2), In the Veuve a. épaulettes (V. longicauda) the coverts only are elongated; in
_the others, it is the quills. N.B. The Emb. principalis, (Edw. 270) and the Emb.
vidua (Aldrow. Orni. II, 565) appear to me to be the same bird in different states
of plumage. The Emb. psittacea, Seb. I, pl. Ixvi, fig. 5, is not very authentic, The
angolensis, Salern. Orni. 277; the Veuve chrysoptéere, Vieill. Ois. ch. pl. xli, andthe
Lox. macrourd, Enl. 283, 1, which, perhaps, do not differ from it, are not Widows, ,
but common Grosbeaks.
Lin.) 101, 2, the same as the Gros bec longicone, Tem. Col. ;-—L. sanguinirostris,
Enl. 183, 2;—Z. molucca, Enl. 139,' 2;—L. variegata, Vieill. 51;—L. punctulata,
Ib. 1;—L. maja, Enl. 109, 1;—L. striata, Enl. 153, 1;—L. nitida, Vieill. 50;—L.
malacca, Enl. 139, 3;—L. astrild., Enl. 157, 2;—L. bella, Vieill. 55:—L. constans,
Id. 57;—L. oryzivora, Enl. 152, 1;—L. fuscata, Vieill. pl. Ixii;—L. atricapilla,1d.,
53;—L. nigra, Catesb. 1, 68; Viéill. Gal. 57;—Z. brasiliana, Enl. 309, 1;—L. pe-
‘ tronia (Fring. petronia, L.) Enl. 255;—L. chloris, Enl. 267, 2;—L. hematina,
Vieill. pl. xvii, where the beak is too slender; LZ. guituta, Id. 68, is a variety of
the same;—Z. quinticolor, Id. 54;——L. fasciata, Brown, Ill., xxvii;—L. madugas-
| cariensis, Enl. 143, 2;—L. cerulea;—L. cardinalis, Enl. 37;—L. melanura; —L.
Be islee, Enl. 89 and 100;—Z. ostrina, Vieill. Ois. ch. 48, Gal. 60;—L. rosea,
‘Vieill., pl. Ixiii. .
_ Add, Z. vespertina, Bonap. U, pl. xiv, f. 1;—Z. ludoviciana, Wils. Il, pl. xvii, f.
, (aS cxrulea, Wils., Ul, pl. xxiv, f. vi;—L. purpurea, Wils. I, pl. vii, f. 4.
_ Am. Edit. ,
’ (3) This transition is effected, in the species I have been able to examine, in °
the following order, the beak always increasing in size: Lowia quadricolor, (Ember. »
*
302 AVES.
tain forests, builds upon the beech, and eats almonds and all
sorts of fruits.
There are two species with smaller beaks in Europe.
Loxia chloris, L.; Le Verdier; Enl. 672, 2; Naum. 120. (The
Green Grosbeak). Greenish above; yellowish beneath; external
edge of the tail, yellow. Inhabits the underwood, &c., and eats
all sorts of seeds. —
Fring. petronia, L.; La Soulcie ; Enl. 225; Naum..116, 3, 4.
(The Ring Finch.), Which is commonly classed with the Finches,
whose colours it bears; but independently of its great beak, a
whitish line round the head, and a yellowish spot on the breast,
afford an evident mark of distinction. (1)
There are some species that should be distinguished from the
Grosbeaks.
Piryrus, Cuv.
The beak quite as large, slightly compressed, arcuated above, and
sometimes a salient angle on the middle of the edge of the upper
jaw.(2)
Naturalists have long separated from them, 4
PyRRHULA,
The Bullfinches, which have a rounded, inflated beak, arched i in
every direction. There is one in France. ; vy
Loxia pyrrhula, L.; Enl. 145; Vieill. Gal. 56; Naum. 111. °
(The Common Bullfinch.) Cinereous above; red beneath; calotte
black; reddish grey superseding the red in the female; builds on
various trees, and among the bushes along the road. It is natu-
rally a’ sweet songster, is easily tamed, and may be taught to
speak. There is a race of them known, a third larger.(3)
Loxta, Briss.(4)
The Crossbills have a compressed beak, and the two mandibles so
strongly curved, that their points cross each other, sometimes on
¥
>
oe
*
(1) It is very evident, that the petronia is not less a Grosbeak than the chloris.
(2) Such are Lox. grossa, Enl. 154;--L. canadanensis, Enl. 152,.2;—L. erytro-
melas, Lath. I, pl. xlvii, and Vieill. Gal. 59;—Z. portoricensis, Daud. On 4,
pl. xxix, or Pyrrhula auranticollis, Vieill. Gal. 55. Ps
(3) Add, Lox. lineola, Enl. 319, 1;—M. minuta, Ib. 2;—L. collaria, Enl. 595,
3;—L. sibirica, Falk. Voy. Ul, pl. xxviii;—Pyr. cinereola, Tem. Col. HU, 1 P.
falcirostris, Ib. 2;—P. orthaginea, T. Col. 400;—P. mysia, Vieill., Ois. ch. pl- xlvi,
and the pl. lix and lx of Spix. [Add. P. frontalis, Bon. I, p. vi, f. 1, 2. Am. Ed.]
(4) Loawia from rc€os (curve) the name invented for this bird by Conrad Gesner.
Linneus applied it to the Grosbeaks generally.
,
PASSERINE. © 303
one side, sometimes on the other. This singular beak enables them
to tear out the seeds from under the scales of the pine-cones.
The European species is very common wherever there are
evergreen trees; it is,
Loxia curvirostra, L., Enl. 218. (The Crossbill.) The
plumage of the young male is of a vivid red, with brown wings;
that of the adult, and of the female, is greenish above, yellowish
beneath. Two races of them, also, are known, which differ as
to size, and even, as it is said, in their notes, and in the form
of the beak, Low. curvirosira, Naum. 110, and Loz. pytiopsitta-
cus, Bechst., Naum. 109.(1)
We cannot remove from the Bullfinches and the Crossbills
Corytuus, Cuv.(2)
The point of whose completely arched beak curves over the lower
mandible. The most known species,
Lozxia enucleator, L.; Enl. 135, 13 or better, Edw. 123, 1243
Vieill. Gal. 53; Naum. 112. The Pine Grosbeak inhabits the
north of both continents, and lives in the same way as the Cross-
bill. It is red, or reddish, the feathers of the tail and wings
black edged with white.(3)
_The north of the globe produces neighbouring species of
equal beauty as to colour, individuals of which sometimes find
» their way into Germany.(4)
&
Coxius, Gm.(5)
| The Colies also approximate considerably to the preceding birds.
Q
‘Their beak is short, thick, conical, and somewhat compressed, its
two mandibles being arcuated, but without extending beyond each
other; the quills of their tail are cuneiform, and very long; their
thumb, as in Cypselus, is capable of being directed forwards like
the other toes; their fine and silky féathers are generally cinereous.
They inhabit Africa and India, climb something in the manner of
(1) Add Low. leucoptera, Lath. Vieill. Gal. 53, and Wils. Am. Ornith.
(2) Corythus, Greek name of an unknown bird. Vieillot has changed this
name into that of SrroprirpHaca.
(3) Loxia flamingo, (Sparm. Mus. Carl. pl. xvii,) appears to me to be a mere
albino variety of the enucleator. The Low. psittacea of the Sandwich Islands, Lath.
Syn. I, pl. xlii, or Psrrractrosrra icterocephala, Temm. Col. 457, appears to
“differ from Corythus only in a little greater prolongation of the curved point of the
(4) Lox. erythrina, Pall. or Pringilla flammea, L., Naum. 113, 1, 2;—Lox. rosea,
Pall. Naum. 113, 3;—F'r. purpurea, Wils. I, vii, 4 ?
(5) Kodzses, the Greek name of a small species of Crow.
304 . AVES.
Parrots, live in flocks, build many of their nests on the same bush,
and sleep suspended to its branches in crowds, with the head down-
wards. They feed on fruit.(1) ;
Here also come the ,
Burnaea, Briss.
The Beef-eaters form a small genus in which the beak is of a mode-
rate length, cylindrical at the beginning, and inflated (both mandibles)
near the end, which terminates in a blunt point. They use it to
compress the skin of cattle in order to force out the larve of the
GEstrus lodged in it, on which they feed. ;
One species only is known, and that is from Africa; brownish,
with a moderate sized cuneiform tail; as large as a Thrush.
Buphaga africana, Enl.2933; Vaill. Afr. pl. 973 Vieill. Gal.
>
Cassicus, Cuv.
A large and exactly conical beak, thick at base, and very sharp at the
point; small round nostrils, pierced on the sides; the commissure of the
mandibles forms a broken line, or is angular like that of the Star-
lings. They are American birds, whose manners are similar to those
of the last mentioned ones, living like them in flocks, frequently
constructing their nests close together, and sometimes. with much
art. They feed on grain and Insects, and do great injury to culti-
vated grounds. We subdivide them as follows: — w :
Cassicus,(2) properly so styled.
The base of the beak mounts on the forehead, encroaching on the
plumage, and forming a semicircular notch in it. The largest spe-
cies belong to this subgenus.(3)
(1) Col. capensis, Enl. 282, 1; Vaill. 258, ‘and the young, 256. This latter is
the C. striatus, and the C. panayensis;—Col. erythropus, Gm.; leuconotus, Lath.
Vaill. 257;—Col. gularis, Vaill. 259, _
_ [place near the Colies the birds called Meriou natté (Malurus. textilis, Less.)
and Merion leucoptére (M. leucopterus, Id.), Voy. de Freycin. pl. 23.
(2) Vieill. has adopted this name and genus,
(3) Cassicus bifasciatus, Spix, LXI, a;—Cassic. angustifrons, Id. LXU; —Cass.
nigerrimus, Id. LXU, 1;—Oriolus ecristatus, Enl. 344;—y 328; :—hemorrhous, 482;—
persicus, 184. (N.B. That it is not from Persia, but from America, like the others. )-—
A black species, with metallic reflections, the plumes of whose neck are erectile,
and form a kind of mantle. It is the Raja troupiale of Azz. Voy. I, Ps 167.
PASSERINE. 305
IcrERus.(1)
The beak arcuated throughout its length, and only forming a small
notch in the feathers on the forehead.(2)
XanrTHornvs.(3)
Only differs from the phesedingy| in the perfect straightness of the
beak.(4)
We should distinguish among the number a species with a
somewhat shorter beak, which therein approaches the Frin-
gilla, Cuv.
Icterus pecoris, Tem.; Emberiza pecoris, Wils. If; xviii, Lae
and Enl. 606, 1. (The Cow Bunting.) A violet black; head
and neck a brown grey. Lives in flocks among the cattle; but
the most peculiar trait in its habits is that, like the Cuckoo, it
lays its eggs in other birds’ nests.(5)
(1) Viecillot has changed the French term of the above subdivision, T'roupiale,
into Carouge, which I had adopted for the following subgenus. He translates
Carouge by Pendulinus, Galer. pl. 186.
(2) Oriolus varius, Enl. 607, 1;—Or. cayanus, 535, 2;—Or. capensis, Enl. 607.
(N.B. It is from Louisiana, and not from the Cape;)—Or. chrysocephalus, Merr.
Beytr. I, pl. iii, Viceill. Gal. 86;—Or. dominicensis, Enl. 5, 1;—and a species of a
changeable black, whose tail assumes all kinds of shapes, according to the direc-
tion of its lateral feathers, which are sometimes in the same plane with the rest,
and at others turned up, &c. (Quiscalus versicolor) Vieill. Gal. 108; Wils. TI,
xvi, 3. It appears to be both the Gracula quiscala, L., Catesb. pl. xii, and the
Gracula barita, Lath. I, pl. xviii, or the Pie de la Jamaique: it is found in all the
Antilles, Carolina, &c. It has been confounded with the Rice Eater (Ploceus
niger).
We should separate the Jcterws sulcirostris, Spix, LXIV, the lower jaw of whose
much larger beak is obliquely furrowed at base.
(3) M. Vieill. calls these birds, Baltimore and Yphantes, Galer. pl. Ixxxvii. He
separates some of them, which he names more particularly Z'roupiales, or Acz-
narus, pl. Ixxxviil.
(4) Oriolus icterus, Enl. 532;—Oriolus minor and Tanagra bonariensis, Enl. 710;
the same bird;—Oriolus citrinus, Spix, 76;—Le Car. gasquet, Quoy and Gaym.
Voy. de Freycin. pl. xxiv;—Oriolus pheniceus, Enl. 402;—Or. americanus, 236, 2;—
Or. leucopterus, Lath. Syn. I, frontisp.;—Or. bonana, Enl. 535, 1;—Or. cayenensis,
Ib. 2;—Or. icterocephalus, 342;—Or. xanthocephalus, Ch. Bonap, 1, IV, 1, 2;—Or.
. mexicanus, Enl. 533;—Or. xanthornus, 5, 1;—Or. baltimore, 506, 1; Vieill. Galer.
$7, and Wils. I, 1, 3;—Or. spurius, Enl. 2, and Wils. I, iv, 1—4;—Or. melancholicus, .
Enl. 448, of which Ov. guyanensis, Enl. 536, Vieill. Galer. pl. 88, is the adult.
Add Or. agripennis, Bonap. (Enlb. oryzivora, of others) our common Reed
Bird. Am. Ed.
(5) Gmel. cites fig. 606, 1, of the Pl. Enl., as Oriolus minor; it is a mistake.
Vout. I.—2 O
=
306 . AVES.
Oxyryncuus, Tem.
The conical and pointed beak of Xanthornus, but it is shorter than
the head.
The species known, Oxyr. flammiceps, T.; O. cristatus,
Swains. Ill. IM, 49; Col. 125, has a partly,red tuft on the head,
like several of the Tyrants. The
Dacnis, Cuv.—Pirt-Pirs, Buff.
Resemble Xanthorni in their conical and short beak. They con-
nect that subgenus with Regulus. The species known, Mot. cayana,
L.; Enl. 669; Vieill. Gal. 165, is a small blue and black bird. [See
App. XXII of 4m. Ed.)
Sturnus, Lin,
The Starlings only differ from the Xanthorni in having a beak
that is depressed, especially near the point.
S. vulgaris, L.; Bnl. 75; Naum. 62. (The Common Starling. )
Black with violet and green reflections, every where spotted
with white or fawn colour. The young male is of a brown grey.
It is found in great numbers throughout the whole of the eastern
continent, -feeds on insects, and is of use to cattle by relieving
them from their attacks. It flies in large and crowded flocks,
is easily tamed, and may be taught to sing and even to speak.
It leaves France in winter. Its flesh is disagreeable.(1) 2
We can find no sufficient character to enable us to distinguish
(1) Add the Sturnus unicolor of the south of Europe, Tem. Col. 3; Vieill. Gal.
pl. xci;—St. capensis, Enl. 280, from which the St. contra, Albin. Ill, 21, does
not differ, but which is from the Indies, and not from the Cape;—St. militaris, Enl.
113;—St. ludovicianus, En]. 256, the same as the Alauda magna, Gm. Catesb. 1,
33, or the Stournelle @ collier, Vieill. Gal. pl. xc, and Wils. II, xix, 2;—the Etour-
neau @ camail rouge (Oriolus ruber, Gm.) Sonner. Nouv. g. pl. Ixviii, or Amblyram-’
phus tricolar, Leach, Zool. Miscel. pl. xxxvi; a beautiful species from the steppes
of Buenos Ayres, and not from India, as stated by Sonnerat.
N.B. The St. cinclus forms, as we have seen, a genusallied to the Thrushes ;
the St. sericeus, Brown, III, 21, is rather a Gracula, Cuy.; the St. collaris is the’
same as the Fauvette of the Alps (accentor). The St. carunculatus should, I think,
go along with Philedon.
The species of Osbec, Hernandes, Kc. are not well authenticated; as to those of
Pallas, it is to be regretted that we have no figures of them. . The Stournes of
Daudin must be replaced with the Thrushes, or the Philedons, and his Quiscales,
partly with the Gracule, Cuv. and partly with Cassicus. Daudin, generally speak-
ing, completed the confusion of this genus, sufficiently entangled by his prede-
cessors. ‘
PASSERINA. 307
from the Conirostres with certainty and precision, the differ-
ent genera of the family of the Crows, all of which have a
similar internal structure and external organs, only differing
in a (generally) greater size, which sometimes enables them
to hunt small birds: their strong beak is most commonly com-
pressed on the sides.
These genera are three in number, the Crows, Birds of Pa-
radise, and the Rollers.
Corvus, Lin.
The Crows have a strong beak, more or less laterally flattened,
nostrils covered with stiff feathers, which incline forwards. They
are very cunning, their sense of smell is extremely acute, and they
have, generally, a habit of purloining articles totally useless to
them, such as pieces of money, &c., and even of hiding them.
We more particularly call Crows or Ravens, the large species
whose beaks are the strongest in proportion, and in which the ridge
of the upper mandible is the most arcuated. Their tail is either
round or square,
C. corax, L.; Naum. 53, 13 Vaill. Afr. pl. 51.(1) (The Raven.)
Is the largest of the Passerinz which inhabit Europe. Its size
is equal to that of the Cock. Its plumage is entirely black, the
tail is rounded, and the back of the upper mandible arcuated
near the point. It is a more solitary bird than the other species,
flies well and high, scents carrion at the distance of a league,
aud feeds also on fruit and small animals. It sometimes carries
off poultry, builds on the tops of high trees or rocky cliffs, is
easily tamed, and may be taught to speak tolerably well. It
appears to be found in every part of the globe. In the north its
plumage is frequently varied by a mixture of white (Ascan. Ie.
Nat. pl. viii); it is then the Corvus leucophzus, Temm., Vieill.
Gal. 100.
C. corone, L.; La Corneille; Enl. 495; Naum. 53, 2.(2) (The
Carrion Crow.) A fourth smaller than the Raven; the tail more
square, and the beak less arcuated above.
C. frugilegus, Oe Le Freux; Enl. 484; Naum. 55. (The
Rook.) Still seller than the preceding, with a straighter and
more pointed beak. The circumference of the base of the lat-
t (1) N.B. Enl. 495 appears to be nothing more than a C. corone, and 483 a
young Rook. M. Temminck thinks that the quoted fig. of Le Vaillant is a partic-
ular species peculiar to Africa, which he names C. montanus.
(2) M. Temminck thinks there is a difference between the Crow of Europe and
that of the Cape (Vaill. 52;) whichhe calls C. segetum.
,
308 AVES.
ter, except when very young, is divested of feathers, which is
probably occasioned by its habit of thrusting it into the ground
in search of food. ;
These two species live in large flocks, numbers of them build-
ing together. They feed as much on grain as on insects, and
are found throughout all Europe; remaining in the winter, how-
ever, only in the warmer districts.
C. cornix, L.; Corneille mantelée; Enl. 76; Naum. 54. (The
Royston Crow.) Cinereous; head, wings, and tail, black. It is less
frugivorous, frequents the sea-shore, and feeds upon shell-fish,
&c. Naumanassures us that it often couples with the Black Crow.
C. monedula, L.; Le Choucas, &c.3 Enl. 525; Naum. 56, 1. (The
Jackdaw.) A fourth smaller than the preceding ones; about the
size of a Pigeon; of a less intense black, which around the neck
and under the belly, even verges on cinereous; sometimes all
black. It builds in steeples, old towers, &c., lives in flocks,
feeds on the same substances as the Crows, and is frequently
found with them. Birds of prey have no enemy more vigilant
than the Jackdaw.(1)
Pica, Cuv.
The Pies are less than the Cornix; the upper mandible is also
more arcuated than the other, and the tail long and cuneiform.
Corvus pica, L.; Enl. 488; Naum. 56, 2. (The Magpie of _
Europe.)
brilliant burnished steel-green, the whole of the plumage is
er black.
P. aurea, Sh.; Oriolus aureus, Gm.; Edw.,-1123 Vaill. 18;
Vieill. 11, has none of the preceding extraordinary develop-
ments of plumage, and is only distinguishable by the velvet fea-
thers which cover its nostrils. The male is of the brightest
orange; the throat, and primary quills of the wings, black; in
‘the female, a brown takes the place of the orange.(1)
“
FAMILY IV.
TENUIROSTRES.
This family comprehends the remaining birds of the first divi-
sion; those in which the beak is slender, elongated, sometimes
straight, and sometimes more or less arcuated, and without any
emargination. They are to the Conirostres what the Mota-
cille are to the other Dentirostres.
SITTA, Lin.
The Nuthatches have a straight, prismatic, pointed beak, com-
pressed near the point, which they employ like the Woodpeckers to
perforate the bark of trees, and in withdrawing the larve contained
in it; but their tongue is not extensible, and although they climb in
every direction, they have but one toe behind, which, it is true, is a
strong one. The tail is of no use in supporting them, as is the case
with the Woodpeckers and True Creepers. There is but one in
France. .
S. europa, L.3 Enl. 623, 1; Naum. 139. (The European Nut-
hatch.) Bluish ash colour above; reddish beneath; a blackish
band descending behind the eye; size of a Rouge-gorge.(2)
(1) { refer the Parad. gularis, Lath., or nigra, Gm.; Vaill. 20 and 21; Vieill. 8,
9, and the leucoptera, Lath. to the Thrushes;—the Par. Chalybea, Enl. 633, Sonn.
97; Vaill., 23; Vieill., 10, to the Cassicans;—the cirrhata, Aldrov. 814, is too much
mutilated to be characterized, and the furcata, Lath. appears to be an imperfect
specimen of the superba.
(2) Add the S. @ sourcil blanc (S. canadensis, Briss.) Enl. 623, 2;—the Black-
headed N. (8. canadensis, L..), Catesb., I, xxii; Vieill. Gal. 171;—S. frontalis, Swains.
Zool. Ill. 2, or S. velata, Tem., Col. 72, 3, or Orthorynchus frontalis, Horsf. Jay. ;—
S. chrysoptera, Lath., 3d Supp. 327;—S. pusilla, Id.
Vou. I.—2 P , .
314 AVES. : 1
It has been thought necessary to separate from the Sitter, the
Xenops, Illig.(1) ™
Which only differs in the beak being rather more compressed,
and the inferior ridge more conyex.(2) °
* .
he
ANABATES, Temm. ‘ Kr
In which, on the contrary, the superior ridge of the beak is some-
what convex, almost like the beak of a Thrush which has no emar-
gination. The tail, in some, is long and cuneiform, and occasionally |
worn, a proof that it supports them in climbing.(3) 4
4
Synatiaxts, Vieill. & ‘&
A straight beak, but little elongated; very much compressed, slen-
der, and pointed; the tail generally long and pointed.(4)
There are even some of them in which the stems of the tail-quills
are very stout, and project beyond the barbs.(5)
Those birds which have received the name of
*
- v
Crerruia, Lin.
Or the Creepers, have an arcuated beak, but that is the only com-
mon character they possess.
We separate from them in the first place,
Cerruti, Cuv. te.
The True Creepers, so called from their habit of climbing trees,
like Woodpeckers, in doing which they make use of their tail as
a prop or supporter; they are known by the quills of the tail, which
are worn, and terminate in a stiff point, like those of the same birds.
There is one found in Europe,
(1) Vieillot has changed this name into Neops.
(2) Xenops rutilus, Licht., Col. 72, 2, or WVeops ruficauda, Vieill. Gal. 170;
Xenops Hofmanseggit, Col. 150, 1, Vaill. Prom. 31, 2; 5—Aenops anabatoides, Col.
150, 2.
(3) Anabates cristatus, Spix, 84;—An. rufifrons, Id. 85, 1;—Philydor rujicollis,
Id. 75;—Phil. albogularis, \d., 74;—Phil. superciliaris, 1d. 73; perhaps the same as
the Anabates amaurotis, Tem. Col. 238, 2;—Sphenura striolata, Spix, 83, 2, or .
Anabates' striolatus, Tem. Col. 23, 1 } '
(4) Synallawis ruficapilla, Vieill. Gal. 174, or Parulus ruficeps, Spix, 86, from
which the Syn. albescens, Tem. Col. 227, 2, and the cinerascens, lb., 3, do not appear
to me to differ specifically ;—Syn. rutilans, Col. 227, 1;—Syn. tessellata, Col. 311,
1;—Syn. setaria, Ib. 2;-—Prinia familiaris, Horsf. Jav.’—The Fluteur, Vaill. Afr.
112, or Malurus africanus, Swains. Ill. 170, merely has a somewhat higher beak.
(5) Dendrocolaptes sylviellus, Temm. Col. 72,1. Vaill. prom. 31, 2
ae
PASSERINA. ONG
* C. familiaris, L.; Enl. 681, 13 Naum. 140. (The European
Creeper.) A small bird with whitish plumage, spotted with
brown.above; rump and tail tinged with red. It builds in the
hollows of trees, and climbs with great rapidity, searching for
insects and larve in the cracks of the bark, under mosses,’
&c.(i)
America produces several True Creepers of a large size, called,
Drnprocotarres, Herm.(2)—Grimpars, Vaill.
Whose tail is the same, but their beak is much stronger and
wider.(3)
There is even one of them which approaches the Nuthatches
in its straight and compressed beak; it might be taken for a
Sitta with a worn tail.(4)
The beak of another, twice as long as the head, is only arcu-
ated at the end.(5)
That of a third is long, sides and as much arcuated as in
Melithreptus.(6)
TrcHopRoma, Illig.(7)
The tail not worn, although they climb along walls and rocks
just as the common Creepers do upon trees, but they cling to them
(1) Add, C. cinnamomea, Vieill. Ois. Dor. 62, and Galer. 173;—Motacilla spini-
cauda, Lath. Syn. II, pl. 52?
(2) Dendrocolaptes, the Greek name of the Woodpecker. Vieillot has changed
it into Denprocorvs, Gal. 175, and applied it to another division.
(3) The Picucule, Buff. (Gracula cayennensis, Gm.; Grac. scandens, Lath. & Sh. )-
. Enl. 621 and Vieill. Ois. Dor. 76, to which the Dendroc. decumanus, Spix, 87, and
. falcirostris, 88, are at least dlosely allied. Add, the Grand Grimpart, Vaill. 42;—
Dendrec. tenuirostris, Spix, 91, 2;—D. bivittatus, 90, 1;—D. Wagleri, 90, 2;—the
Gr. maillé, Vaill. 29, 2;—the Grimpart flambé, Vaill. Prom. 30, or Dend. platyros-
tris, Spix, 89?—the Gr. enfumé, Vaill. 28.
N.B. The Fluteur of Vaill., Afr. 112, is the genus Dasyornis of Swainson.
The Dendrocolaptes Sylviellus, Tem. is his genus Srrrasomus and the Certhia
maculata of Wils. III, xix, 3, his genus Oxyexossus.
The Dendroprocurvus, Tem. is the genus X1rnornyNenvs, Swains. and the Ta-
lapiot, his genus Denpror.ex.
(4) The Talapiot, Buff.; Oriolus picus, Gm. and Lath.; Gracula picoides, Sh., Enl.
605, or Dendrocolaptes guttatus, Spix, 91,1.
(5) The Nasican, Vaill., Prom., etc., 24.
(6) The Grimpart promerops (Dendrocolaptes procurvus,) Tem. Col. 28 or Den-
drocopus falcularius, Vieill. Gal. 175.
(7) These birds are called Echeleites in some of the French provinces. Vieillot
has changed this name into Picchion, and that of Iliger into Perroproma.
: a
316 AYES. ”
with their great claws. The beak is triangular and depressed at .
base, very long and very slender. .
One species only is known, which inhabits the south of Eu-
rope, Certhia muraria, L.; Enl. 372; Naum. 141. It is a pretty
bird of a light ash aibhgy the coverts and edges of a part
of the wing-quills bright red. The throat of the male is
black.(1) :
Necranrini, Illig.
Tail not worn, nor are these birds climbers, but their moderately
long, arcuated, pointed and compressed beak resembles that of the
Creepers. They are all foreign to Europe.
The name of Guircurts is more particularly applied to cer-
tain small species, the males of which are ornamented with
lively colours. Their tongue is filamentous and bifid.(2)
We may separate from them the largest and least beautiful
species, whose tongue is short and cartilaginous.
Merops rufus, Gm.; Enl. 739; Figulus albogularis, Spix, 78.
_A bird from South America, the size of a Kingfisher, reddish
above, with a whitish throat, which constructs a nest upon
shrubs, arched over like an oven.(3)
Diczum, Cuv.(4)
The tail not worn, neither do they climb; their sharp pointed,
(1) Certh. fusca, Lath. Vieill. 65, appears to me to belong to this subgenus.
(2) Certh. cyanea, Enl. 83, 2; Vieill., 41, 42, 43 and Gal. 176;—cerulea, Edw.
21, Vieill., 44, 45, 46, two American species, to which we must probably add
some from the East, most of which are red, as C. sanguinea, Vieill. 66;—C. cardi-
nalis, Id., 54, 58;—C. borbonica, Enl. 681, 2;—Vieill.*Gal. 167, has given to these
birds the name of Correba.
N.B. C. armillata, Sparm. 36;—C. cayana, 682, 2, &c. are mere varieties of the
cyanea or of the cxrulea.
(3) This bird is the type of the genus Ornrz or Orrrionnyxcnos of Tem.; Fur-
nantivs, Vieill. Gal. 182. The genus Ficutus, Spix, does not differ from it. Add
the Picchion-baillon, Viell, Gal. 172;—Pomatorhinos montanus, Horsf. Jav.;—Po-
mat. turdinus, T. Col. 441;—Pom. trivirgatus, T. Col. 443;—Climacteris picum-
nus, Tem. Col. 281, 1;—Clim. scandens, Ib. 2;—Certhia flaveola, Edw. 122, 362,
Vieill. 51;—C. varia (Mot. varia, L.), Edw. 30, 2; Vieill. 74, which is the Mnio-
tille varié, Id. Gal. 169;—C. semitorquata, Vieill. 56;—the Promerops olivatre,
Vaill. Huppes et Prom. pl. v (Mer. olivaceus, Sh.).—Here, also, is the place, I sus- —
pect, for the C. virens, Vieill. 57 and 58, and sannio, Id. 64, which I have not
seen, but which are distinguished by their slightly forked tails. + ;
(4) The name of a very small bird in the Indies, according to Elian. To this
subgenus belong, Certh. erythronotos, Viell. Il, 35. The C. eruentata, Edw. 81,
is probably a different age of the same;—C. rubra, Vieill: pl. liy, of which the C.
“fy
: PASSERINE. 317
‘ arcuated beak, which is not longer than the head, is depressed and
: widened at base. They inhabit the East Indies, are very small, and
grerally have some: scarlet i in their plumage.
Meuirureptus, Vieill.
The tail not worn; beak extremely long, and curved almost into a
semicircle. From the South Sea Islands. One of them,
Certhia vestiara, Sh.; Vieill. Ois. Dor. II, pl. 52, and Gal. 181,
is covered with scarlet feathers used by the Sandwich islanders
in the manufacture of the beautiful mantles of that colour,
which they so highly prize.(1)
Cryyynis, Cuy.(2)
Tail not worn; edges of the two mandibles of the long and very
slender beak, finely serrate; the tongue, which is susceptible of
protrusion, terminates in a little fork. They are small birds, the
males of which, during the nuptial season, are ornamented with
metallic colours, approaching in lustre to those of the Humming-
bird, of which, in this respect, they are the représentatives in the
eastern continent, they being principally found in Africa and the
archipelago of India. They live on the nectar of flowers, which
they suck up with their bills; their disposition is lively, and their
notes very agreeable. The beauty of their plumage has made them
acommon ornament of our cabinets, but as it is very different in
both sexes during the winter, &c. it becomes an extremely difficult
matter to characterize the species.
The tail, in most of them, is equal.(3)
erythropygia, Lath. 2d supp., is probably the female;—the Wecturinia rubicosa,
Tem. Col. f. 2. and 3, does not appear to differ from it—€. taniata, Sonner. Tl,
Voy. pl. cvii, fig. 3;—C. cantillans, Ib. Id. 2;—Motacilla hirwndinacea, Sh. Nat.
Misc. No, 114.
(1) Add Certh. obscura, Vieill. Ois. Dor. II, pl. liti; —C. pacifica, Id. pl. Ixiii; the
other species of this naturalist belong to very different genera, chiefly to the Phi-
ledons, &c.
(2) The Greek name of some very small unknown bird. The natives of Mada-
gascar call them Souz-mangat, i. ec. eat-sugar. Vieillot has adopted the above
name and genus, Gal. 177. .
(3) Certh. splendida, Sh. Vieill. 82;—C. caffia, Edw. 347;—C. superba, Vieill.
22;—C. lotenia, Enl. 575, 2, 3, Vieill. 34;—amethystina, Vieill. 5 and 6;—chalybea,
Enl. 246, 3, Vieill- 10, 13, 18, 24, 34, 80;—ommnicolor, Seb. 1, 69, 5;—cuprea,
Vieill. 23;—purpurata, Edw. 265, Vieill. 11;—cyanocephala, Vieill. 7;—Z. zetlon-
ica, Enl. 576, 4; Vieill. 29, 30;—dubia, Vieill. 81;—senegalensis, Vieill. 8;—spe-
rata, Enl. 246, 1, 2; Vieill. 16, 32, of which the lepida of Sparm. 35, is the female ;—
madagascariensis, Vieill. 18;—currucaria, Enl. 576, 3, Vieill. 31;—rubro-fusca,
Vieill. 27;—fuliginosa, Vieill. 20;—maculata, Vieill. 21;—venusta, Vieill. 79;—
318° Aves. oo
In some, the two middle feathers are the longest ‘in the
male.(1) :
We may also distinguish those ithich have a straight beak, oF
one that is nearly so.(2)
ARAcCHNOTHERA, Temm.
The long and arcuated beak of the Cinnyris, but stronger, and
without emargination; the tongue short and cartilaginous; they are
only found in the Archipelago of India, and feed on Spiders.(3)
Trocuinus, Lin.
The Hummingbirds, so celebrated for the metallic lustre of
their plumage, and chiefly for those plates, brilliant as precious
stones, which are formed by scaly feathers of a peculiar structure,
on their throat or head, have a long slender beak, enclosing a tongue,
which they can protrude at will, like that of the Woodpeckers,
(and by the same mechanism,) which is split almost to its base,
forming two filaments employed, as is asserted, in taking up the nec-
tar from flowers. They also, however, feed on small insects, for we
have found their stomach filled with them. Their very small feet,
broad tail, excessively long and narrow wings, short humerus and
large sternum, which is without emargination, all contribute to form
a system adapted for great power of flight, similar to that of the
Swallows. The narrowness of their wing is caused by the rapid
abbreviation of its quills. By these means, they balance themselves
;
gutturalis, 578, 9;—Nectarinia solaris, Tem. Col. $41, 3;—eximia, Tem. Col. 138,
1, 2;—pectoralis, 1d. Col. 138, 3;—lepida, Lath., Col. 126, 1, and Vieill, Gal. 177,
2;—Hasselti, T. Col. 376, 3;—coccinogaster, Tem. Col. 388, 3;—Cinn. eques,
Less. and Garn. Voy. de la Coq. pl. xxxi, f. 1;—javanica, Zool. Ill. 121; some of
which birds are probably mere varieties of the others.
(1) Certhia famosa, L. Enl. 83, 1;—C. pulchella, Enl. 670, 1;—C. violacea, 670,
2;—the Sucrier cardinal, Vaill. Ap. 291;—the Sucrier figuier, Id. 293, f. 2;—Necta-
rinia metallica, Licht. Ruppel., pl. vii and Col. 347, 1;—Vect. sie cals T..Col.
126, 3;—V. Kuhlii, T. Col. 376, 1, 2.
(2) Cinnyris elegans, Vieill. Gal. 177, or Certh. rectirostris, Id. Ois. Dor. II, pl.
Ixxy.
(3) gricinctent longirostra, Tem. Col. 84, 1;—A. inornata, Id. Ib. 2.
N.B. After all these distinctions, we have still to remove from the great genus
Crrrara, the C. lunafa, Vieill. 61;—C. Novex-Hollandiz, J. White, New 8. W. pl.
xvi and Ixy; Vieill., 57, and 71;—C. australasiana, Vieill. 55;—C. carunculata,
Vieill. 69, 70;—C. auriculata, Vieill. 85;—C. cocincinica, Enl. 643, Vicill. 77, 785
C. spiza, Enl. 578, 2, Edw. 25;—C. seniculus, Vieill. 50;—C. graculina, Vieill.
87;—C. goruck, Vieill. 88;—C. cxrulea, Vieill. 83;—C. xanthotis, Vicill. 84;—C.
mellivora, Vieill. 86; which, by their emarginated beak and pencil-like tongue,
are all Philedons.
Wi PASSERINE. 319
in air with nearly as much facility as certain Flies, and it is thus
that they hum about flowers and fly with more proportionate ra-
pidity than any other bird. Their gizzard is very small, and they
have no czcum, an additional mark of their affinity with the Wood-
peckers. They live'singly, defend their nests with courage, and
fight desperately with each other.
_ The name of Trocuitus, Lac., is especially reserved for such as
have the beak arcuated; some of them are distinguished by the pro-
longation of the intermediate quills of their tail. We will mention
but one of the largest and most beautiful.
Troch. pella; Colibri Topaze, Enl. 596. Purple-maronne; head,
black; throat of the most brilliant topaz-yellow, changing into
green, surrounded by black.(1)
The lateral quills of the tail are very long in others;(2) several
have tails moderately forked;(3) in the greater number it is round
“or square.(4) We call,
t
‘ OrrHORHYNcHts, Lacep.
- Such as have a straight beak; some of them have tufted heads.(5)
Others have tufts or elongated feathers on the sides of the head,(6)
and among them are found some with a pointed and very long tail.(7)
(1) Add Z'r. superciliosus, Enl. 600, 3; Vieill. 17, 18, 19;—Tr. leuwcurus, Enl.
600, 3;—7'. squalidus, Natterer, Col. 120, f. 1;—T'r. brasiliensis, Lath. Col. 120,
poy “
(2) Tr. forficatus, Edw. 33, Vieill. 30;—polithmus, Edw. 34, Vieill. 67, and
particularly the magnificent Peruvian species, with the refulgent gold tail, Tr.
chrysurus, Cuv.
(3) Tr. elegans, Vieill. 14.
(4) Tr. mango, L. ; Enl. I, 680, 2 and 3, Vieill. 7;—Zr. nzvius, Dumont, Col.
120, f. 3; Tr. gutturalis, Enl. 671;—T'. tawmantias, Enl. 600, 1;—T*r. violaceus, Enl.
600, 2;—Z'r. cinereus, Vieill. 5;—Z'r- melanogaster, Vieill. 75;—T'r. jugularis, Sh.
Edw. 266, 1; Vieill. 4;—7Z'r. holosericeus, Sh., Vieill. 6 and 65;—T'r. punctatus, Sh.,
Vieill. 8;—T'. pectoralis, Sh. 9 and 70;—T'r. aurulentus, Sh. Vieill. 12;—7T'r. aureo-
viridis, Sh., Vieill. 15;—7'r. hirsutus, Gm. or brasiliensis, Sh. Vieill. 20;—T’r. albus,
Vieill. 11;—7%. viridis, Vieill. 15;—T?. margaritaceus, Enl. 680, 1, Vieill. 16;—T'r.
multicolor, Gm. or Harlequin Hummingbird, Lath. Supp. pl. cxi, Vieill. 79:—Tr.
lazulus, Vieill. Gal. 179. ,
(5) Tr. cristatus, Edw. 37; Enl. 227, 1; Vieill. 47, 48;—T'r. pileatus (puniceus,
Gm.) Vieill. 63;—7'. Lalandii, Vieill. 18, f. 1 and 2;—Orthor. stephanioides, Less.
and Garn. Voy. de la Coquille, pl. xxxi, No. 2.
(6) Zr. ornatus, Enl. 640, 3, Vieill. 49, 50;—TZ%. chalybeus, Vieill. 66, f. 2;—
Tr. petasophorus, P. Max. Col. 203, 3;—TZr. scutatus, Natter., Col. 299, 3;—T'r.
magnificus, lig. Col. 299, 9.7, mesoleucos, Temm. Col. 317. ,
(7) Tr. bilophus, Temm.
N.B. M. Swainson has named those of our Hummingbirds, the middle quills of
whose tail are elongated, Pumrornis; those with a round or square tail, Lamror-
320 AVES. Ps
The stems of the primary wing-quills are singularly widened in
some of them,(1) and among those which have none of these orna-
ments, we may still distinguish the fork- -tailed species,(2) some of
which have their very long lateral quills widened at the end.(3
Among those which have a square or’slightly emarginated
tail, there is one worthy of notice from its extreme smallness,
the : ’
Troch. minimus, Enl. 276, 1; Edw. 1053 Vieill. 64. It is of : a
violet-grey colour, and about the size of a Bee. LF
Another, on the contrary, because it is the largest of the ‘wiole
genus, the 2
Troch. gigas, Vieill., Gal. 180, which is almost equal in size
to the Hirundo apus.(4)
Urupa, Lin.
In this genus we will first place,
Freciius, Cuv.(5) : ‘ i
Where the nostrils are covered with feathers directed forwards,
from which circumstance several authors have placed these birds
with the Crows, which they also somewhat resemble in their, man-
“ners; their beak is a little longer than the head.
Corvus graculus, L.; Le crave d’Europe, En). 255; Naum. 57,
2; Vieill. Galer. 163. The size of a Crow; black; red feet and
beak; wings reaching to the end of the tail or extending beyond
nis; the straight beaked ones, in which the quills of the ‘wings are inflated,
Campyroprervs; and those with a forked tail, CynanTuus.
(1) Tr. latipennis, Enl. 672, 2; Vieill. 21;—T'r. ensipennis, Swains. Zool. Il.
107;—T’r. falcatus, Ib. 82.
(2) Z'r. mellivorus, Enl. 640; Edw. 35, Vieill. 23, 24;—T'r. amethystinus, Gm. .
Enl. 672, 1;—7%. furcatus, Enl. 509, 2; Vieill. 34;—T'. forficatus, Vieill. 60;—Tr.
smaragdo-saphirinus,V ieill. 36, 40;—T*r. colubris, Edw. 38; Catesb. 65; Vieill. 31, 32,
33;—Tr. Maugeanus, Vieill. 37, 38;—Tr. Langsdorifii, Vieill. 66, 1;—T'r. enicurus,
Vieill. 66, 3;—7'r. mediastinus, Tem. Col. 317;—Orthor. cora, Less. and Garn. 34, 4.
(3) Tr. platurus, Vieill. 52.
(4) Other species with square, or but slightly emarginated tails: Tr. mosquitus,
L., Enl. 227, 2;—T'r. carbunculus, Vieill. 54;—T'r. ourissia, Enl. 227, 3;—T'r. mel-
lisugus, L. Enl. 640, 2;—7'r. rubineus, Gm. Enl. 276, 4, Vieill. 27;—T'r. auritus,
Sh. Vieill. 25;—7'r. collaris, Vieill. 61, 62;—T'r. superbus, Sh.; longirostris, Vieill.
59, Col. 299, 1;—Tr. mellivorus, I, Enl. 640, 2;—T'r. leucogaster, Gm. Vieill. 43;—
Tr. imbricatus, Gm. Vieill. 221;—T*. albirostris, Vieill. 45;—T*. viridis, Vieill. 41;—
Tr. maculatus, Vieill. 44;—T'r. saphyrinus, Sh. Vieill. 35 and 57, 2;—Tr. squa-
mosus, Tem. Gol. 203, 1;—T'r. albicollis, ¥, Col. 203, 2;—Orthor. Amasili, Less. and
Garn. Voy. de la Coq. 31, 3.
(5) Vieillot has changed this name for Coractas, which, according to Linnzus,
is that of the Rollers.
PASSERINE. oye
it. It inhabits the highest ridges of the Alps and Pyrenees,
nestling there among the cliffs or in the fissures of the rocks like
the Chocard; it is less common, however, and does not so often
unite in flocks. It feeds both on fruit and insects, and when it
descends into the valleys, s snow or bad weather may be ex-
pected.(1) | .
Urupa, properly so styled.
The Hoopoes haye an ornament on the head formed of a double
range of long feathers, which they can erect at will. There is one
in Europe,
U. epops, L.; Enlv 52; Naum. 142. (The Hoopoe.) A vinous-
red; 3 wings and tail, black; two transverse, white bands on the
coyerts of the wings, and four on the quills. It seeks insects in
humid earth, lays its eggs in holes of trees or of walls, and
“leaves France in winter (2)
U. capensis; Eni. 697. (The Cape Hoopoe:) More particu-—
larly allied to Fregilus by the anterior, short, and immovable
feathers of its tuft which incline forwards and cover the nostrils.
Fé °
af, os. ** . Promenrors, Briss.
No crest on the head, and a very long tail; the tongue, extensible
and forked, enables it, as is affirmed, to live on the nectar of flowers,
like the Cinnyris and the ae is as (3)
*eisay
yd an,
é r
A
me) It is impossible to say what combination of the history of this bird with i im-
he erfect figures, perhaps of some Curlew, gave birth to the ideal species of the
age ravé huppé or Sonneur (Corvus eremita, L.), a pretended bird of Switzerland, which
has never been seen by any one since Gesner. But the Corv. affinis, Lath. appears
/ 4° be a true Fregilus, and we havea totally black Species from N ew Holland.
(2) Add the African species, Upupa minor, Vieill. Prom. pl. ii, and Gal, pl. 184;
_Vaill. Prom. 23. rng
i, (3) Vieill. Galer. .pl. clxxxv, has changed Promerops into Falcinellus. "The only
one well known is the Upupa promerops or Merops caffer, ¥:nl. 637, which is the
Sucrier du protea, Vaill. Afr. 139. M. Vaill. is of opinion thatthe Up. fusca, Gm.,
or papuensis, Lath. Enl. 638, is the female of the Epimaque 2 parements frisés, Enl.
* 639.—The Up. paradisea, Seb. 1, pl. xxx, 8, is the Muscicapa paradisi, with an ill
drawn beak. The Up. aurantia, Seb. I, lxvi, 5, according to all appearance a
Cassicus. The mexicana, Seb. I, xlv, 5, is not from Mexico as Seba makes it out,
_ by applying"to it a passage of Nicremberg, lib. x, c. 44, in w hich he merely speaks
of a Duck. Iam in doubt whether to place here the Promerops ceruleus, Shaw; _
_ Prom. bleu, Vieill.; Upupa Indica, Lath. or to approximate it to the Up. erythro-
_rhynchos.
Vout. 1L—2Q :
322 AVES. > +
dul s- weer a
Epimacuus, Cuv.(1)" \
The beak of the Upupa and Promerops alee with scaly or velvet
feathers which partially cover the nostrils as in the Birds of Para-
dise; they are natives of the same, countries, and their plumage
equally brilliant. The flank-feathers of the hai also more or less
elongated. 7 ay
Upupa magna, Gm.; U. superba, Tait sh Pepinteque’ a pare.
frisés, Enl. 6393 Vailk Dini 13.. Black; tail tapered, thrice the
length of the body; the feathers on theflanks,,elongated, turned
up; frizzled, the edges of a burnighey steel-blue, which also”
glistens on the head and belly.(2)
Naturalists have distinguished the square- se Pon
of Swainson, such as,
_Ep. albus; Paradis. tie liter Abb. 96; ‘Val Ois. d de
Par. pl: 16 and 17, and better Promer. 175,Vieill. 1. 13, and
better Gal. 185, which, for a long time, was placed among the»
Birds of Paradise, on account of the long bunches of white
plumes, which decorate its flanks, the stems of these plumes.
being continued out, forming six filaments onjeach, si % The
‘body is usually of a violet black, and the feathers ; on the eo
of the breast have an edging or border of emerald’ It
appears, however, that there are varieties with an me
body. The primaries of the wing are-short, and much less
merous than in birds generally. *
Epim. magnificus, Cuv.; Epimaque proméfil, Vaill, tins 16.
Velvet-blacks tail, slightly forked; head and breast of a most i
brilliant steel-blue; feathers on the ee long, frinert =
black.
Epim. regius, Less and Garn., Voy. de Duperr., pl. 283 Phi:
loris paradisceus, Swains. A purple blacks top of the head and » ”
‘upper part of the breast of a fine brilliant green; feathers on the ©
flanks, Popades and edged with green. 2h eee
«
The second fees smallest division of the Passeeues compre-
‘hends those in which the external toe, which is nearly as long
(1) Epimachus, the Greek name of a beautiful undetermined East Indian ae
(2) I hardly know whether I should place the Promerar, Vaill., 8 ‘ant 9
Promerup, Vaill., 11 and 12, and his Promerops.siffleur, 10, here, or near the |
erythorhynchos. These beautiful birds of New Guinea, which are very rare in our
collections, are usually deprived of their feet, which renders it inner
them with certainty. *, 5.
. FASSERIN &. 323
as the middle one, is united to it as far as the penultimate ar-
ticulation. We make but a single group of them, the
* SYNDACTYLZ,
Which. has long been divided into five genera.
%
*Merops, Lin.
The Bee-eaters eae an Beas beak, triangular at base, slightly
arcuated and terminating in a sharp point. There is a double emar-
gination on each side of the hind part of the sternum. Their long,
pointed wings, and short feet render their flight similar to that of
Swallows. They pursue insects in great flocks, especially bees,’
wasps, &c. and it is remarkable, they are never stung by them.
» There is a species, common in the south of Europe, but rare
towards the north, the M. apiaster, L.; Guépier commun, En.
Ban938; Naum. 143 ;-Vaill., Guep., 1 and 2. (The Common Bee-
’ eater.) A pedhtiful bird with a fawn coloured back; front and
belly of a sea-green blue; throat yellow, surrounded with black.
oe . it builds in holes excavated by itself along the: banks of streams,
: which are from four to five feet in depth. The young birds re-
-main a long time in this retreat with their parents, which in-
duced the ancients to belieye that the former supported the
. latter when worn out with age.
- The two middle quills of its tail are somewhat jeamumenad,
the first indication of a much greater elongation in the greater
\ part of the species foreign to Europe.(1)
The tail of several species, however, is nearly scmeeeana or
slightly forked,(3) though this sometimes depends upon their
condition when killed.
*
o :
(1) Such are: Mer. viridis, 740, Vaill. 4;—ornatus, Lath.;—superbus, Nat. Misc.
. 78;—senegalensis, Enl. 314, and badiws, 252, Vaill, 12, 13; ;—superciliosus, 259, Vaill.
19.—M. nubicus, Vaill. 5, Enl. 649; this individual had been deprived of its long
quills. —M. Savignii, Vaill. 6—M. Cuvieri, Vaill. 9, and Swains. ll. 76, under the
name of Savignii—M. Lamark, Vaill. 10.
(2) Merops philippinus, Eni. 57;—M. cayennensis, 454 (N.B. That it is not from
~-Cayenne).—WM. nubicus, 649;—M. erytropterus, 318;—M. malimbicus, Sh. or bicolor,
Daud. Ann. du Mus. J, Ixii, and Vaill. 5, Vieill. Gal. 186;—J/. gularis, Nat. Mise.
* 387;—WM. amictus, T. Col. 310;—M. Daudin, Vaill. 14.— J. cor omandus, Lath. Son-
¥
ye
nerat, Voy. 2, 105, or G. cytrin, Vail. 11;—WV. quinticolor, Vaill. 15;—M. minulus,
Vaill. 17;—M. Lechenaud, Vaill. 18;—M. Bullock, Vaill. 20.
(3) ©. taivd, Vaill. 8—M. urica, Swains. Zool. Ul. 8. N.B. The Merops conge-
ner, Aldr. I, 876, is not very authentic;—the cafer, Gm. is the pupiiadelaaps: ;—the
brasiliensis, Seb. J, lxvi, 1, is most probably an Icterus;—the M. monachus, cornicu-
Jatus, cyanops, are Gymnops;—the Mer. phricius. eincinnalus, cucullatus, cyanops,
Se
3234 AVES.
We should approximate to the. Be: eaters certain long-tailed
birds, with metallic-coloured plumage, hitherto classed with Pro-
“merops, but whose two external toes are almost as extensively
united as those of the former.(1) ° a 4
There appears to be none of this genus in America, where they
are represented in some respects by the ; 4
;
Prionires, Illig. 6
The Motmots have their feet and carriage,. but differ in the beak
which is stronger, the edges of both mandibles being serrated, and in
their tongue, which, like that of the Toucans, is barbed. They are
beautiful birds, as large as the Magpie; the plu age on the head,
loose as in the Jays, and a long cuneiform tail; the stems of the two
middle quills being stripped of their barbs for a short distance near
the extremities, gives to the whole a singular appearance. They fly
badly, are solitary, build in holes, feed on insects, and’even on small
4
birds.(2) * : Py * v
Aucepo, Lin. ) ,
7 ¢
The Kingfishers have shorter feet than the Bee- -eaters, and the
beak much longer, which is straight, angular, and pointed; the |
tongue and tail are yery short. There are two emarginations in their ee
sternum, as in those of the Bee-eaters and the Rollers. They feed
on small fish which they capture by precipitating themselves into”
the water from some branch where they have remained perched,
watching for their prey. Their stomach is a membranous sac. They
nestle like Bee-eaters in holes on the banks of streams, and are found
in both continents. The European species, :
A. ispida; Enl. 77; Naum. 144. The size of a Finch; sreenioh
; ‘a @
garrulus, fasciculatus, carunculatus, of Lath. appear to us to be Philedons; we have
even ascertained this to be the fact with respect to most of them;—the M. cine-
reus, Seb. XXXI, 10, is along tailed Cinnyris or Sowi-manga.
(1) The Promerops moqueur, Vaill. Prom. 1, 2, and 4 (Upupa erythrorhynchos, —
Lath.). The young bird has a black beak.—The Prom. namaquois, Vaill. 5 and 6,
or Falein.. cyanomelas, Vieill.
(2) The Blue-headed Motmot, or the Houtou sot Guyana, Guira, guaynumbi of -
the Brazilians, according to Marcgrave (Ramphastos momota, Gm.); or Pr. brasiliz
ensis, Wig. Enl. 370; Vaill. Ois.. de Par. &c. I, pl. xxxvii and xxxvili;—the Motmot
a tete rousse or of Peru;,Motmot dombey, Vaill. loc. cit. pl. xxxix, and Vieill. Gal.
pl. exe;—Pr, Marcii, Spix, 9;—the T'utre of Paraguay, Azz. No. 52, ate, to say the
least, closely allied to it. ip
Motmot, according to Fernandez, is the Méxican name of the first. Prionitis,
from 7eiay, saw, a name Biv en by Illiger. Me Vieillot has changed it into Barr-
PHONUS.
*
, $
PASSERINE, 9 ds 325
waved with black above; underneath, and a band on wn side
of the neck, reddish; a wide band of the most beautiful. aqua-
marina blue along the back. i
The species foreign to Europe have ee a. smooth plumage
variegated with different shades of blue and green. ‘
They may be distinguished among themselves by the beak,
which in some is simply straight and pointed as in the common
species,(1) and in others, has an inflated lower mandible.(2)
Of those found in New Holland and its neighbouring coun-
tries, some have a mandible hooked at the point.(3) The greyish -
and dull plumage of several of the latter is an indication of their
not visiting the water, and in fact they feed on insects.
Cryx, Lacep.
Kingfishers with the usual beak, but in which the internal toe is
deficient. Three species are found in India.(4)
og ee Topus, Lin.
a
The Todies are small birds: of ‘America Pasaer litte the King-
fishers in their general form. as well as in their feet and elongated
beak, but the latter is horizontally flattened, and obtuse at the point.
tin
a Ry a
re
‘a Ale. (afra, Sh.) maxima, Enl. 679; ;—aleyon, 715 and 593, and Wils., Am.
Til, _XXXill, 1;—torquata, 284;—rudis, 62 and 716; ;—bicolor, 592;—americana, 591;—
bengalensis, Edw., I;—ceruleo-cephala, Enl. 356, 2;—cristata, 756, 1;—madagas-
cariensis, 778, 1;—purpured, 778, 2;—superciliosa, 756, 1 and 2;—cinerifrons, Vieill.
Gal. 187;—Biru, Horsf. Jav., and T. Col. 289, 1;—semi-torquata, Swains. Il. 154;—
asiatica, Ib. 50. $
2) Al, capensis, 599; ;—atricapilla, 673;—smirnensis, 232 and 894, one of the two
species distinguished by Aristotle;—dea, 116, of which Vigors makes -his genus
TanysiereRa;—chlorocephala, 783, 2;—coromanda, Somer. 218;—leucocephala (ja-
wanica, Sh.), 757;—senegalensis, 594 and 356; ;—cancrophaga, Sh. 334;—melanor-
“hyncha,,T. Col. 391; s—omnicolor, T. Col., 135;—diops, Id. Col. 212;—Dacelo con-.
hee Id. Col. 346;—Dacelo cinnamominus, Swains. Ill., 67. It is from this division .
hat M. Leach has made his genus Dacexo.
NB. In several of the fig. Enl. the beaks ate not sufficiently inflated.
_ (3) Alcedo fusca (gigantea, Sh.), Enl. 663; Vieill. Gal. 188;—Dacelo pulchella,
Horsf. Jay. and T. Col. 262;—Dac. Gaudichaud, Quoy and Gaym. Voy. de Freycin.
mpl. xxy-
___N.B. M. Lesson separates the species with denticulated beaks from the Ring-
" shers , by the name of Syma; and by that of Topiramruts, those whose beak is a
Bice depressed and without a ridge, such as Alcedo sacra, Lath. See his Mem,
pos those of the Soc. d’Hist. Nat. tom. III, pl. xi and xii.
| (4) Aleedo trydactyla, Pall. and Gm.; Pall., Spic., VI, pl. U, f. 2; Sonner. pl.
-xxxii; ;—Ale. tribrachys, Sh. Nat. Misc. XVI, pl. 681;—Ale. meninting, Horsf., Col,
239, 2.
h
wa)
—
s * =
*
326 3 AVES.
. é
The tarsus also is higher, and the tail not so short. They feed on
“flies and build on the ground.(1)
We ‘terminate the history of this order with the most singular
of its genera, a Spe which has not as much resemblance to the
other Sy dactyla as they have to each other, and one which may very
properly be ge to form a particular family. It is the
° oo @ Buewkos, Lin.
The Hornbills are large birds of Africa and India, whose enormous
dentated beak is studded with excrescences which sometimes equal
in size the beak itself, and which are always of considerable ‘ex-
tent above. This renders them 4 very remarkable, and allies them
to the Toucans, while, at the | same time, their carriage and habits
approximate them to the e Crows, fe their feet to the Bee-eaters
and the Kingfishers. The shape. of these excrescences on the beak
varies with age, and in the very young bird they are not even visi-
ble; the interior is generally cellular, The sternum is slightly emar-
ginated behind, on both sides. The tongue is small and a at
the bottom of the throat; they live on all sorts of food, eat soft fruits, ©
hunt mice, small ae reptiles, and do not even despise carrion.(2),
2 ta” , ¥ Wy 4 i
Pete! hs a
(1) Zodus viridis, Enl. 585, 1 and oh and Vieill. Gal aot Po oat
783, 1. 3 .
Authors have very improperly placed among the Todies, true eee, with
an emarginated beak and the external toe free, such as the Todus regius, Enl.
289;—paradiseeus, Ib., 234; ;—leucocephalus, Pall. Spic., VI, iii, 2;—the two Pra-
ryrutncr of Desmarets, which are the 7'od. rostratus and nasutus of Shaw, or T'od.
platyrhynchos and macrorhynchos, Gm. Vieill., gives the fete Ge 126.
(2) Horneitts wiru Excrescences. Buc. rhinoceros, Enl. 954, Vaill. Callaosy
1 and 2; B. africanus, Vaill., pl. 17, f. 2, may be a mere variety from age; niger,
Vaill., 13, according to Tem. is a badly preserved specimen of the same;—mono-
ceros, Sh. Enl. 873; Vaill. 9, 10, 11, 12;—cassidix, Temm. Col. 210;—malabaricus,
Lath. VI, ii, or albirostris, Sh.; Vaill. Col. 14;—0uccinator, T. Col. 284;—gingiants,
Sonn. Voy. I, pl. cxxi; Vaill., 15; ;—bicornis, Vaill.v7, the adult female; cavatus,
“Id. 4; is the male at a middle age. ~The pl. 3 and 5 are altered specimens of the
same.—B. hydrocorax, F.nl. 282; the. young bird; Col. 283, the adult;—violaceus,
Id. 19;—abyssinicus, Enl. 779, the middle age; Vaill. Afr. 250, 231, the adult;
Vieill. Gal. 191;—sulceatus, T. Col. 69;—panayensis, Enl. 780, the female, and 781
the old male; Vaill. Col. 16, 17, 18; manillensis, Enl. 891, should be ‘the young’
bird;— —fasciatus, Vaill. Afr. 233;—exaratus, T. Col. 211. a
-Hornsiiis witsour Excrescences. B. javanicus, Vaill. Cal. 22, the Oe
male; Afr. 239, the old male, same as the Cul. de Waidjiou, Labill. Voy., B. undu-
latus, Vaill. Cal. 20 and 21, are females of the same; B. erythrorhynchos, En. 260;
Vaill. Afr. 238, the young one;—/ustatus, Cuv.! Enl. 890, Vaill. 236, 237;—core-
ee Vaill. Afr. 204; 235;—bengalensis, Cal. 23. ‘ ‘ 1s 4
ve Lay
SCANSORIA. ade OPE
ORDER TI ghee
SCANSORIAY fA eh ae me
This order is composed of ‘those birds rribse external toe.
is directed backwards like the thumb, by which conformation
they are the better enabled to support the weight of their
bodies, and of which certain genera take advantage in cling-
ing to and climbing upon trees. It is from this that they
have received the common name of Climbers,which in strict-
ness is not applicable to all of them, as there are many true
Climbers which by the disposition of their toes cannot belong
to this order, instances of which we have already seen in the
Creeper and Nuthatch. ,
The Seansorize usually nestle in the hollows of old trees 5
their powers of flight are middling; their food, like that of
the Passerine, consists of insects or fruit, in proportion as
their beak is more or es stout; some of them, the Wood-
‘peckers for instance, have peculiar means for obtaining it.
’ The hind part of theysternum, i in most of the genera, has a ,
double emargination 5 in the Parrots, there is merely a hole,
and. very often that'is completely filled up.
Ms *% rian) # : “i”
mJ fit. he ay - ~*. Gaaua, Briss.
‘The Jacamars are closely allied to’ the Kingfishers by their elon-
ga d sharp- -pointed beak, the upper ridge of which is angular, and
"Y ir short feet, the anterior toes of which are almost wholly
united; ‘these toes, however, are not precisely the same as those of
, the Kingfishers; abeit plumage moreover is not so smooth, and
Seite ’
NB. The B.’'galeatus, of which we only have the ‘head, Enl. 933, and which
wes aillant erroneously considers as an aquatic bird, is a true Hornbill, but whose
“porton oi on the beak is invested with an excessively thick horn, the anterior
ure on of it particularly. |
See the general article onthe Hernbills, by Temminck, in the text of the Planches
EiColiviées. P.S. It is to General Hardwick that we are at length indebted for a
| knowledge of the B. galeatus, which proyes to be, in fact, a true Hor nbill, with a
E long cuneiform tail; black; white belly; the tail yellowish, with a black band near
the end. Lin. Tr. XIV, pl. xxviii.
a
328 Te ‘AVES.
“alway s has a metallic lustre. They are solitary birds, that live in
wet forests, feed on insects, and build on low branches.
The American species have a longer and perfectly eae
beak.(1) a ‘.
There are some species in the Archipelago of India, wile
shorter, stouter and slightly arcuated beak approximates them
to the Bee- eaters. Their anterior toes are more separate.
They constitute the Jacamerors of Vaillant,(2) who even gives
a figure of one that has no ridge above.(3)
Finally, there are others—the Jacamar-Alcyon, which have
only.three toes. They inhabit Brazil.(4) :
i
A Picus, Lin.(5)
The Woodpeckers are well characterized by their long, straight,
angular beak, the end of which is compressed into a wedge, and
fitted for splitting the bark of trees; by their slender tongue, armed
near the tip with Spice that curve backwards, which by the action
of the elastic horns of the hyoid bone, can be thrust far out of the
beak, and by their tail, composed of. ten quills(6) with ‘stiff and
elastic stems, which acts/as a prop in supporting them while they
are climbing.. They are Climbers par excellence: they wand over
trees in every direction, striking the bark with their beaks, and in-
sinuating their long tongue into its cra s and crevices to obtain”
the larvz of insects, on which they feed.» This tongue, besides its
armour, is constantly covered with a viscid ‘fluid, secreted by fra 4
Salivary glands: it is drawn back into the beak by,two muscles,”
which are wound round the trachea like ribands; in this state of re-
traction, the horns of the hyoid ascend under the skin and 1 Eng ie]
head, as far as the superior base of the beak, and the’sheath of the
tongue is doubled into folds in the bottom of the thagatngg yer
aT
ny
(1) Alcedo paradisexa (Galbula ae Lath. ), Enl. O71; ;—Alcedo galbisla, LM
(Galb. viridis, Lath.) Enl. 238;—Galb. ruficauda, Nob. Vail. Ois. de Par. &e.. te
pl. 1; or G. macroura, Vieill. Gal. 29;+Galb. albirostris, Lath. Vaill. pl. li; vie
Ois. Dor. I, pl. iv;—Galb. albiventris, Vaill. xlvi.
(2) Aledo grandis, Gm.; Galbula grandis, Lath. Vaill. pl. liv.
(3) The Grand Jacamar, Vaill. I, cit. pl. liii. Se
Jacamaciri is the Brazilian name of these birds, according to Maregrave. Gal. "
bula, among the Latins, appears to have indicated the Oriole, it was Mehring who "
transferred it to the Jacamars.
(4) Vaill, Jac. Sup. f. 1, and Spix, 57, 2, by the name of Aleyon sridnetylad®
(5) Picus, the Latin name for these birds, giyen to them, it is said, by aking of
Latium.
(6) Strictly speaking, there are twelve; but the lateral ones, which are very | “
small, are not counted.
SCANSORLE. ; 329
stomach is nearly membranous, and they have no cca, still | they also
eat fruit. Fearful and wary, they pass most of their time in a soli-
tary manner, but during the nuptial season they may frequently be
heard summoning their females by loud and rapid tapping on a dry
branch. They build once a year in holes of trees, and each sex alter-
nately broods upon the eggs until they are hatched. There are six
or seven species in Europe.
P. martius, L.; Grand Pic noir; Enl. 596; Naum. 131. (The
Great Black Woodpecker.) Almost as large as a Crow, and
entirely black; a beautiful red forms a calotte in the male, but
a mere spot on the occiput in the female. It prefers the pine
. forests of the North.
P. viridis; Pic vert; Enl. 371; Naum. 132. (The Green
Woodpecker’) Size of a turtle-dove; green above; whitish be-
neath; the calotte red; rump, yellow; one of the most beautiful
birds of Europe. The young are marked with black spots be-
neath, and with white ones onthe mantle. It prefers inhabiting
the woodland plains, and is partial to the beech and elm. It
also seeks food on the ground.
; P. canus, Gm.; Edw. 65; Naum. 133.
» where sprinkled with small, white, round spots. Its noisy and
* — quarrelsome ‘disposition render it a very unwelcome guest in
poultry-yards, although its flesh is excellent. Ina wild state
they live in large flocks, and prefer the vicinity of marshes.
There are also two species,
N. cristata and N. mitrata, Pall., Spic., IV, pl. ii and iii, fig.
1; Vieill. Galer., pl., ccix, in the first of which the head is
ornamented with a plumed crest, and in the second with a conical
helmet. A third has lately been discovered in which the helmet
is very small, and which has a small tuft on the base of the beak,
composed of short stems, almost without barbs. J. ptylorhyn-
cha, Licht. The great genus,
: ; Puasranus, Lin. .
Or that of the Piitastats; is Characterized by the cheeks being
partly destitute of feathers, and covered with a red skin, and by the
tectiform tail, in which the feathers are variousl y'disposed. We first
distinguish,
GALLUs, "2
e
The Cock, in which the head is surmounted with a vertical and
fleshy crest, and each side of the lower mandible furnis ed with
fleshy wattles. The quills of the tail, fourteen in number, are ele-
vated on two vertical planes, placed back to back; the covertsof that
of the male are extended into an arch over the tail proper.. The spe-
cies so common in our barn-yards,
Phas. gallus, L.; Enl. 1 and 49 (The Common Cock and
Hen), varies infinitely as to colour, and even greatly as to size;
in some races the crest is replaced by a tuft of feathers, or a
top-knot; in others the tarsi, and even the toes, are feathered;
in one race the crest, wattles, and periosteum of the whole skele-
ton are black, and in others, by a kind of monstrosity, we find
five, and even six toes, for several generations.
Several species of wild Cocks are known. The first,
Gallus Sonneratii, Tem. Col., 232 and 233 (The Jungle Cock),
was described by Sonnerat, Voy. II, Atl., 117, 118, and is very
remarkable for the feathers on the neck of the male, the stems
of which widen at the bottom into three successive disks of a
horny nature. The crest is denticulate. It is found in the
gauts of Hindostan. .
Two others have been brought from Java by M. Lechenaud,
one of which, Gall. Bankiva, Tem., hasa denticulated crest like
the preceding; all the feathers of the neck being long, pendent,
and of the most beautiful golden red; it appears to me to bear
GALLINACE. S54
the greatest resemblance to our Domestic Cotk. The aeitey
Phas. varius, Shaw, Nat., Misc., 353; Ajamalds; Gall. furcatus,
Tem. Col. 374, is black, with a cupreous-green neck, speckled
with black; the crest entire, and a small kind of dewlap, with-.
out lateral wattles.
PHEASANTS, properly so called,
Have a long cuneiform tail, each of its quills being inclined on two
planes, and covering each other. The most common,
P. coichicus, L.3 Enl., 121, and 122 (The Common Pheasant
of Europe), was ae into Europe by the Argonauts, as it is
said, from the banks of the Phasis. «It is now spread through-
out all temperate Europe, where it requires, however, a great
deal of care. The head and neck of the male are of a deep
green, with two small tufts on the occiput; the rest of the plu-
mage is of a golden fawn colour, speckled with green. The fe-
male is brownish, speckled and variegated with a darker brown.
China has lately furnished us with three other species, which,
with the Peacock, form the ornaments of our aviaries, viz.
Ph. torquatus, which scarcely differs from the common one,
except in having a brilliant white spot on each side of the neck.
Ph. nycthemerus, L.* (The Silver Pheasant.) White, with
' very fine blackish lines on each Apatiien) ae the belly entirely
© black.
ay
Ph. pictus, L. Enl. 217. (The Golden Pitas So remark-
able for its magnificent plumage; the belly i is of a bright red; a
beautiful crest of a golden colour hangs from the head; the neck
is clothed with a collerette of orange, speckled with black; the
‘upper part of the back is green, the lower part of the rump
yellow; the wings red, with a beautiful blue spot; the tail very
long, brown, spotted with grey, &c. It appears to me that
Pliny’s description of the Phenix, lib. x, cap. 2, was taken from
this beautiful bird.
The females of all these species have shorter tails than the
males, and the plumage variously marked with different shades
of grey or brown.(1)
One of the most singular of all birds i is,
Ph. Argus, L.; L’Argus, Vieill., Galer., pl. cciii. (The
Argus.) A Ree Pheasant from the south of Asia, whose head
and neck are nearly naked. The tarsi are without spurs; a very
long tail to the male; the secondary quills of the wings exces-
sively elongated, widened, and covered throughout with ocel-
Se ee EEE TERE EC a a)
(1) Add the Fuisan versicolor,—Phas. Diardi, Tem., discovered by Messrs Di-
ard and Duvaucel, Vieill. Gal. pl. ccv.
- _. « AVES:
lated spots, , which, when spread, give to the bird a most extra-
ordinary aspect. It inhabits the mountains of Sumatra, and of
some other countries of the south east of Asia. It forms the
genus Arcus, Tem., Gallin. ~
There is reason to believe that a bird exists in the interior of
China, the feathers of whose tail are still more elongated, at-
taining a length of four feet, whitish, changing togred on the
edges, with numerous tranverse black or maronne lines. It is
thought to be figured onSome of the Chinese paper hangings.
M. Temminck calls it Phasianus superbuss Gall. II, p. 336. The
r HovrrirEREsy Fem. ‘
With the flaked cheeks common to this genus, have the*vertical
tail and arched coverts peculiar to the Cock, and feathers on their
head which they can erect, forming an aigrette similar to that of the
Peacock. The inferior edge of the naked skin on the cheeks, which
is salient, supplies the place of wattles. The tarsi are armed with
strong spurs.
Only one species is known; it is from the straits of Sunes’ is
the size of a Cock, of a brilliant black, with a golden red rump;
the two superior tail-coverts yellowish or whitish, the flanks
spotted with white or fawn-colour; Phas. ignitus, Sh. Nat.’
Misc., 3215 Vieill., Galer., pl. ccvii. The female is brown,
finely striped with black above, and dashed with white beneath.
She has also a crést, ¢
Tracopan, Cuv. - ®
The head of the male most fantastically ornamented; it is almost’
naked, and behind each eye is a small slender horn; a wattle under
thethroat susceptible of inflation; the tarsi of both sexes armed with
short spurs. °
Only one species is known, a native of the north of India, the
Nepaul or Faisan cornu, Buff.; Penelope satyra, Gm.; Meleagris
satyrus, Lath. Edw. 116; Vieill., Galer. 206. As large as a
Cock; of a brilliant red, sprinkled with small white tears.
The female and the young are of different shades of brown.(1)
We should separate from the Pheasants the 3
Crypronyx, Tem.(2)
In which the nakedness of the head is confined to the circum-
(1) The Tragopan of Pliny, lib. x, c. 49, was probably imagined from this bird.
(2) Vieillot has changed this name into Lrronyx. '
There is a species of Cryptonyx at Malacca, mentioned by Dussumier, which is
black, crestless, and without the papillated space about the eye.
.
GALLINACEA.: _ 353
ference of the eye; the tail is moderate and’plane, and the tarsi with-
out spurs; the principal character, however, consists in the absence
of the thumb nail.
There is only one species well known, the male of which has
a long tuft of slender red feathers, and long upright filaments,
without barbs on each eye- -brow. It is the Rouloul de Malacca,
Sonner. Voy. II, pl. 100; Cr ipt. coronatus, Tem., Col. 350 and
3513; Columba cristata, Gm. and Lath.; Phastanus cristatus,
Sparm., Mus. Carls. III, 64. Green; Some wit larger than a
Quail. The female, which merely has a vestige of a tuft, is the
Tetrao viridis, Lath., Syn. II, pl. 67.(1) ;
TeTRAO, Lin.’
This also is a great genus, characterized by a naked and most gene+
rally red band, which occupies the place of the eye-brow.. It is di-
vided into subgenera as follows.
' Terrao, Lath.
*” The feet of Grous are covered with feathers, and are without spurs.
Those to which this name is more particularly applied have a round
or forked tail and naked toes. There are two large ee of them
“sin France.
T. urogallus, L.; Grand Cog de Bruyéres; Enl., 73 and 74.
il (The Great Heath- Geick. ) The largest of all the ‘Gilisthces,
and superior in size to the Turkey. Its plumage’ is slate-
coloured, transversely and finely striped with black; the female
is fawn-coloured, the cross lines brown or blackish. Found in
the heart of mountain forests, builds among the heath-grass, or
\ in newly cleared grounds, and feeds on berries and buds. Its
| trachea makes two curves before it dips into the lungs. The
. flesh is delicious.
T. tetrixz, L.3 Cog de Bouleau; Enl. 172 and 173; Frisch, 109;
Naum. Ist Ed., 18, f. 37 and 38. (The Black Cock.) The
male is more or less black, with some white on the coverts of
the wings and under the tail, the two forks of which diverge
laterally. The female is fawn-coloured, transversely striped
with blackish and whitish. Their size is that of the Cock, and
they are found in mountain forests.
(1) The* Columba cristata, B., Gm., Lath., Syn. I, pl. lviii, appears closely
allied to it; but the figure represents it as having a large nail to the thumb. This
is perhaps an error, as in the Galer. Vieill, tom. I, ‘pl. cex.
Vou. L—2 U
354 AVES.
An intermediate species appears {to exist in the north of
Europe,—7. intermedius, Langsdorf, Mém. de Petersb., tom.
III, pl. xiv; Sparm. M. Carls., pl. xy, which is larger than the
preceding, with the tail less forked, and the, breast spotted
with white. Found inthe marshy districts of Coase Ingria,
&c.(1)
In the?woods offtemperate Europe we find,
T. bonasia, L.; La Gelinotte; Poule des Coudriers;(2) Enl.
474 and 4753 Frisch. 112; Naum., 20, f. 39. (The Hazel
Grous,) Which is buta little larger than the Partridge, and is
prettily variegated with brown and white, grey and red; alarge
black band near the tip of the tail; throat of the male black,
and his head slightly tufted.(3) a
America produces some neighbouring speciés, such as
Tet. canadensis and canace, I..; Gelinotte noire d’ Amer., Enl.
131 and 13%; Edw. 118 and 71, Brown, verging more or less
on a black; tip of thevtail red.
In some, the feathers on each side of the neck Ts e males’
are turned up like a mantlet, or two scrolls: their habits have an"
affinity with those of the Turkey. Such are, . .
Tetr. umbellus and togatus, Gm.; Cog. de Bruy. a Gian Enl.
104; Edw. 248; Wils. pl. xlix; called Partridge in Ne England, « ‘
and Pheasant in Pennsylvania. Variegated with ngttwien and,
black; a large black spot at the bottom of the neck, on each ~
side; a black band edged with white on the tip of the tail; lower
part of the tarsi naked. Found in the mountain forests; the
voice of the male in the nuptial season resembles the roll of a
drum.
Tetr. cupido, Gm., Catesb. Suppl. 1; Wils, pl. xxvii; Vieill.
Galer. 219.£(The Pinnated Grous.) Variegated ‘with brown and
fawn colour; tail brown; tarsi feathered down to the toes; the
feathers on the bottom of the male’s neck turn up into two |
pointed scrolls, beneath which is a naked skin, which, in the
(1) It appears to be at once the T¥tras é phiinoge variable, and the — a
queue pleine, of Buffon.
(2) Bonasi4, or Bonasa, name of the Gelinotte i in Albertus Magnus and other
authors of the middle ages.
(3) The Attagas of Buff., Attagen of Aldrov., Ornith., II, p. 75; Gelinotte huppée,,
Briss., appears to me after much research, even in Italy, to be nothing more than a
young or female Gelinotte. 1t is the same individual painted by Frisch, pl.
exii.. The Tetrao canus, Gm. (Sparm. Mus. Carls., p..16) is only an albino variety
of the Gelinotte. Neither have I any confidence in the authenticity of the’ Tetr.
: nemessianus, nor in that of the T'etr. betulinus of Scopoli. They are females, or.
the young of the Tetr. tetrix, or disfigured cape
& “, °
GALLINACE®, | 355
genial season, he inflates like a bladder; his voice sounds like a
trumpet. Found on extensive plains, and is such delicious
food that laws have been passed to preserve the breed.(1) The
name of mae
LaGgorus,
Or Ptarmigan, is more particularly applied to those species which
have a round or square tail; whose toes are feathered as well as the
legs. ‘The most common become white in winter.
Tetr. lagopus, L.; Lagopéde ordinaire,(2) Enl. 120 and 4945
Brit. Zool. pl. M, 3, M, 4; Naum. Ist Ed. Supp. 61, f. 115,
116. (The Ptarmigan or White Grous. ) Its summer plumage
is fawn coloured, marked with small black lines.(3) From high
mountains, where it remains during the winter, in holes which
it forms under the snow. .
Tetr. albus, Gm., called of Hudson’s Bay; 7". saliceti, Tem.,
Edw. 723 Frisch, 110, 111. (I'he White Ptarmigan.) From the
whole north; is larger, and its summer plumage more red; its
belly remains white.(4)
There is a Ptarmigan in Scotland, however, which does not change
its plumage in winter; it is, :
Tetr. scoticus, Lath.; Poule de marais; Grous,'&c. Albin. 1,
23, 24;9Brit. Zool. pl. M, 3; Vieill. Galer. 221. (The Red Ptar-
vy migan.) Above, variegated with fawn colour, brown and black;
' a deep red, striped with blackish beneath; legs cinereous, and
but few feathers on the toes. ,
' We may separate by the name of | 5
Ganea or Arracrn.(5)—Prerocres, Tem.
Those species which have a pointed tail and naked toes. The cir.
cumference of their eyes only is naked, but it is not of a red colour;
their thumb is very small. ,
Tetr. alchata, L.; Ganga, Enl. 105 and 106; Edw. 249.(6)
The size of a Partridge; the plumage scalloped with fawn co-
$ ,
Cciigth SAMO eee ee Dik SS ee eee
(1) Add Tet. uwrophasianus, Bonap. II, pl. xxi, f. 2;—-Tet. obscurus, Bonap. II,
pl. xviii. Am. Ed.
(2) Lacorus—hare’s foot, hairy foot—is the ancient name of this bird.
(3) In this summer livery it is the Tetr. rupestris, Lath.
(4) The summer plumage forms the Zetr. Japponicus, Lath.
(5) Attagen, the Greek name of a heavy bird, somewhat larger than the Par-
tridge, with the plumage of a Woodcock, probably designated the Ganga.
’ (6), Ganga is its Catalonian name; .2lchata, or rather Chata, its name among the
Arabs. "
* -
356. r : “Aves...
;
lour and brown; the two middle quills oft the tail much elongated
and terminating inva point; throat of the male, black. Found in
the south of France; and all round the Mediterranean,(1) ¥
:
Preropix, Briss.
Partridges have the tarsi naked like the toes. Among them the
%
,
FRanco.inus, Tem.
Is distinguished by a longer and*stronger beak; a larger tail Vand?
generally speaking, by stout spurs. The south of Europe produces
one, w. p> * "ti
Tetrao francolinus, L.(2) Enl. 147, 148; Edw. 246. With red
feet; neck and belly of the male, black, with round white spots;
_ a bright red collar.(3)
Some of these birds foreign to Europe are remarkable for a
double spur,(4) or for the naked skin of their throat.(5) In
others these characters are united,(6) and in certain | large beak-
ed species the spurs are altogether wanting.(7) The
Common PARTRIDGES ; a 4
f
Have a somewhat weaker beak; the spurs of the males are either
short, or mere simple tubercles; they are deficient in the female. —
a
, : ’ ‘
» 28
(1) Add of those species which have filaments to the tail, Tetr. senegalus, or
Pterocles guttatus, Tem., Enl. 130, and the female 345; —Pterocles exustus, Tem. ©
Col., 354 and 360:—Of — whose tail. is simply pointed, Tetr. drenarius, ‘Pall. m5
Noy. Com. Petrop., XIX, pl. viii, or Pterocles arenarius, Col. 52 and 53, the same
as the Perdix arragonica, Lath.;—Pterocles Lichtensteinii,. T. Col. 355.and 361.
The male 355 is at all events closely allied to the Tetr. indicus, Lath.; Sonner. II,
96;—Pterocles coronatus, Tem. Col. 339 and 540; —Pteroeles quadricinctus, Tem. or
Oenas bicinctus, Vieill. Galer. 220 ;—finally the largest species, the Tir. fasianel-
lus, Gm. or Long-tailed Gelinotte of Hudson’s Bay, Edw. 117, ~
(2) Francolino, the name of the blind made for the purpose of killing the bird
whose appellation it bears, is applied in Italy to several aie such as the Geli-
notte and this one. , '
(3) Add the Tetrao ponticerianus, Sonner. Voy. 1, 11, 165, Tem. Col. 213;—
perlatus, Briss., pl. xxviii, A, fig. 1; Vieill. Galer. 213; the same as the naar
riensis, Sonn. II, 166, pl. xcvii.
(4) Tetrao bicalcaratus, L., Enl. 137; ee Clappertoni, Rupp., pl. ix, can
hardly be said to differ from it; ;—spadiceus, Sonn. Il, 169;—zezlonensis, Ind. Zool.
pl. xiv.—The Perdix cruenta, Tem. Col. 322, has three and even four spurs, and
bright colours foreign to the rest of the genus. ‘
(5) Tetrao rubicollis, Enl..180.
(6) Tetrao nudicollis. *
(7) Tetrao javanicus, Brown, Il., xvii, (a bad figure); there is a better one,
Col. 148, under the name of Pedriz ajanham, Vemm. :
'g
a
ba) v
GALLINACE. | oie
Letrao cinereus, L.5 Enl. 27; Feely 114; Naum. Ist Ed. pl.
3, ft 3. (he Grey Partridge.) Beak and feet ash coloured; head
fawn coloured; the plumage of various shades of grey; a maronne °
spot on the bréast of the male. This common bird, which con-
stitutes so important an item in the luxuries of the tables of Eu-
ropeans, lives and builds in their fields.
Tetr. rufus, L.; Enl. 150. (The Red Partridge.) Beak and feet
red; brown ators flanks speckled with red and cinereous; throat
white, surrounded with black; prefers the hills and rising
grounds. The flesh is white Si dry. The south of France
produces \ :
Perdiz greca, Briss.; Per. saxatilis, Meyer; La Bartavelle,
En]. 231; Frisch. 116. Which only differs from the Red Par-
tridge in its superior size and more ash coloured plumage. It”
is found along the Brest mountain ranges.(1) .
« ae 1X.
Quails are smaller than Partridges, with a slenderer beak and
shorter tail; no red eye-brow nor spurs. Every one knows
ms Tetr ao coturniz, L.; Enl. 1703 Frisch, 117; Naum. 4, f. 4.
(The Common Oeil.) Back brown, waved with black; a point-
» ed white stripe on each feather; throat brown, eyebrows whitish;
_ Found in the fields of Europe, and celebrated for its migrations;
} during which this heavy bird finds means to cross the Mediter-
“ranean. (2) The
» Pe “PARTRIDGES AND QUAILS of AMERICA
eo
| 8 Have a eater; shorter, and more convex beak; the tail i is some-
what larger.(3) “They perch on bushes, and, when disturbed, even
_on trees. .Several of them migrate like the Quails of Europe.
SDAA RO pba DT ei babe et i
(1) Add the Red Partridge of Barbary, a very distinct species, ( Tetr. petrosus,
Gm.) Edw., 70;—the Perdriz de montaigne, (Tetrao montanus), Enl. 136, Frisch.
114, B, is only, according to Bonnelli,.a variety of the Grey Partridge;—the Per drix
de haye, Tem. Col. 328 and 329; ;—-Perd. personata, Horsf. Jav. ;—Perd. a2 gorge
rousse (Perd. gularis, T.);—Perd. oculea, Id. ;—Perd. fusca, Vieill. Gal. 212.
(2) Add the petite Caille de la Chine (Tetr. chinensis, L.), Enl. 126, F, 2, of
which the Ttér. manillensis, Gm., Sonner. Voy. I, pl. xxiv, is the female;—the
Caille australe (Perd., australis, T.), Vieill., Galer. 215;—the Cuille nattée (Perd.
textilis, Temm. ), Col. $5;—the Tetr. coromandelicus, Sonner-. I, 172;—T. striatus,
Sonner., I, pl. xcxviii, and Temm. Col. 82, very different from that of Lath. Syn.
Il, pl. lxvi;s—the Pedrix de gingi ( Tetr. gingieus), Sonner. II, p- 167, also appears
to belong to this subgenus. ~
(3) Among the species, the size of the Partridge, we may remark the Tocro, or
Perdrix de la Guiane, Buff. (Tetr. guyanensis, Gm.) or Perd. dentata, Tem. or
a c" ‘age
It is impossible to ayoid depuis z from the whole genus Tetrao
the F ~ ™ x
- 4 = -« : Po 4
Tripactryztes, Lacép. Borroprosp Tem. ’
In which the thumb is wanting, and,whose compressed be beak for forms
a little projection under the der mandible. They cannot, how.
ever, be properly classed until their anatomy is better known. They
are Bolyesmane and inhabit sandy eer ice: ae Some of them, the
Turnrx, Bonn at.—OnryGIs, Mig.
Have still all the appearance of Quam t their toes are completely
separated down to the very base, ant, are without the small mem-
branes.
. The natives of Java use one species for fighting, as Cocks are used _
in England; it is the Hemip. pugnax, T. » Col. 602.(1) "Others, such
as the ae
_ 9 . °¢ aoe . : ,
SyrruarreEs, Illig., pal
Are so far removed from the general type of the Gallinacezx, -
we are tempted to doubt the propriety of placing them in this order.
Their short tarsi are covered with feathers as well as the toes, which
are also very short and partly united; their wings are extremely long
and pointed. os ;
One species ‘only is known, and that is from the deserts of ©
central Asia—Tetrao paradoxus, Pall., Voy., Fr. Trans. 8yo,
tom. III, pl. 1, page 18; Vieill. Galer., pl. te. the Hetero-
_clite, Tem., Col., . 95. ¢®
Odontophorus rufus, Vieill. Galer. pl. ccxi, which is not a Tina as Gmelin »,
asserts. Among those the size of the Quail : Tetrao mexicunus, Enl..149, Frisch. 1. §
the same as marylandicus, Albin. I, xxviii, and as virginianus, or Perdix borealis,
Vieill. Galer. 214;—Tttr. Falklandicus, Enl., 222;— Tetr. cristatus, Enl: 126, f. 1;—
the Colin Sonnini (Perd. Sonnini, T,) Col. 75, and Jour. de Phys., Ul, 217, and pl.
2;—the Colin @ aigrette de Californie, Tetr. californius, Sh., Nat. Misc. IX, pl. 345,
and Atl. Voy. de la Peyrouse, pl. xxxvi;—the Perd. rousse-gorge (Pend. cambayen-
sis, Tem.) Col, 447;—Perd. australis, Vieill. Gal. 215. :
(1) Add Tetrao nigricollis, Enl. 171;—Tetr. andalusicus, Lath., Syn. Tr , part 2,
fig. of the title page;—T%tr. lwzoniensis, Sonn. Voy. I, pl. xxiii; —Hemipodius ni-
grifrons, Tem. II, 610, and Vieill. Gal. 218;—Hemip. thoracicus, Tem. III, 622, or
L'urnix maculatus, Vieill. Gal. pl. 217;—Hemip. Meiffrenii, T. Col. 60, 1, of which
Vieill., Gal. 300, makes his genus Torticetxe, and places it among the Waders,
inasmuch as the lower part of the tibia is without feathers;—the Hemip. nivosus,
Swains. Zool. lll., 163, must also belong to it;—the Tir. suscitator, or Htéveil-matin
of Java is also a Turhix. See Hontius, Med. Ind. P- 65.
GALLINACEA, 359
It is equally necessary to separate from Tetrao, the .
Trvamus, Lath.—Cryrrurvs, Illig.—Ynampus, Azz.(1)
Or the Tinamous, a genus of American birds very remarkable for a °
slender and long neck, (although their tarsi are short) covered with
feathers, the tips of whose barbs are slender and slightly curled,
which gives a very peculiar air to that part of their plumage. The
beak is long, slender, and blunt at the end; somewhat arched, with
a little groove on each side; the nostrils are pierced in the middle of ©
each side, and penetrate obliquely backwards. Their wings are
short, and they have scarcely any tail. ‘The membrane between the
base of the toes is very short. Their thumb, reduced to a spur,
cannot reach the ground... The circumference of the eye is partly
naked. They either perch on low branches of trees, or hide among
“tall grass; they feed on fruits and insects, and their flesh is good.
‘Their size varies from that of the Pheasant down to that of the
Quail, some of them are even still smaller.
One portion of them,—Przus, Spix, is still furnished with a
small tail concealed under the feathers of the rump.(2)
In. the other—Tinamus, Spix, every vestige of a tail is annihi-
» lated.(3) Their nostrils are placed a little farther back.
*. We should distinguish the Ryncnorus, Spix, whose beak, which
is stronger, has no groove, and is slightly arcuated and depressed;
the nostrils are pierced near the base.(4)
:
ee : .. Conumsa, Lin. :
The Pigeons may be considered as forming a slight transition from
the Gallinacez to the Passerine. Like the former, their beak is
vaulted, the nostrils perforated in a broad membranous space, and
(1) Except his Choro, which is a Gallinula, and his Uru, which is the Tocro al-
ready spoken of among the Partridges. |
(2) Tetr. major, Gm., or Tin. brasiliensis, Lath., or the Tin. magoua, Tem. ;
Buff. Enl. 476, and much better, Hist. des Ois., IV, 4to, pl. xxiv; it is the Pezus
serratus, Spix;—Tetr. cinereus;—Tetr. variegatus, Enl. 328, from which the Tin.
undulatus, T., or Cryptura sylvicola, Vicill. Gal. 216, can differ but little; —Tin.
'- apequia ( T’. obsoletus, Tem.) Col. 196;—T'in. tataupa, Swains. ill. 19, or T. plum-
beus, 'F. Col. 196, or Pezus niamba, Spix, 78, a;—T'inamus noctivagus, Pr. Max.,
or Pezus zabele, Sp., 77;—Tin. macaco or vermiculé (T'. adspersus, T.), Col. 369, or
_ Pezus \vapura, Sp. 78:—Tetr. sovi, Gm., or Tin. sovi, Lath. Buff., Enl. 829.
(3) Tin. inambut, Azz. (Tt maculosus,1.), or T: mejor, Sp., 80;—T. medius,
Spix,81;—T.- boraquira, Sp. 79;—T- carape, (ZT. pavoninus, T.) of which the Tinam.
minor, Sp- 81, appears to be the female. These three species are very similar.
(4) The Tinamou isabelle (T. rufescens, T.), Col. 412; or Rhinchotus fasciatus,
Spix, 76. | :
360 AVES.
covered with a cartilaginous scale, which even forms a bulge at the
base of the bill; the bony sternum is deeply and doubly emarginated,
although somewhat differently; the crop extremely dilated, and the
lower larynx furnished with butia single proper muscle; but there is
no other membrane between the base of their toes than that which
results from the continuity of the edges. Their tail is composed of
twelve quills. They fly” well, live in a state of monogamy, build on
trees or in fissures among rocks, and lay but few eggs at a time,
generally two; it is true they lay frequently. The male assists his,
mate in the business of brooding. They nourish their young by
disgorging macerated grain into their crop. They form but one
genus, which naturalists have attempted to’ divide into three sub-
genera, from the greater or less strength of the bill and the propor-
tions of the feet. The f
° ‘i “% ; “
Cotumsi-GALLINEs, Vail.
Approximate to the ordinary Gallinacez still more than the other
subgenera, by their more elevated tarsi and their habit of living in
flocks, seeking their food on the ground, and never perching. Their
beak is thin and flexible. ' ’
One species is even allied to the Gallinacee by the caruncles
and naked portions of skin that distinguish its head; it is the . |
Columba carunculata, Tem. pl. 11; Columbi-galline, Vaill.
278.
A second is at all events connected with them by its size,
which about equals that of the Turkey; it is the Crowned Pigeon
of the Archipelago of India; Goura,Tem.; Colombihocco, Vaill.;
Col. coronata, Gm.; Sonn. 104; Enl. 118; Tem., Pigeons, pl.
1; Vieill., Galer. 197. Altogether of a slate-blue, with some
chesnut and white on the wing; the head ornamented with a
vertical tuft of long slender feathers. It is bred in the poultry
yards at Java, &c., but does not propagate in,Europe.(1)
A third claims an alliance with them, from the long pendent
feathers which ornament its neck, like that of the Cock. It is
the Pigeon de Nincombar; Col. nincombarica, L.3; Enl. 491, and is
of the most brilliant golden-green, with a white tail. Found in
several parts of India.(2) The ~
CoLumB2,
Or Common Pigeons, have shorter feet than the preceding birds,
(1) This large Crowned Pigeon constitutes the genus goura, or Loruraus of
Vieill. Galer. pl. 197. ie.”
(2) Species placed in this genus which are not, perhaps, sufficiently deter-
GALLINACE. 361
but the same thin and flexible beak. Four wild species are found in
Europe.
Col. palumbus, L.; Le Ramier, Enl. 316. (The Cushat.) Is
the largest, and inhabits the forests, preferring those of Pines,
&c. It is ash-coloured, more or less blue; breast of a vinous
red, and is distinguished by white spots on the sides of the
neck and on the wing.
Col. enas, L.; Le Colombin; Frisch, 139. (The Stock Dove.)
A slate-grey, the breast vinous; sides of the neck a changeable
green; somewhat smaller than the preceding, but has similar
habits. :
Col. livia, Briss.; Biset or Pigeon de roche; Enl. 510. (The
Rock Dove). Slate-greys circumference of the neck a changea-
ble green; a double black bandon the wing; rump, white. This
species is the parent stock of our Common Pigeon, and most
probably of all our innumerable domestic races, in whose pro-
duction the mixture of some neighbouring species may also have
had some influence.
Col. turtur, L.; Tourterelle; Enl. 394. (The Turtle Dove.) A
fawn coloured mantle spotted with brown; neck bluish, with a
spot on each side speckled with white and black. The smallest
of the wild, European species. It inhabits the woods.
Col. risoria, L.3; Rieuse; Enl. 244; Frisch, 44; Tem. 44. (The
Ring Dove.) Appears to be originally from Africa. It is of a
flaxen colour, paler beneath; a black collar round the neck.(1)
mined: Columba cyanocephala, Enl. 174, Vaill., 281; Tem. 3;—Col. montana,
Edw. 119; Tem. 4;—Col. martinica, Enl. 141, 162; Vaill. 282; Tem. 5 and 6;—
Col. erythrothorax, Tem. 7;—Col. cruenta, Sonn. 20, 21; Tem. 8 and 9;—Col. ja-
maicensis, Tem. 10;—Col. talpacoti, Tem. 12;—Col. passerina, Enl. 243, 2, Ca-
tesby, 26;—Col. minuta, Enl. 243, 1;—Col. hottentotta, Tem., Vaill. 283 ;—Col.
cobocola, and. Col. griseola, Spix, LXXV, 2.
N.B. The C. passerina and squamosa form the genus Caammreria of Swain-
son; the C. cinerea, T., the genus Prrisrera, and the C. migratoria, the genus
EororistTEs.
_ (1) Other Columbe with a square or round tail, Col. spadicea, Tem. 1;—Col.
aned, Enl. 164, Tem. 3 and 4; Voy de Freycin., 29, of which, according to Tem-
minck, Col. pacifica is the male;—the Col. océanique, Less. and Garn. Voy. de Du-
perre, isa neighbouring species;—Col. arcuatriz, Vaill. Afr.; Tem. 5;—C. armillaris,
Tem. 6;—C. littoralis, Sonn: 103; Tem. 17;—C. chalcoptera, ‘Tem. 8;—C. cristata,
Tem. 9;—C. caribexa, Tem. 10;—C. lewcocephala, Catesb. 65; ‘Tem. 13;—C. speciosa,
Enl. 213; Tem. 14;—C. corensis, Tem. 15;—C. guinea, Edw. 75; Vaill. Afr. 265;
Tem. 16;—C. madagascariensis, Enl. 11; Vaill. Afr. 266; Tem. 17;—C. gymnoph-
talmos, Tem. 18;—C. Franciz, Sonner. 101; Tem. 19;—€. rubri-capilla, Sonner.
57; Tem. 20;—C. elegans, Tem. 22;—C. cincta, Tem. 23;—C. rufina, Tem. 24;—
C. leucoptera, Edw. 76; Tem. 25;—C. javanica, Enl.177; Tem. 26; Sonner. 66;—
Vou. I.—2 V
362 AVES.
The species of this division are numerous, and may be still more
subdivided, according to the greater or less nudity of their tarsi, and
from the naked space found round the eyes of some of them.(1)
Some have even caruncles, and other naked parts on the head.
Such is the Col. auricou; Col. auricularis, Tem., 21.
We can also separate some species with pointed tails.(2)
But the best of all the divisions that have been made among the
Pigeons, is that of,
Vinaco, Cuv.—Corumpars, Vaill.(3)
Known by the bill, which is thicker, formed of a solid substance,
and compressed on the sides; the tarsi are short, the feet wide and
well bordered. They all feed on fruit, and inhabit forests. But few
species are known, all of which are from the torrid zone of the east-
ern continent.(4) Some of them have a pointed tail.(5)
C. jamboo, Tem. 27 and 28;—C. violacea, Tem. 29;—C. melanocephala, Enl. 214;
Tem. 380;—C. larvata, Vaill. Afr. 269; Tem. 31;—C. holosericea, Tem. 32;—C.
sinica, Albin, III, 46;—C. viridis, Enl. 142;-—C. erythkroptera, Temm. 55;—C. mys-
tacea, T. 56;—C. superba, T. 33;—C. tympanistria, Vaill. 272, Tem. 36;—C.
cxrulea, T. 37;—C. afra, Enl. 160; Vaill. 271; Tem. 38 and 39;—C. Geoffroy, T.
57;—C. cinerea, T. 58, and the female, Col. 260;—C. bitorquata, T. 40;—C. vinacea,
T. 41;—C. tigrina, Sonner., 102;—C. cambayensis, Vaill. 270; T. 45;—C. mala-
barica, Col. brame, 'T.;—C. alba, Tem. 46;—C. squamosa, T. 59;—C. malaccensis,
Mus. Carls. 67; Edw. 16; Tem. 47;—C. macroura, Enl. 329;—C. porphyrea, Tem,
Col. 106;—C. dilopha, T. Col. 162;—C. magnifica, T. Col. 163;—C. locutrix, Pr.
Max.; Col. 166;—C. leucomela, T. Col. 186;—C., scripta, T. Col. 187;—C. Dussu-
mieri, T. Col. 188;—C. leucotis, T. Col. 189;—C. xanthura, Cuv.; Col. 190;—C.
picturata, T. Col. 242;—C. sperspicillata, Col. 246;—C. tuctuosa, Reinw.; Col.
247;—C. hyogastra, R.; Col. 252;—C. monacha, R.; Col. 253;—C. humilis, T. Col.
258;—C. pinon, Quoy and Gaym., Voy. Freycin., 28;—C. pampusan, Ib. 30;—C.
araucana, Less. and Garn. Voy. de Duperr. 40;—C. cyanovirens, Ib.42;—C. Zox,
Tb. 29. ?
Add, Col. fasciata, Bonap. I, pl. Ixxvii, f. 3;—Col. zenaida, Bonap. II, pl. xv,
£2. Wim. Bd:
(1) M. Swains. calls Prirrnorvs those species which have feathered tarsi, such
as the C. purpurata, T. Col. 34, &c.
(2) Col. migratoria, Enl. 176; Frisch, 142; Tem. 48 and 49;—Col. carolinensis,
Ib. 175; Tem. 50; Catesb. 24; Edw. 15;—Col. Reinwartii, Tem. Col. 248;—C.
humeralis, Ib. 191;—C. amboinensis, Ib., 100;—C. lophotes, Ib. 142;—C. venusta,
Ib. 341, 1, or Col. strepitans, Spix, Ixxv, 1;—Col. dominicensis, Ib. 487; Tem. 51;
—Col. capensis, Ib. 140, &c.; Vaill. 273, 274; Tem. 53, 54;—C. Maugei, Tem,
52;—Col. macquaria, Quoy and Gaym., Voy. de Freyc., 31.
(3) Vinago, the Latin name of the C. enas—Vieill. has changed it into Trrron.
(4) Col. abyssinica, or Wallia of Bruce, Vaill. 276, 277; Tem. 8 and 9;—Col.
australis, Enl, 3, Tem. 3;—Col. aromatica, Enl. 163; Tem. 57; Brown, Zool. Ill.
20;—Col. vernans, Enl. 158; Tem. 10 and 11;—Col. militaris, Tem. 1 and 2;—C.
psittacea, Tem. 4;—C. calva, Tem. 7;—C€. olax, T. Col. 241;—C. Capellei, tb. 143.
(5) Col. oxyura, T. Col. 240.
GRALLATORIA. 363
ORDER V.
GRALLATORIZA.—Gratuia, Lin.
The birds of this order derive their name from their habits,
and from the conformation which causes them. They are
known by the nudity of the lower part of their legs, and most
generally by the height of their tarsi; two circumstances which
enable them to enter the water to a certain depth without
wetting their feathers; to wade through it and seize fish by
means of their neck and bill, the length of which is usually
proportioned to that of the legs. Those which are furnished
with a strong bill, feed on fish and reptiles ; while such as have
a weak one, consume worms and insects. A very few feed par-
tially on grain, and they alone live at a distance from rivers, &c.
The external toe is most commonly united at its base with that
of the middle one, by means of a short membrane ; sometimes
there are two similar membranes, and at others they are en-
tirely wanting, and the toes are completely separated; it
sometimes also happens, though rarely, that they are border-
ed all along, or palmated to the very end; in fine, the thumb
is deficient in several genera; circumstances, all of which have
an influence on their mode of life, which is more or less
aquatic. Almost all these birds, the Ostriches and Cassowaries
excepted, have long wings, and fly well; during which action
they extend their legs backwards, differing in this from all
others, which fold them under the belly.
In this order we establish five principal families, and some
insulated genera.
FAMILY I.
BREVIPENNES.
These birds, although similar in general to the other Gral-
latorie, differ from them greatly in one point—the shortness
of the wings, which renders flight impossible. The beak
364 AVES.
and regimen give them numerous aflinities with the Galli-
nacez.
It appears as if all the muscular power which is at the com-
mand of nature, would be insuflicient to move such immense
wings as would be required to support their massive bodies in’
the air. The sternum is a simple buckler, and is deficient in
that ridge which is found in all other birds. The pectoral
muscles are thin and delicate, but the posterior extremities
regain what the wings have lost—the muscles of the thighs,
and of the legs in particular, being enormously thick and stout.
The thumb is always deficient.(1) They form two genera.
SrruTruio, Lin.
The Ostriches have wings furnished with loose and flexible feathers,
but still sufficiently long to increase their speed inrunning. Every
one knows the elegance of these slender-stemmed plumes, the barbs
of which, although furnished with little hooks, always remain sepa-
rate, contrary to what takes place in most other birds. Their beak
is horizontally depressed, of a moderate length, and blunt at the end;
their tongue short, and rounded like a crescent; their eye large, and
the lid fringed with lashes; their legs and tarsi very long. They have
an enormous crop, a large sac between the crop and gizzard, volu-
minous intestines, long cca, and a vast reservoir in which the urine
accumulates as in a bladder, being the only birds which can be said
to urine. The penis is very large, and is frequently exposed.(2)
But two species are known, each of which might form a-separate.
genus. '
Struthio camelus, L.; Enl. 457.(3) (The Ostrich of the East-
ern Continent.) But two toes, the external of which is one half
shorter than its fellow, and has no nail. This bird, so highly
celebrated from the earliest ages, abounds in the sandy deserts
of Arabiaand Africa. It attains the height of six or eight feet,
lives in great troops, lays eggs, each weighing nearly three
(1) The number of the phalanges is as follows, commencing with the inter-
nal toe:
Ostrich, 4, 5:
Nandou and Cassoway, 3, 4, 5:
Which amounts to the numbers common among birds.
(2) For the genito-urinary organs of birds, and those of the Ostrich in particu-
lar, consult the Mém. of Geoffroy Saint-Hillaire, Mém. du Mus., tom. XV. ,
(3) See also the beautiful figure drawn by Maréchal, in the Mente: du Mus.
of Lacep. and Cuvier, copied Vieill. Galer. pl. 223. °
GRALLATORLE. 365
pounds, which, in very hot climates, it is contented with expos-
ing in the sand to the warmth of the sun, but over which, out
of the tropics, it broods with great care, defending them cou-
rageously every where. The Ostrich feeds on grass, grain, &c.,
and so obtuse is its sense of taste that it swallows pebbles, pieces
of iron, copper, &c. When pursued it dashes stones behind ~
it with great violence. No animal can overtake it in the race.
Struth. rhea, .3(1) Nandou, Churi, &c., Hammer. An. Mus.
XII, xxxix; Vieill. Galer. 224. (The American Ostrich.) Is
about one half smaller, with more thinly furnished feathers, of
a uniform grey colour, and particularly distinguished by its
three toes, all having nails. Its plumage is greyish, browner
on the back: a black line along the back of the neck in the male.
It is as common in the southern parts of South America, as the
“preceding one is in Africa. When taken young, it is easily
tamed. Several females, it is said, lay in the same nest, or
» rather the same hole, yellowish eggs, which are hatched by the
male. It is only eaten when very young.
Casvarius, Briss.
The Cassowaries have wings still shorter than those of the Ostrich,
and. totally, useless, even in running. There are three toes to all the .
feet, each furnished with a nail; the barbs of their feathers are so
poorly provided with, barbulz, that at a distance they resemble pen-
dent hairs. Two spécies are known, each of which might also con-
stitute a genus.
| Struthio casuarius, L.; Emeu,(2) Enl. 313, and better Frisch,
105.(3) (The Cassowary.) The beak laterally compressed;
head surmounted by a bony prominence, covered with a horny
substance; skin of the head and top of the neck naked, of an
azure-blue and a fiery red colour, with pendent caruncles like
those of the Turkey; some stiff stems in the wings, without barbs,
which the bird uses as weapons in combat; nail of the internal
toe much the strongest. It is the largest of all birds, next to
the Ostrich, and differs considerably from it in its anatomy, for
(1) Brisson and Buffon, following Barrére, have improperly applied to it the
name of Touyou, or rather of J'owiouiow, which belongs to the Jabiru. It is the
genus Rhea of Brisson. The Portuguese of Brazil have transferred to it the name
‘of Emeu, which properly belongs to the Cassowary.
(2) Casswwaris, the Malay name of this bird. Eme, or Emeu, its peculiar appel-
lation in Banda.
(S) There is also an excellent figure of it by Marechal in the Menag. du Mus.
copied Vieill. Galer. pl. 225.
366 AVES.
its intestines are short, and the czca small; the intermediate
stomach between the crop and gizzard is wanting, and its cloaca
is not larger in proportion than that of other birds. It feeds
on fruit and eggs, but not grain. The female lays a small
number of green eggs, which like the Ostrich she abandons to
the solar heat. Found in different islands of the Archipelago
of India.
Cas. Novx-Hollandiz, Lath.; Voy. de Péron, Atl. part 1, pl.
xxxvi; Viecill. Galer. pl. 226.(1) (The Cassowary of New Hol-
land.) A depressed beak; no helmet on the head; a little naked
skin about the ear; plumage brown and more of it; more barbs
to the feathers; no caruncles, or spurs on the wing; nails of
the toes about equal. Its flesh resembles beef. Its speed is
greater than that of the swiftest greyhound. The young ones
are striped with brown and black. (2) .
FAMILY Il. © 0%
PRESSIROSTRES. Pes
;
This family comprises genera ‘with long legs). without a
thumb, or in which the thumb is too short to reach the - ground.
The bill is moderate, but strong enough to penetrate the earth
in search of worms; hence we find those species in which it is
weakest frequenting meadows and newly ploughed grounds to’
obtain that sort of food with more facility. Such as have
stronger beaks, also feed on herbs, grain, &c.
(1) This constitutes the genus Emov, or Dromatvs of Vieillot.
(2) N.B. I cannot allow room in this work for species so little known, and even
so poorly authenticated, as those which form the genus Dipvs of Linnzus.
‘The first, or the Didus ineptus, is only known from a description drawn up by
the first Dutch navigators, and given by Clusius, Exot., p. 99, and from an oil
painting of the same period, copied by Edwards, pl. 294; for the description of
Herbert is puerile, and all others are copied from Clusius and Edwards. It seems
that the species has completely disappeared, nothing remaining of it at the present
day but a foot preserved in the British Museum (Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 143), and a
head in very bad condition possessed by the Asmolean Museum of Oxford (Id. Ib.
pl. 166.) The beak bears some resemblance to that of the Penguins, and the foot,
if it were palmated would be like that of the Aptenodytes.
The second species, Didus solitarius, rests on the bare testimony of Leguat,
Voy. I, p. 98, a man who has disfigured well known animals, such as the Hippo-
potamus and the Lamantin.
The third, Didus nazaremus, is only known from the account of Francois
AM P
e oy
é
GRALLATORIE, 367
v 4
_ Oris, Lin.
The Bustards, in addition to the massive carriage of the Gallina-
cez, have a long neck and legs, and moderate beak; its superior
mandible being slightly arcuated:and arched, which, as well as the
very small membranes between the base of the toes, again recal the
idea of the Gallinacez. But the nakedness of the lower part of their
legs, their whole anatomy, and even the flavour of their flesh, place
them among the Grallatoriz, and as they have no thumb, the smaller
species approximate closely to the Plovers. Their tarsi are reticu-
lated, and their wings short; they fly but seldom, hardly ever using
their wings, except to assist themselves in running. They feed in-
differently on grain and herbs, worms and insects.
O. tarda, L., Enl. 245. (The Great Bustard.) Back, of a
bright fawn colour, crossed with numerous black streaks, the
remainder greyish. The feathers of the ears of the male, which
is the largest bird in Europe, are lengthened out on both sides,
forming a kind of large mustachios. This species, which
is considered as being among the best game of that country,
frequents its extensive plains, building on the ground among
the grain.
s O. tetrax, L.; Enl. 25 and 10. (The Little Bustard.) More
than a half smaller, and much less common than the tarda;
brown above, sprinkled with black; whitish beneath; neck of
the male black, with two white collars.
The beak of most species foreign to Europe is more slender
than that of those which belong to it. Among the former we
may remark,
O. houbara, Gm.; Le Houbara, Desfontaines, Acad. des Sc.,
1787, pl. x3 Vieill: Galer., pl. ccxxvii. (The Houbara.) So
called on account of the ruff of elongated feathers which orna-
ments both sides of its neck. From Africa and Arabia.(1)
Cauche, who considers it to be the same as the ineptus, giving it however but
three toes, while all the others allow the former to possess four. No one has been
-able to obtain a sight of any of these birds since the time of the above named tra-
vellers.
Of all birds, that which has its wings the most completely reduced to a simple
vestige, is the Apterya, represented by Shaw, Nat. Misc. 1055 and 1057. Its ge-
neral figure is that of an Aptenodytes, its size that of a Goose. The feet would be
those of the former, were they not described as wanting the web. The beak is
very long, slender, marked with a longitudinal groove on each side, and having a
membrane at base. The wing is reduced to a little stump, terminated by a hook.
From New Holland.
(1) I leave among the Bustards all Latham’s species, such as the Afra, Lath.
eo
f
é
368 | AVES.
CHARADRIUS, Lin.(1 )
The Plovers have no thumb; the beak is moderate, compressed, and
enlarged at the point.
They may be divided into two subgenera; viz.
CEpIcNEMUS, Tem.(2)
In which the end of the beak is inflated above as well as beneath,
and the fosse of the nostrils only extend half its length. They are
larger species which prefer dry and stony places, and feed on snails,
insects, kc. They have some affinity with the smaller species of
Bustards. Their feet are reticulated, and there is a short membrane
between each of their three toes.
(dic. crepitans, Tem.; Charadrius wdicnemus, L.; Courlis de
terre; Enl. 919; Frisch, 215; Naum. Ed. J, 9, f. 13. (The Thick-
knee.) Size of a Woodcock; afawn coloured grey, with a brown
streak on the middle of each feather; white belly; a brown.
streak under the eye.(3)
Cuaraprius,Cuv. ,
The beak of the True Plovers is only inflated above, and has two-
thirds of its length occupied by the nasal fossz, which render it
weaker. They live in large flocks, and frequent low grounds, where
they strike the earth with their feet, in order to at in motion the
worms on which they feed.
The species of France are only found there, i in transituyduring
the autumn and in the spring: near the sea coast, some of them
remain until the beginning of winter. Their flesh is excellent,
and with various other species, they form a tribe with reticulated
legs, the most remarkable of which are:
Char. pluvialis, L., Ent. 9043; Frisch, 216; Naum. I, c. 10, f.
Syn. II, pl. Ixxix;—the benghalensis, Edw. 250;—the Arabs, Id. 12;—but I with-
draw the (Edicnemus, which, on account of its compressed beak, enlarged at the
end, begins the following genus.—Add, Otis nuba, Rupp. pl. 1;—Ot. denhami;—
Ot. torquata, Cuv., a new species from the Cape.
(1) Charadrius, the Greek name of a nocturnal aquatic bird, comes from x2ee-
dee. Gaza translates it by Miaticula.
(2) Edicnemus (swelled leg), a name invented by Belon for the Thick-knee.
(3) Add the Gdicnéme tachard (2d; maculosus, Cuy.) Col. 292;—the Gd. 2
longs pieds (Ed. longipes, Geoff.) Vieill. Gal. 228, or Cd: echasse, Tem. Col.
386;—the (Hd. 4 gros bee (2d. magnirostris, Geoff. ), Col. 387, might, from the form
of its beak, be placed at the head of a particular series to which would belong a
closely allied species with a slightly recurved upper mandible: @d. recurvirostris,
Cuv.:—Char. crassirostris, Spix, 94.
—
4
GRALLATORI&. 369
143 Wils. VII, lix, 5. (The Golden Plover.) Blackish; the edges
of its feathers dotted with yellows; white belly. It is the most
common of all, and is found throughout the whole globe. The
north produces one which scarcely differs from it except in its
black throats it is the Cha». apricarius, Edw. 1403 Naum. I, f.
153) Wils. VII,"lvii, 4. Some authors assert it is the young of
the other.
Char. morinellus, L.; Le Guignard, Enl. 832; Naum. 12, f.
16, 17. (The Dotterel.) Grey or blackish; feathers edged with
fulvous-grey; a white streak over the eye; breast and upper part
of the belly of a bright red; lower part of the belly white.
Char. hiaticula, 1..; Pluvier a collier, Enl. 920; Frisch, 2145
Brit. Zool. pl. P; Wils. V, xxxvii, 2. (The Ring Plover.)
Grey above; white beneath; a black collar round the lower part
of the neck, very broad in front; the head variegated with black
and white; bill, yellow and black. Three or four species or
races are found in France differing in size, and in the distribu-
tion of the colours on the head.(1) This same distribution, with
but little variation, is found in several species foreign to Eu-
rope. (2)
Many Plovers have scutellated legs; they form a small division,
most of its species having spines to their wings, or fleshy wattles
on the head; some of them have both these characters.(3)
Vane.uus, Bechst.—Trinea, Lin.(4)
The Lapwings have the same kind of beak as the Plovers, and are
(1) Ch. minor, Meyer, Enl. 921; Wils. VII, lix, 3; Naum. 15, f. 19, or Ch. cu-
» ronicus, Lath., with an entirely black beak;—Ch. cantianus, Lath., or albifrons,
Meyer, of which the Ck. xgyptius may possibly be the female. Its collar is inter-
rupted.
(2) Char. vociferus, Enl. 286; Wils. VII, lix, 6;—Char. tndiaee Lath. ;—Char.
Azarai, T., Col. 184;—Char. melanops, Vieill., Gal. 235, or Ch. nigrifrons, Cuy.
Col. 47, 1 Olt Wilsonii, Wils. 1X, Ixiii, 5—Add, of closely allied species,
although without collars: Ch. peewarius, T. Col. 183;—Ch. nivifrons, Cuy.;—Char.
ruficapillus, T. Col. 47, 2;—Ch. monachus, Tem. ;—Ch. griseus, Lath.
Add Ch. semipalmatus, Wils. VIL, pl. lix, f. 3;—Ch. melodus, Wils. ‘v; pl.
xxvii, f. 3.’ Am. Ed.
(3) Siesien with unarmed, scutellated feet: Char. coronatus, Enl. 800 aay, i me-
lanocephalus, Enl. 918, Savigny, Egypt., Ois,, pl. vi, f. 4, of which Vieillot makes
his genus Piuyzanvs, Gal, pl. xxiii—its beak is somewhat stouter than the others.
Armed species: Char. spinosus, Enl. 801;—Ch. cayanus, Enl. 833. Species with
wattles: Char. pileatus, Enl. 834;—Ch. bilobus, Enl. 880.
The Char. cristatus, Edw. 47, appears to be the same as the pH 9
(4) Tringa, or rather Trynga, the Greek name of a bird the size of a Thrush,
which frequents the shores of rivers, and is constantly moving its tail, Arist. It
Vou. L.—2 W
370 AVES.
only distinguished from them by the presence of a thumb; but it is
so small that it cannot reach the ground. 9
In the first tribe, thatof the Lapwinc-PLovers, (SquaTAROLA, Cuv.)
it is even scarcely visible. It is distinguished by the bill, which is
inflated underneath, and its nasal fossa being short like that of an
Gidicnemus. The feet are reticulated: all those of France have the
tail striped with white and black, forming, as is asserted, but one
species whose great diversity of plumage has occasioned its multi-
plication. It is always found with the Plovers.
Tringa squatarola; Le Vanneau gris, Enl. 854. (The Grey
Lapwing.) Greyish above, whitish with greyish spots beneath,
is the young bird -before it has moulted. The Variegated Lap-
' wing, (Tringa varia,) Enl. 923, white, spotted with greyish;
blackish mantle dotted with white, comprises the two sexes in
their winter plumage. The Vanneau suisse, (Tringa helvetica,
Enl. 853, Naum. Ed. I, 62, f. 117,) black and white spots above,
black beneath from the throat to the thighs, is the male in his
wedding livery.
VANELLUsS, Cuv.
The true Lapwings have a rather more decidedly marked thumb,
the tarsi scutellated, at least partially so, and the nasal fosse extend-
ing two-thirds the"length of the beak. They are equally as industrious
in the pursuit of worms as the Plovers, procuring them inthe same
manner. iS hy
‘the European species, 7ringa vanellus, L., is a pretty bird,
as large as a Pigeon, of a bronze-black, with a long and slender
crest. It arrives in France in the spring, lives in the fields and
meadows, builds there, and departs in autumn. The eggs are,
considered a great delicacy.(1) ts
Warm climates also have some species of this bird, whose
wings are armed with one or two spurs, and others which have
caruncles or wattles at the base of the beak: their tarsi are scu-
tellated. ‘hey are Very noisy animals, screaming out at every
sound they hear. They live in the fields, and defend themselves
against birds of prey with much courage.(2)
was Linnzus who applied it thus; but he placed many other birds in his genus
Tringa, besides the Lapwings, the Sandpipers, (Calibris, Cuv.,) especially.
(1) Add the Vanneau @ écharpe (Vann. cinctus’, Less. and Garn. Voy. Duperr.
pl. xliii;—Le V. @ pieds jaunes (Vann. flavipes), Savigny, Egypte, Ois., pl. 6, f..3.
(2) ‘Phey are the first nine species of Pasra, Gmel., particularly Parra cayen-
nensis, Enl. 836;—P. goensis, Enl. 807;—P. senegalla, Enl. 362, or better Vanellus.
albicapillus, Vieill., Gal. 236;—P. ludoviciana, Enl. 835, from which Vann. galli-
‘naceus, Tem., does not perhaps specifically differ, &c.; their habits, legs, beak,
GRALLATORIA. 371
Hamaroprus, Lin.
The Oyster-catchers have a somewhat longer beak than the Plovers
or the Lapwings; it is straight, pointed, compressed into a wedge,
and sufficiently strong to enable them to force open the bivalve shells
of the animals on which they feed.’ They also seek for worms in
the earth. The nasal fosse, which are very deep, are only half the
length of the beak, the nostrils resembling a small slit in the
middle. Their legs are of a moderate length, their tarsi reticulated,
and their feet divided into three toes.
Hematop. ostralegus, L.3.Enl. 9293 Brit. Zool., pl. Ds Catesb.
I, 85, is the European species, also called Pie de mer on account
of its plumage, which is black; the belly, throat, base of the
wings and tail beingyof a fine white. The white on the throat
disappears insummer. It is about the size of a Duck; oy and
feet, red. :
There is a species in Biz with alonger bill, and no white
under the throat, the Hem. palliatus, Tem., which Wils. VIII,
Ixiv, 2, confounds with the common one; another in the Ma-
louines, where the black extends farther down on the breast, the
Heem. luctuosus, Cuv., and a third in the antarctic hemisphere,
which is entirely black, the (Hem. niger, Cuv.,) Ham. ater,
_ Wieill. Gal. 230; Quoy and Gaymard, Voy. de Freycinet, pl.
oe ¥XEXIV.
It is impossible to avoid placing near the Plovers and Oyster-
catchers, the
Cursorius, Lac.—Tacuypromvs, Illig.
Whose beak, more slender, but equally conical, is arcuated, has
no groove, and is moderately cleft; the wings are shorter, and their
legs, which are longer, are terminated by three toes without mem-
branes, and without a thumb.
There has been seen both in France and England, although
very rarely, a’ species, belonging to the north of Africa, of a
ight fawn-colour, with a whitish belly, the Charadrius gallicus,
Gm.; Cursorius isabellinus, Meyer, Enl. 795; and another has
been brought from India of a brownish-grey, with a red breast,
the Ch. coromandelicus, Curs. asiaticus, Lath., Vieill. Gal. 232,
form, and even the distribution of their colours, resemble those of the Lapwings
and Ployers, and there can be no possible reason for placing them among the Ja-
canas, whose characters differ on almost every point.
Add 7'r. macroptera, anew species from Java; grey; head and belly black; armed,
and with caruncles; the wings extending considerably beyond the tail.
372 ° | camparepben
Enl. 892. Each of them has a black streak and a white one be-
hind the eye. Their name is derived from the swiftness with
which they run. Nothing is known with respect to their
habits. (1)
As far as we can judge from their exterior, it is here that we can
most conveniently place the
Carrama, Briss—Mricropactytus, Geofl.—DicuoLornuus,
Illig.(2)
Whose beak is longer and more hooked, the commissure extend-
ing under the eye, which gives them somewhat of the physiognomy
and disposition of birds of prey, and approximates them somewhat
to the Herons. Their extremely long and scutellated legs are ter-
minated by very short toes, slightly palmated at base, and bya
thumb which cannot reach the ground.
One species only is known, and that is from South America,
the Micro. cristatus, Geoff.; Palamedea cristata, Gm.; Saria,
Azzar.; Ann. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., XIII, pl. xxvi; Col. 237, and
Vieill. Gal. 259. Itis larger than the Heron, and feeds on lizards
and insects, which it hunts for on high grounds and along the
edges of forests. Its plumage is a fawn-coloured grey, waved
with brown; some slender feathers on the base of the beak form
alight tuft which inclines forwards. It flies but seldom, and then
badly; its loud voice resembles that of a young Turkey. As its
flesh is much esteemed, it has been domesticated in several’
places.
FAMILY III.
CULTRIROSTRES.
This family is recognized by the thick, long, and strong
beak, which is most generally trenchant and pointed, and is
almost wholly composed of the birds comprised 1 in the genus
Arvea of Linnzus. In a great number of species, the trachea
(1) Add the Coure-vite a ailes violettes (Curs. Chalcopterus, T.\, Col. 298; 3—the C.
. @ double collier (C. bicinctus, T.), Man. Orn.;—Curs. Teminckii, Sw ains. Zool. Ill, 106.
(2) Microdactylus, short-finger. Dicholophus, crest in two rows. Hematopus,
blood-coloured feet. M. Vieillot has preferred the barbarous name of Cogan,
which must be pronounced Brprcni
GRALLATORIA. 370
of the male forms various curves; their ceca are short, and
even the true Herons have but one. °—
We subdivide it into three tribes, the Cranes, the true
Herons, and the Swans. The first tribe forms but one great
genus. ; ;
Grus, Lin.
The Cranes have a straight beak, but slightly cleft; the membra-
nous fosse of the nostrils, which are large and concave, occupy
nearly one half of its length. Their legs are scutellated, and the
toes moderate; the external ones but slightly palmate, and the thumb
hardly reaching to the ground. A more or less considerable por-
tion of the head and neck is destitute of feathers in nearly all of
them. Their habits are more terrestrial, and their food more vege-
table than those of the following genera: consequently they have a
muscular gizzard, and long ceca. Their lower larynx has but one
muscle on each side. At the head of this genus we place with Pal-
las,(1) '
Psoputa, Lin.,
Or the Trumpeters, which have a shorter beak than the other
species; the head and neck are merely invested with down, and the
circumference of the eye is naked. They live in the woods, and feed
on grain and fruit.
The species best known is from South America, and is called
the Trumpeter, (Psophia crepitans, L.,) Enl. 169, from its faculty
of producing a low, deep sound, which at first seems to proceed
from the anus. It is the size of a capon; the plumage is black-
ish, which, on the breast, reflects a brilliant violet hue; the
mantle is ash coloured, shaded above with fawn colour. It is
a very grateful bird, and as susceptible of attachment to man as
a dog. It is even said to be so docile as to take the command
of the poultry-yard. It flies badly, but runs fast, and builds on
the ground at the foot of a tree. Its flesh is eaten.(2)
(1) Spicil. Zool. IV, 3.
(2) At Cayenne, according to Barrere, it is called Agami; Caracara in the An-
tilles, according to Dutertre. As the name of Z'rwmpeter is also given in Africa
to a Calao, Fermin (Descrip. de Surin.) absurdly transfers'to the Agami the cha-
-yacter of both beaks at once. The Agami was for a long while confounded with
the Macucagua of Marcgrave, which is a Zinamou. Psophia is aname coined by
Barrere from ¥c9¢0, to make a noise.
Add, Psophia viridis, Spix, 83, and Ps. lewcoptera, Id. 84.
374 ' AVES.
Certain Cranes, foreign to Europe, with a shorter beak than is
found in those that belong to it, should come next.
Ardea pavonia, L.; Grue couronné; Enl. 265, and the young,
Vieill. 257. (Yhe Crowned Crane) Figure, light and graceful;
four feet in height; ash coloured, black belly, fawn coloured
rump, and white wings} its naked cheeks are tinged with white,
and a bright rose-colour, and its head is crowned with a bundle
of yellow, slender feathers, which it opens and displays at plea-
sure. This beautiful bird, whose voice resembles the clang of
a trumpet, inhabits the westetn Coast of Africa, where it is fre-
quently kept in the huts, ‘and fed on grain, In a wild state it
frequents inundated places, and preys on small fish.
Ardea*virgo; Demoiselle de Numidie; Enl. 246. (The Numi-
dian Crane.) Similar to the preceding in form, and almost in
size; ash coloured; a black neck with two beautiful whitish
aigrettes, formed by the prolongation of the slender feathers
which cover the ears. Those which have been observed ina
state of captivity were remarkable for their fantastic and affect-
ed gestures. (1) ‘eb
The Common Cranes have a beak as long as theshead, or longer.
Ardea grus, L.; Grus cinerea, Bechst., Enl. 769; Frisch, 1943
Naum. Ed. I, 2, f- 2. (The Common Crane.) Four feet and
upwards in height; ‘ash coloured; black throat; top of the
head, red and maked; the rump ornamented with long, recurved
and frizzled feathers, partly black. This bird has been cele-
brated from the earliest ages for its regular migrations from
north to south in the autumn, and vice versa in the spring,
which it effects in immense and well ordered bodies. It feeds.
on grain, but prefers the worms and insects of marshy grounds.
This species.is often mentioned by the ancient writers, because
the course of its migrations seems to be through Greece and
eAsia Minor.(2) ‘
Between the Cranes and Herons we must place
Ard. scolopacea, Gm.; Le Courlan, Enl. 848,(3) whose beak,
(1) The anatomists of the Institute had applied to this bird, on account of its
gestures, the names of Scops, Otus, and /sio, by which the ancients designated
the Ducs of Europe (Bubo). Buffon, who had so well refuted this error as re-
garded the Ducs, falls into it himself when speaking of the Ard. virgo.
(2) To this genus also belong ard. canadensis, Edw.,133; the Grue 4 collier, °
Enl. 865, and the Crane of India, Edw. 45, (Ard. antigone) Vieill., Gal. 256;—the
Grue blunche, En). 889, (Ard. americana) and the rd. gigantea, Pall., It., II, No.
50, t. I, which does not appear to us. to differ in the least from the white one;—
finally, the rd. carunculata, which is not a Heron, as supposed by Gmelin.
(S) Vieillot has made his genus Aramvs, Gal. p. 252, from this bird; Spix, pl.
91, calls it Rallus ardeordes.
*
*
*
g
GRALLATORLE, — 375
Pas
thinner and more cleft than that of the Grane, is inflated near
the last third of its length, and whose toes, all tolerably long,
are without any intervening membrane whatever. It has the
habits, and is the size of a Heron; the plumage i is brown, with
two white pencils on the neck.
Ard. helias, L.;* Le Caurale earned Illig. )3(1) Oiseau de
soleil, &c. Enl. 702. (The Sun-Bird.) ‘The commissure of its
bill, which is more slender than that’of the Cranes, but fur-
nished with similar nasal fossz, extends to beneath the eyes,
like that of the Herons, but the beak itself is destitute of the
naked skin atits base. Itis about the size of a Partridge, and
its long slender neck, bredd and open tail, and rather short legs
giveita very different appearance from that of any other Wader.
Its plumage shaded in bands and lines with brown, fawn-colour,
red, grey and black, recalls to our minds the colouring of the
most beautiful of the nocturnal Lepidoptera. It is found on
the banks of the rivers in Guiana.
The second tribe is more carniyorous, and is known by its
stronger beak and larger toes: we may place at its head,
. CAncroma, isa,
The Boat-bills, which would | closely approach the Herons in the
strength of their beak and in the regimen resulting therefrom, but
for t the extraordinary form of that organ, which we shall find, how-
eyer, by close ‘examination, to be nothing more than the beak of a
Heton or Bittern, very much flattened. In fact, it is very wide from
right,to left, and is formed like two spoons, the concave sides of
which are placed.in contact. The mandibles are strong and trench-
ant, the upper one having a sharp tooth on each side of its points’
the nostrils, situated near its base, are continued on in two parallel
grooves to near the point. There are four toes to the feet, long, and
almost without membranes, and accordingly we find that these birds
perch upon trees on the banks of rivers, whence they precipitate
themselves upon the fish, which constitute their customary food.
Their gait is slow, and‘in their attitudes, they resemble the Herons. »
~The species known is,
Cancr. cochlearia, L.3 Enl. 38 and 369; Vieill. Gal. pl. 249.
(The Boat-bill.) Size of a hen; whitish; grey or brown back;
red belly; a white forehead, followed by a black calotte, which,
(1) Vieillot has changed this name into that of Helias.
376 ' AVES.
7
in the adult maley is changed into a long tuft: inhabits the hot
and marshy parts of South America.
Then comes, —
; ARrbDEA, Cuv.
Or the Herons, the cleft of whose beak extends to beneath the eyes,
a small nasal fossa continuing on in a groove close to its point.
They are also distinguished by the internal edge of the nail of the
middle toe, which is trenchant and dentigulated. Their legs are
scutellated; the thumb and toes tolerably long, the external web con-
siderable, and the eyes placed in a naked skin which extends to the
beak. Their stomach is a very large, but slightly muscular sac,
and they have but one very small cecum. They are melancholy
birds, which build and perch on the banks of rivers, where they de-
stroy great numbers of fish. ‘There are many species in both conti-
nents, which can only be divided by a reference to some details of
plumage. t
The true Herons have a very slender neck, ornamented below with
long pendent feathers.
Ard. major, and Ard. cinerea, L.; Enl. 755 and 787; Frisch,
198, 199; Naum. Ed. I, 25, f. 38, 34. (The Common Heron.)
Bluish ash colour;.a black tuft on the occiput; fore-part of the
neck white, sprinkled with black tears; a large bird, whose
depredations on the fish, in the rivers of Europe, Heel it
highly prejudicial. It was formerly much celebrated for ‘the
sport it afforded to falconers. pee / 4.)
Ard. purpurea, Enl. 788; Naum. Ed. I, Supp. 45, f. 89, 90.(1)
(The Purple Heron.) Grey and red, or purple; belongs a also to
Europe. > i
The name of Crapraters, (Crabiers,) has been applied to, the,
smallest Herons, with shorter feet. The species,most common in
France, aud found in its mountain districts, is,
Ard. minuta and danubialis, Gm.; Le Blongios; Enl. 3235,
Frisch, 207; Naum. Ed. I, 28, f. 37. Fawn coloured; calotte,
back, and quills black. It is hardly larger than a Rallus, and
frequents the vicinity of ponds.
(1) The ard. purpurea, purpurata, rufa, Gm., and the africana, Lath., accord-
ing to Meyer, are mere varieties of the purple Heron.
Add J. herodias, Gm.; Wils. VIII, Ixy, 2, the young of which is, perhaps, Enl.
858;—A. cocoi, Lath.; Spix, XC, under the false name of Ard. maquaris jaa. sibila-
trix, T. Col. 271;—4. ludoviciana, Gm. Enl. 909, from which the 4. virescens does
not specifically differ;—.2. Nove-Guinz, Lath. Enl. 926, approaches somewhat t
the 4. scolopacea, Gm. in the beak,
GRALLATORLA. 377
The Onorgs, to the form of the Crabeaters, add the size of the
true Heron, and the colour of the Bitterns.(1)
The Ecrers are Herons whose feathers, on the lower part of the
back, at a certain period become long and attenuated.
The most beautiful species, whose feathers are employed for the
‘purpose which the name of these birds indicates, are:
Ard. garzetta; Enl. 901. (The Little Egret.) But half the
size of the Heron. It is all white, and its slender feathers do
not extend beyond the tail.
Ard. alba; Enl. 886. (The Great Egret.) This one is also en-
tirely white, but larger. Both these species are found in Europe,
where a third inhabits, whose tarsi are shorter, and whose at-
» _tenuated feathers extend considerably beyond the tail; it is the
* A. egretta, En\. 925.(2)
We have also thought it proper to approximate to the Egrets the
4rd. comata, Gm.; Enl. 348; Naum. Ed. I, 22, f. 45. (The
Crabeater of Mahon.) A bird of southern Europe, with a red-
dish-brown back, and white belly and tail. The adult has a
yellowish neck, and a long tuft on the occiput.(3)
The feathers on the neck of the Brrrrrns are loose and separated,
which increases its apparent size. They are usually spotted orstriped.
A. stellaris, Enl. 789; Frisch, 205; Naum. Ed. I, 27, f. 36.
(The European Bittern.) A golden fawn-colour, spotted and
dotted with black; beak and feet greenish; is found among the
reeds, whence it sends forth that terrific voice which has enti-
tled it to the name of Bos taurus. Its attitude, when at rest, is
singular; the beak being raised towards the heavens.(4)
(1) 2. lineata, Gm. Enl. 860;—.72. tigrina, Id. Enl. 790, which appears to be the
young of 2. flava, Gm.
(2) Temminck thinks that the 2. alba is the young of the 4. egretta, and that
the pl. Enl. 901 does not represent the Little Egret of Europe, but that of America,
(3) From the exact observations of Meyer, the 2. castunea, Gm. or the ralloz-
des, Scopol.;—A. squaiotta;—A. Marsiglii;—A. pumila, and even A. erythropus, and
A. malaccensis, Gm. Enl. 911, are all mere varicties, or different ages of the Crab-
eater of Mahon, or 4. comata. The 2. senegalensis, Enl. 315, is also a young age
of the same bird. It is perhaps the true Crane of the Balearic Islands of Pliny,
XI, 37.
Add, &. candidissima, Wils. LXIU, 4;—the Garde-boeuf, 4. bubulcus, Savign. Eg.
Ois., pl. viii;—A. leucocephala, Gm. Enl. 910;—2. jugularis, Forster, or gularis,
Bosc., Act. de la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. fol. pl. ii, or adbicollis, Vieill. Galer. 255;—4.
cerulea, Enl. 349, of which the 4. aquinoctialis, Catesb, may probably be the
young, notwithstanding the difference of colour;—J. rufescens, Gm. Enl, 902;—
A. leucogaster, Enl. 330;—A. agami, Enl. 859. [Add 4. Peal, Bonap. and £.
ludoviciana, Wils. V1L, pl. Ixiv, f. 1. dm. Ed)
(4) Add 4. minor, Wils. Vil, Ixv, 3, or 4. stellaris, B. Gm.; Edw., 136;—4.
Vou. LL—2 X
378 AVES.
The adult Nicur-Herron, with the port of the Bitterns, and a beak
proportionably thicker, has a few slender feathers on the occiput.
There is but one species found in France,
Ard. nycticorax, L.; Bihoreau d’Europe(1) Enl. 7583 Epes,
203; Naum, Ed. I, 26, f. 35. (The Night Heron.) The male
is white; back and Bioite black; the young bird, Enl. 759, grey
with a brown mantlegand a blackish calotte. (2) !
We must observe, however, that these various subdivisions of the
Herons are of but little importance, and are by no means well
marked.
The third tribe, besides having a thicker and smoother
beak than is found in the second, has tolerably strong and.
almost equal membranes between the base of the toes.
Ciconra, Cuv.
The Storks have a thick beak, moderately cleft; no fossz or grooves;
the nostrils pierced towards the back and near the base; an extremely
short tongue. Their legs are reticulated, and the anterior toes
strongly palmated at base, particularly the external ones. The light
and broad mandibles of their beak, by striking against each other,
produce a clash which is almost the only sound that proceeds from
these birds. Their gizzard is but slightly muscular, and their ceca
so small that they are scarcely perceptible. Their lower larynx has
no peculiar muscle; their bronchiz are longer than common, and
composed of more than the usual number of rings. There are two
species in France,
Ardea ciconia, L.; Enl. 886; Frisch, 196; Naum. Ed. I, 29, f.
(The White Stork.) White; quills of the wings black; feet
and beak red. A large bird, held in great veneration by the
people, a distinction arising from the fact that it destroys
snakes and other noxious reptiles. It prefers building its nest
on towers, in steeples, &c.; and after having once constructed
undulata, Gm. Enl. 768;—.2. philippensis, Gm. Enl. 908. [Add, also, 4. violacea,
Wils. VII, pl. Ixv, f..1;—.2. cxrulea, Wils. VII, pl. lxii, f. 3;—4. virescens, Wils.
VU, lxi, f. 1;—4. exilis, Wils. VIL, pl. lxv, f. 4. 4m. Ed.)
(1) According to Meyer, the results of whose labours we still follow, the Ard.
grisea, A. maculata, and the 1. badia of Gmel. are different states of the 4. nyeti-
corax.
(2) Add 4. pileata, Lath., or 4. alba, @; Gm., Enl. 907;—A. caledonica, Lath. ;—
A. cayennensis, Enl. 899, or violacea, Wils. VII, lxv, 1, of which 2. jamaicensis,
Gm. is the young;—.7. sibilatriz, T. Col. 271.—The Pouacre, Buff. (Ard. Gardeni,
Gm.) Enl. 309, appears to be the young of an ash coloured Night Heron, with 2
bronze-black calotte and back. It is the same as the .2. maculata, Frisch, 202.
GRALLATORIE. 379
it, returns to the same spot in the spring, passing the winter in
Africa.
Ard. nigra, L.; Enl. 3993 and the young, Frisch, 197; Naum.
23, f. 32. (The Black Stork.) Blackish, with purple reflec-
tions; belly, white. Haunts solitary marshes, and builds in
forests.(1)
Among various species we may distinguish,
The Bare-necked Storks,
Which have a thicker beak than the others, but one composed of
a light substance; and among them
The Pouched Storks, Ard. dubia, Gm.—Ard. algala, Lat.
Which have an appendage under the middle of the throat, resem-
bling a a thick sausage, and from under whose wings are procured
the feathers forming those light plumes called by the French, Ma-
rabous. They are the largest birds of the genus; their belly is white,
and their mantle a bronze-black. There are two species,
Cic. marabou, Tem., Col. 300, from Senegal, with a uniform
mantle, and Cic. argala, Tem., Col. 301, from.India, whose
“wing-coverts are edged with white. By means of their broad
bill, they are enabled to capture birds on the wing.(2)
° Mycrerta, Lin.
The Jabirus, separated from Ardea by Linnzus, are closely allied to
the Storks, and much more so than the latter are to the true Herons;
the moderate opening of their beak, the nostrils, the reticulated
envelope of the tarsi, and the extent of the membranes between the
‘toes are the same as in the Storks; their mode of life is also similar.
Their peculiar character consists in a beak slightly curved upwards
_ hear the extremity.
Myct. americana, L.3(3) Enl. 817 (The American Jabiru),
(1) To this genus also belongs the Maguari, or American Stork, (4. maguari)
Vieill. Galer. 254; and Spix, LXXXIX, under the wrong name of Ciconia jubura,
which, with the exception of its ash coloured beak, differs but little from our
White Stork;—the little C. noire de Nubie (Cie. Abdimii, Lichtenst.) Ruppel. 8;—
the C. violette (C. leucocephala, Gm.) Enl. 906.
(2) Add the Cigogne chevelue (C. capillata,T.), Col. 312.
(3) Vowyouyou in Cayenne; Azaiai in Paraguay, Collier rouge, &c. Barrere has
confounded it with the .2merican Ostrich, which has caused the name of Touyouyou,
or Touyou, to be transferred to that bird by Brisson and by Puffon.
Mycteria, a name derived by Linnzus from wuxrnp, nose, proboscis, on account
of its large beak.
380 AVES. “2 ;
is the most known species. It is very large; ‘whites eng and ©
neck naked, and invested with a black skin, the lower part of
which is reds a few white feathers on the occiput only; beak and
feet black. Found along the borders of ponds and marshes in
South America, where it preys upon reptiles and fish.(1)
Scopus, Briss.(2)
The Umbres are only distinguished from the Storks by a éompress-
ed beak, whose trenchant ridge is inflated near the base, and whose
nostrils are continued by a groove, which runs parallel with the .
ridge to its end, the latter being slightly hooked. Only one species
is known, ‘* @
Scop. umbretia, Enl. 796; Vieill. Galer. 250 (The mbre), ’
which is the size of a Crow, and of an umber colour. The
occiput of the male is tufted. Found throughout Africa. ‘ a
f Hrans, Lacep.—Anastomus, Illig.
These birds are only separable from the Storks by a character of *
about equal consequence with that of the Jabiru. Their two man-*
dibles only come in contact at the base and point, leaving an inter- ' *
val between the middle of their edges. Even this seems to be the ~
result of detrition, for the fibres of the horny substance of the beak, ~
which appear to ve been worn away, are very visible.
They are from the East Indies. One is whitish, Ardea pon-
ficeriana, Gm., Enl. 932; and Vieill. Gal. 251, and the other a ‘
brown-grey,—.rdelia coromandeliana, Sonner. \t., 11,219. The ~
quills of the wings and tail are black in both. Perhaps the
last one may be the young of the first. A third, of an irised-
black, Bec-owvert a lames; An. lamelliger, Tem. Col. 236, is re-
markable because the stem of each of its feathers terminates in
a narrow horny plate, which extends beyond the barbs. The
Dromas, Paykull, )
Strongly resembles the preceding birds, having the same feet and |
carriage, but its compressed beak, the under part of which is some-
what inflated at base, is perforated by oval nostrils, and its edges
join closely.
Dromas ardeola, Payk., Stockh. Mem., 1805: pl. 83 Col. 362.
The only species known. Its plumage is white; part of the
(1) Add, Myc. senegalensis, Lath., Vaill. Gal. 255, from which the Ciconia
ephippirhyncha, Rupp. Av- 3, only differs in being drawn from the recent specimen,
and showing two tufts or bobs at the base ofthe beak.
(2) Scopus, from Sxczec, sentinel.
GRALLATORIE. f 381
mantle and wings black. From the shores of the Red Sea, and
of the Senegal river.(1)
TanTatus, Lin.
The Wood-Pelicans have the feet, nostrils and beak of the Stork;
but the back of the beak is rounded, its point curved downwards,
and slightly emarginated on each side: a part of their head and
sometimes of the neck, is destitute of feathers. °
T. loculator, L.; Enl. 868; Wils. VIII, lxvi, 1. (The Wood-
Pelican of America.) Is the size of a Stork, but more slender;
white; quills of the wings and tail, black; beak and feet, as welk
as the naked skin of the head and neck, blackish. It inhabits
both Americas, arriving in each country about the rainy season,
and frequenting muddy waters, where it chiefly hunts for eels.
It is a stupid bird, whose gait.is very slow.
T. ibis, L. Enl. 339. (The Wood-Pelican of Africa.) White,
lightly shaded with purple on the wings; beak yellow; skin of
the face red and naked. This is the bird which has long been
considered by naturalists as the Jbis of the ancient Egyptians,
but recentresearches have proved that the Ibis is amuch smaller
bird, of which we shall speak hereafter. The Tantalus is not
even usually found in Egypt; the specimens we possess are
brought from Senegal.
T. leucocephalus; Tantale de Ceylan, Encyc. Method. Orn. pl.
66, fig. 1; Vieill. Gal. 247 (The Wood-Pelican of Ceylon), is
the largest of all, and has the stoutest beak. This beak and
the skin of the face are yellow; plumage white, with black
quills; a black cincture round the breast; long rose-coloured
feathers on the rump, which are shed during the rainy sea-
son.(2) *
PLaTALEA, Lin.(3)
The Spoonbills approximate to the Storks in the whole of their
structure; but their bill, whence they derive their name, is long,
flat, broad throughout, becoming widened and flattened, particularly
at the end, so as to form a spatula-like disk; two shallow grooves,
originating at its base, extend almost to the end, but without being
A
(1) Dupont, Ann. des Sc. Nat. tom. IX, pl. xlv. It is the Lrodia amphilensis,
Salt., Voy. in Abyss., Atl, pl. xxxi.
(2) Add the 7° dacteus, T. Col. 352.
(3) Platalea, or Platea, Latin names, sometimes used as synonymous with Peli-
canus,
382 AVES.
parallel to its edges. The nostrils are oval, and situated at a short
distance from the origin of each groove. Their small tongue, reti-
culated legs, the extent of the membranes of their feet, their two
very small ceca, their but slightly muscular gizzard, and their lower
larynx destitute of peculiar muscles, are the same as in the Storks,
but the expansion of their bill deprives it of all its strength, and
renders it fit for nothing but turning up mud, or capturing small fish
or aquatic insects. »
P. leucorodia, Gm.; Enl. 405; Naum. Supp. 44, f. 87. (The
White Spoonbill.) All white, and a crest on the occiput; it is
found throughout the eastern continent, where it builds on high
trees. The * Spatule blanche sans huppe,”’ Buff. Hist. des Ois.
tom. VII, pl. 24, according to Bail, is but the young of this
species. Besides the absence of the crest, it is distinguished by
the quills of the wings having a black edge.
P. aiaia; La Spatule rose; Enl. 165; Vieill. Gal. 248. (The
Roseate Spoonbill.) The face is naked, and the plumage tinged
with various shades of a bright rose-colour which becomes more
* intense with age. It is peculiar to South America.
“
he
FAMILY IV.
LONGIROSTRES.
This family is composed of a multitude of Waders, most of
which were included in the genus Scolopax of Linnzus, and
"the remainder confounded in that of Zringa, L., though partly
in opposition to the character of this genus, which consists in
a thumb too short to reach the ground. A small number were
placed among the Plovers on account of the total absence of a
thumb. All these birds have nearly the same form, similar
habits and very frequently even a similarity in the distribu-
tion of their colours, which renders it a difficult matter to dis-
tinguish one from another. Their general character is a long,
slender, and feeble bill, the use of which is restricted to search-.
ing in the mud for worms and insects; the different gradations
in the form of this bill serve to divide them into genera
and subgenera.
According to his own principles, Linneus should have
united most of these birds in the great genus
%
GRALLATORIA, 383
ScoLopax, Lin.
Which we divide as follows, according to the variation in the
form of the bill.(1) The .
Isis, Cuv.
Separated by us from the Tantalus of Gmelin, because the bill,
though arcuated like that of Tantalus, is much more feeble, and
has no emargination near its point; the nostrils also, perforated near
the back of its base, are severally prolonged in a groove which ex-
tends to the end. Besides, this bill is tolerably thick and almost
square at base, and some part of the head or even of the neck is
always destitute of feathers. The external toes are considerably
palmated at base, and the thumb is sufficiently large to bear upon
the ground.
’ Some of them have short and reticulated legs; they are usually
the stoutest, and have the largest beak.
Ibis religiosa, Cuy.; Abou-Hannes, Bruce, It., pl. 353 Tantalus
zthiopicus, Lath.; the adult, Cuv., Oss. Foss. tom. I, and the
young, Savign. Descript. de Egypte, Hist. Nat. des Ois., pl.
7 (The Sacred Ibis), is the most celebrated species. It was
reared in the temples of ancient Egypt, with a degree of respect
bordering on adoration; and, when dead, it was embalmed.
This, according to some, arose from its devouring serpents, +
which otherwise might have infested the country; others again
are of opinion that it took its origin from some relation between
its plumage and one of the phases of the moon; while athird class
of authors attribute it to the fact that its appearance announced
ed the overflow of the Nile.(2) The Tantalus of Africa was
for a long time considered as the Ibis of the Egyptians; it is now
known to be a bird of the present genus, as large as a Hen, with
white plumage, the tips of the wing-quills excepted, which are
black; the barbs of the last coverts are slender, and of a black
colour, with violet reflections, and cover the tips of the wings
and the tail. The bill and feet, as well as the naked part of the
, head and neck, are black: this part, at an early age, is covered
with small blackish feathers, or, at all events, its upper surface
is thus furnished. Found throughout Africa.(3)
(1) This is another of these distinctions and names borrowed by Vieill. (Gal.
246) without any acknowledgement, although my memoir upon the Ibis,in which I
establish it, is dated fifteen years prior to any of his writings upon birds.
(2) Savigny, Mem. sur l’Ibis.
(S$) There is a neighbouring species in the Moluccas which has a longer beak,
384 AVES.
Others have scutellatéd legs; their beak, most commonly, is more
slender.
Ib. rubra; Scol. rubra, L.; Tantal. ruber, Gm.; Enl. 80 and 815
Wils, VIII, Ixvi, 2. (The Red Ibis.) A bird found in all the
hot parts of America, remarkable for its bright red colour; the
tips of the wing-quills are black. The young ones, at first co-
vered with a blackish down, become cinereous, and, when ready
to fly, whitish; in two years the red makes its appearance, and
_continues to increase in lustre with age. This species does not
migrate, and lives in flocks in marshy spots in the vicinity of
estuaries. It is easily domesticated.
Scol. falcinellus, L.; Courlis vert, Enl. 819; Naum. Ed. 1, Supp.
28, Savig. Eg. Ois. pl. vii, f. 9. (The Green Ibis.) A purple
brown-red; mantle of a deep green; the head and neck of the
young marked with whitish dots. It is a beautiful bird of south-
ern Europe, and of northern Africa, and most probably the spe-
cies denominated by the ancients the Black Ibis.(1)
Numentus, Cuv.(2)
The Curlews have the beak arcuated like that of the Ibis, but it
is more slender, and round throughout: the tip of the upper man-
dible extends beyond the end of the lower one, and projects a little
downwards in front of it. The toes are palmated at base.
Scol. arcuata, L., Enl. 818; Frisch, 224; Naum. 5, f. 5. (The
Curlew of Europe.) Is the size of a Capon; brown; the edges of
all the feathers, whitish; rump, white; tail, striped with white
and brown. Common along the coast of Europe, and in transitu
in the interior. Its name is derived from its cry.(3)
the coverts less slender, and partly varied with white; long and pointed feathers
on the upper part of the breast, (bis molucca, Cuv.) and another in Bengal, with
but slightly attenuated ash coloured coverts (/bis bengala, Cuv.).
Add Ib. papillosa, T. Col. 304;—Tunt. caluus, Gm., Enl. 867;—L bis nudifrons,
Spix, 86;—Jb. oxycercus, 1d. 87;—T". albicollis, Gm. or Curicaca of Marcgr., Enl.
976;—Tant. cayennensis, Gm., Enl. 820;—Ibis plumbeus, T. Col. 235;—T'ant.
melanopis, Gm.; Lath., 111, a Ixxix;—J6. chalcoptera, Vieill. Gal. 246, or T'ant.
hogedash, Lath.
(1) Add Tantalus albusand T. coco, Gm.; Enl. 193;—T. cristatus, 1d. ; Enl. 841;—
Ibis leucopygus, Spix, 88, if it should not prove to be the young of the ruber;—
T'ant. leweocephalus, Lath., U1, pl. xxx, 2. [N.B. The J. fuscus of Gm. is the
young of the 7. albus, Id. Am. Ed.]
(2) Numenius, derived from néoménie, new moon, on account of its crescert
shaped beak.
(3) Add the Courlis a méches étroites of the Cape (Num. virgatus, C.), Enl. 198;—
the C. a m. ét. of India (IV. lineatus);—the Num. longirostris, Wils. of America,
Am. Orn. II, xxiv, 4;—Mum. hudsonius, Id. LXVI, f. 1.
GRALLATORI&. , 385
Scol. Pheopus, L.; Petit Courlis; Enl. 1423 Edw. 3075 Frisch,
225; Naum. 10,f. 10.(1) Half the size of the PEERED but
has nearly the same plumage.(2)
Scotopax, Cuy.(3)
The Snipes have a straight beak, the nasal furrows extending to
near its point which is a little inflated externally to reach beyond the
lower mandible, and on the middle of which there is a simple
groove; this point is soft and very sensible, and when dried, after death,
assumes a punctured appearance. Their feetare not palmated. A
peculiar character of these birds consists in their compressed head
and large eyes placed very far back, which gives them a singularly
stupid air, an indication which is confirmed by their habits.
Scol. rusticola, L.; La Bécasse; Enl. 885; Frisch, 126, 227;
Naum. Ed. I, I, f. 1. (The Woodcock.). The well known
plumage of this bird is variegated above with grey, red and
black spots and bands; grey beneath, with transverse blackish
lines. Its distinguishing character consists of four broad, trans-
verse, black bands, which succeed each other on the back part
of the head. During the summer it inhabits lofty mountains,
and descends into the woods in the month of October. It lives
either singly or in pairs, particularly in bad weather, and feeds
on worms and insects. Few of them remain on the plains during
summer.(4)
Scol. gallinago, L.; La Bécassine, Enl. 883; Frisch, 2295
_Naum.°3, f. 3. (The Snipe.) Smaller than the preceding, and
with a longer beak; is distinguished by two broad, longitudinal
black bands on the head, by the neck spotted with brown and
fawn colour, by a blackish mantle with two longitudinal fawn
®
(1) Pheopus (ash-coloured foot), a name composed by Gesner.
(2) Add the Num. tenuirostris, Ch. Bonap.;—the Num. rufus, Vieill. Gal. 245;
—the Courlis demi-bec (Num. brevirostris, T.), Col. 381.
N.B. In this genus, and almost in the whole of this family, the beak becomes
lengthened by age.
. (8) Scolopax, the Greek name of the Woodcock, from cxoac}, stake, on ac-
count of its straight and pointed beak. Vieillot has changed it into Rusricoxa.
(4) Add a closely allied species of North America (Scol. minor, Gm.), Arct, Zool.
II, pl. xix; Vieill. Gal. 242; Wils., VI, xlviii, 2;—Scol. sabini, Vig., Lin. Trans.
XIV, pl. xxi, if a true species.
(5) Add the Bécassine muette of Eur., Scol. Brehmii, Kaup., Isis. 1823;—WScol.
paludosa, Gm. Enl. 895, which is the Sc. gallinago, Wils. VI, xlvii, 1;—Scol. gigan.
tea, Tem. Col. 403.
The Brunette of Buffon, Scol. pusilla Dunlin of the English, is only the Tringa
alpina, Gm.
Vou. 208
386 _ AYES.
coloured bands, by its brown wings watered with grey, by a
whitish belly, the flanks watered with brown, &c. It frequents
marshes, edg of rivulets, &c. and ascends out of sight, pour-
ing out its piercing note from a great distance, which sounds
like the bleating of a goat. It is found in nearly the same state
in all parts of the globe.
He major, Gm.; La double Bécassine; Frisch, 2283 taster
2. (The Great Snipe.) Is distinguished from the preceding
i wa a third larger,’and by the grey or fawn coloured un-
dulations above being smaller, and the brown ones beneath
larger and more numerous. ,
Scol. gallinula, Gm.; La Sourde; Enl. 884; Friseh, 231;
Naum. 4, f. 4. (The Jack Snipe.) Nearly one half smaller than
the Scol. gallinago; has but one black band on the head; the
ground of the mantle reflects a bronze- “green; a grey demi-collar
on the neck; the flanks spotted like the breast with brown; it
remains nearly the whole year in the marshes of Europe. We
should distinguish from all others, the
Sc. grisea, Gm.; Wils. VII, lviii, 13 Se. Paykullit, Nils. Orn. ~
Suec. II, pl. 2, and in summer plumage,» Scol. Noveboracensis,
Lath. (The Red-breasted Snipe.) Which differs in the external
toes being semi-palmated. It is more ash+coloured in winter, and
more reddish in summer, the rump always white, spot ed vith
black. It is also seen in Europe.(1) * 6 a on
hd
RuyYncH2zA, Cuy.(2) & ~ Pm > e
4
Birds of India and Africa, whose nearly equal mandibles are
slightly arcuated at the end, and in which the nasal fossz extend to the
tip of the upper one, which has no third grooye. 'Theirfeet' are not
palmated. To the port of Snipes they add more lively colours,
and are particularly remarkable for the ocellated ‘spots. sind
corate the quills of both wings and tail.
These birds are found of various colours, and Gmelin, c a:
dering them as varieties, unites them under the name of Scol.
capensis. M. 'Temminck also considers them as different ages
of one bird. (3) ve
(1) It appears that Vicillot restricts the name of Scolopar to this subdivision, that
is, if, as I think, his pl. 241 represents this bird; it is not, eile exact. M. Leach
makes his genus Macroramrats of it.
(2) Vieillot has adopted this name and genus, Gal. pl. 240.
(3) Seol. capensis, 6, Gm. Enl. 922, should be the adult; Scol. capensis, yy en.
~ 881, or Rynchzxa variegata, Vicill., Galer. 240, the young, and Enl. 270, an inter-
mediate age. The Chevalier vert, Briss. and Buff. (Rallus benghalensis, Gm.), Al-
bin. TIT, 90, is also of ‘this genus, and does not even appear to differ from the va-
j
GRALLATORIZ. 387
Limosa, Bechst.(1)
The Godwits have a straight beak, longer than the Snipes, and
sometimes even slightly arcuated near the top. The nasal groove
extends close to the tip, which is blunt and somewhat depressed; no
third groove or punctation on its surface. The external toes are pal-
mated at base. Their form is more slender, and their legs longer
than those of Snipes; they frequent salt marshes and the sea-shore.
Scol. leucophzea, Lath., and laponica, Gm.; Barge aboyeuse;
the young, Brit. Zool. pl. xiii; Briss. V, pl. xxiv, f.2; the adult
in summer plumage, Enl. 900.(2) (The Common Godwit.) In
winter, a deep brown-grey, the feathers edged with white; the
breast, a brown-grey; whitish above; rump, white striped with
brown, &c. In summer it is red, with a brown back. The tail
is always striped with white and black.
Scol. ceegocephala and belgica, Gm.; Limosa melanura, Leisler;
in winter plumage, Enl. 874; in that of summer, Ib. 916. (The
Black-tailed Godwit.) In winter a cinereous grey, browner on
the back; white belly; in summer} head, neck, and breast, reds
the mantle, brown spotted with red; beneath, striped with
brown, red and white, bands; tail always black, edged with
white at the tip. These two birds are double the size of the
Woodcock, and their changes of plumage have occasioned va-
’ rious multiplications of the species. The last, during the sum-
mer?, covers the plains of New Holland. Its cry is very shrill
4 and resembles that of a Goat.(3)
so) **%\ Caupris, Cuv.—Trinea, Temm.(4)
*, "a " ¥ We. e
“a: The bill of the Sandpiper$ is depressed at the end, and the nasal
‘aes |
ee ee ee ee ee eee ee ee SS aaa
a
tiety represented, Enl. 922. N.B. This last plate is the only one that gives a cor-
rect representation of the beak peculiag to this little subgenus. Add, a very dis-
tinct species from Brazil, Dhipachand lara Val., Bullet. des Sc. de Ferussac,
Gand. ;
§ (1) Vieillot has changed this name into Limrcuza, Gal. 243.
(2) Gmelin has made the young of this bird a variety of the following species,
- and quotes the fig. of Brisson, by the name of Svol. glottis, which is a Ruff.
The adult is his Scol. laponica. The Limosa Meyeri, Leisl. and Temm., is this
species in its winter livery, and Lim. rufa, the same in its summer plumage. oh
(3) Add Scol. fedoa, L.; Wils. VII, pl. lvi, 4, or the Limicula marmorata, Vieill.
Galer. 243. We might distinguish the Scol. terek or Sc. cinerea, Gm.; Guldenst.,
Noy. Act. Petrop., XIX, pl. xix, whose beak is curved upwards, and whose feet
are semi-palmated. It leads to the Recurvirostres. ‘i
(4) Calidris, ‘an ash coloured and spotted bird, frequenting rivers and
woods,” Aristotle. Brisson has applied it to the Great Sandpiper.
388 AVES.
fossz are very long as in the Godwits, but this bill is not usually
longer than the head; their slightly bordered toes have no mem-
branes at base, and their thumb can hardly reach the ground; their
moderately long legs and short figure give them a heavier carriage
than that of the Godwits. They are also much smaller.
Tringa grisea, Tr. cinerea, and T'r. canutus, Gm.; La Mau-
béeche, Enl. 366; Edw. 276; Wils. VII, lvii, 2. (The Sandpi-
per.) Winter plumage ash-coloured above, white beneath, with
blackish spots on the front of the neck and breast. In its sum-
mer livery, 7'r. islandica, Gm., or Tr. rufa, Wils. VII, lvii, 5,
it is spotted above, fawn colour and blackish; underneath, red.
The 7r. ncevid, Enl. 365, is an intermediate state. The coverts
of the tail are always white striped with black, and its quills
grey. Nearly as large as a Snipe.
Tr. maritima, Brun; Tr. nigricans, Montag., Lin. Trans. 1V,
pl. 11, f. 25; Brit. Zool. in fol., pl. c. 2, f. 1. Somewhat less
than the preceding; grey; the mantle blackish; wings undulated
with whitish; whitish belly. It is common on the coast of Hol-
land, rare in France. Always settles on stones.(1)
Anrenaria, Bechst.—Catipris, Vig.
The Sanderlings resemble the Sandpipers in every point but one,
viz. they have no thumb, as is the case with the Plovers.
The species known, Charadrius calidris, Gm. Briss. V, pl.
xx, § 2; Vieill. Gal. 254, is, in winter, greyish above; front and
underneath white; blackish wings, varied with, white; Wils.,°
VII, lix, A. In summer, its back is spotted with fa -colour
and black, and its breast dotted with blackish, —Char. rubidus,
Wils., VII, Ixiii, 3.(2) ° “>
: ? ‘
Peipna, Cuv. BY. :
#4 . hg
The Pelidnz are merely small Sandpipers, with a bill somewhat
longer than the head. The edging”of their feet is insensible.
Tringa cinclus and alpina; Alouette de mer (The Sea-Lark), is
a third smaller than the Great Sandpiper, and like it, in winter,
(1) Add of European species: 7'r. Temminckii, Leisler, Col. 41, 4;—T'r. minuta,
Leis]. Naum. 21. f. 50. Of species foreign to that country: 7'r. lewcoptera, Gm.,
Lath. Syn. II, pl. lxxxii;—7'r. albescens, Tem. Col. 41, 1;—T'r. maculosa, Vieill.
Dict.;x—T'r. pusilla, Wils., pl. xxxvii, 4.
Add T'r. islandica, L., Wils. VII, p.. lvii, f. 2,5. Am. Ed.
(2) It has been confounded with the 4lowette de mer, in its winter plumage,
otherwise the little Sandpiper, or 7'r. arenaria. Brisson, in particular, gives the
figure of the one, and the description of the other. The Calidris tringozdes,
Vieill. Gal. 234, seems to be a bad figure of this bird in its summer livery.
“
>
GRALLATORIEZ. 389
is ash-coloured above, white beneath, and the breast shaded
with grey; in summer, its plumage is fawn-coloured above,
spotted with black, small black spots front of the neck and
breast, and a black patch under the belly. It is then the 7’.
alpina, Gm., or Tr. cinclus, B.“Enl. 852; Wils., VII, lvi, 2.
The 77. cinclus, L., Enl. 851, is an intermediate state.(1)
The Cocortr only differs from the Sea-larks by its beak being
slightly arcuated.
The species known, Scolopax subarcuata, Gm.; Numenius afri-
canus, Lath.; Naum. 21, f. 28 and 20; f. 27, is, in winter, black-
ish above, undulated with grey and whitish beneath; in summer
the back is spotted with black and fawn-colour, the wings are
grey, and the head and under part of the body red. It is found
everywhere, though very rarely. The
Fatcinetivs(2)
Has : a E beek somewhat more arcuated than that of the Cocorli; the
thumb, moreover, is deficient.
One. species only is known, Scol. pygmza, L., a native of
Africa, but which has sometimes been seen in Europe.
r Macueres, Cuv.(3)
we The Ruffs are true Sandpipers in their bill and carriage; the
~ membrane between their external toes, however, is nearly as exten-
sive as in Totanus, Limosa, &c.
a + One species only is known, the 7ringa pugnaz, L., Enl. 305,
A i +1306. “It is somewhat smaller than a snipe, and celebrated for
+” the furious combats which take place among the males in the
® ‘nuptial season. At this period the head is partly covered with
‘red papille, the neck is: surrounded with a thick collar of fea-
thers, so variously arranged and coloured, and projecting in
such, fantastic positions, that no two individuals can be found
alike; even before this epoch there is so much diversity in their
; plumage, that many imaginary species have been described by
naturalists.(4) Their feet are always yellowish, which with
(1) This is most probably the place for the 7'ringa macroptera, Spix, XCII.
Add Am. Spec. T'r. Schinzii, Brehm.;—T'r. pectoralis, Bonap.;—T'r. platyr-
hinca, Temm. Am. Ed.
(2) Vieillot has changed this name into Erotra. It is not, as has been asserted,
destitute of a thumb. ,
(3) MayxInc, pugnator. Teasdyoc, fuscus.
*. (4) The Chevalier varié, Buff., Sp. IV; Briss. V, pl..xvii, 2 (T'ringa litiorea,
L.; T'ringu ochropus, B.; littorea, Gm.). The Chevalier, properly so called, Buff.
F * ae
390 | SAEs. ,
their beak and their semi-palmated external toes, furnish a mark
which may assist us to recognize them. This bird, common
to the whole north of fs oF also found on the coast of
France, particularly in o tg spring, but it does not build
there.(1) VS ey une
There are some small birds in Anite resembling the Sand-
pipers, whose feet are semi-palmated nteriorly;, (the Hemrpa-
LtaMA, Bonap.) Tinga semi Palinatay Wils. pe VII, Ixiii,» 45
Tringa brevirostris, Spix, xoili. im «2 y
It appears that it is near the spilt, we en place the
- a a hg
-EURINORHYNCHUS, Wilson Lee §
Which is distinguished from them by ith ‘depressed bill, malttoe
at the end almost like that of the Spoonbill, ‘the any known species
of which, ' fp Opi’
Platalea pygmea, L.; ; Eurinorhynchus griseus, Wils., Thunb.,
Acad., Suec., pl. VI, is one of the rarest i in existence, fo only
a single individual has been found: it is grey y above, white be-
neath, and hardly as large as a Pelidna. 2 Sik be a
PHALAROPUS, Brits. (By.
Small birds, whose bill, though flatter than that of the Sandpi pers J
is similarly proportioned, and has the same they es: f
are bordered with wide membranes like hoge of ek be oe
cies known, é
Phal. fulicarius, Bonap.; Tringa lobati ahd Tr. futcatin 3 (3) on
has a very large beak for a member of this family.’ In winter }
it is ash-coloured above; beneath, and’ the head, w hitish} "}.!
black band on the neck: it is then the 77. lobata, ae 308. In
summer it becomes black, streaked with fawn coléife above, arte =
reddish beneath: there is at all times a white band on the wing nt
which is blackish: it is then the Phalaropus rufus, Bechst. and
%%, Ve 4
Sp. I; Briss. V, pl. xvii, fig. 1, quoted by Gmel. under Scol. calidris; the true
Maubéche, Briss. V, pl. xx, fig. 1 (T'ringa calidris, Gm.): the bird of Frisch, pl..
238, are all ruffs in different states of plumage, many other varieties of which
might still be represented.
According to Meyer, the T’ringa grenovicensis, Lath. is also a young Ruff.
(1) A true Ruff was shot on Long Island a few weeks ago (May 1830). It is
the only one ever found inthis country. Am. Ed. bh
(2) Vieillot has changed this name into Crymorutre, Gal., pl. 270. Y,
(3) Meyer improperly confounds this bird, Ed:v. 308, with the T'ringa hyper-
borea and the T'ringa fusca, which have the beak of a Totanus, and of which we
make our Lowires. / ade ahs
. f
; 7
_GRALLATORIA. 391
ne _ Meyer; Zringa fulicaridy 1, Edw. 142;(1) Crymophile roux,
Bit Gal... 270. ees bird i is rare in Europe.
| oa ries “ ery haa ARS t
et w APN " Sraepsmas. (2)
, A as
1 he ris Mines stare rather low; the bill is short, and the toes
are without membranes, like those of, the true Sandpipers; but this
bill is conical, pointed, without any depression, compression, or in-
flation, and the nasal, fosse do not extend to more than. half its
length. The thumb barely reaches the ground. Their bill, which
is stronger and stiffer in proportion than that of the preceding birds,
enables them to overturn stones, beneath which they find worms.
The mantle of one species is varied with black and red; head
and belly, white; cheeks and breast, black; it is disseminated
throughout both continents, and is the Zringa interpres, L.,
_ Enl. 856. There is also one varied with grey and brown, which
is perhaps but the same species at a different age—Enl. 340
and 8575 Noell Gal. 287.(3)
we, 7 é hs e » © © Toranus, Cuv.(4)
a The beak of»these bit ds'is slender, round, pointed and solids the
nasal fosse do not extend beyond the half of its length, and the
supper mandible is slightly. arcuated near the end. Their form is
light and their. legs long; but.a small part of their thumb rests on
. the ground; their external web is well marked. Each of the species
is fo found throughout almost the whole of the globe.
\ Scol. glottis, L.; Chevalier aux pieds verts; Albin. I, 693 Al-
difov. Orn. III, 535; Brit. Zool. pl. c. 1? As large asa Limosa,
' .' »beak thick and strong, a brown ash colour above and on the
_ sides; edges of the feathers dotted with brown; white rump and
a belly; tail marked with narrow and irregular grey and white
. stripes; the feet green. In summer the neck and breast are
spotted with brown; in winter the whole under part of the body
is white. It is the largest of all the European species. Scol.
fusca, L.3 Cheval noir; Barge brune; Buff. Enl. 8755 Frisch,
236,(5) has the graceful form of the Godwit, and in summer is
a blackish brown above and slate-coloured beneath; the feathers.
Na at MM | Suwa Caisg it Cia. Winnie ARR. tps gata ae Miata ste
(1) Gmelin has increased the confusion by quoting this bird as a variety of the
Gipietenel
(2) Vieillot has changed this name into that of Arenanrra, Gal. pl. 237. .
(3) See Edw., 141; Naum., Suppl. 62, f. 118; Wils. VI, lvii, 2. The Chevalier
varié, Enl. 300, referred by Meyer to Strepsilas, is merely a Ruff.
(4) Totano, the Venetian name of a Limosa or Totanus.
(3) According to Meyer, the Scol. cwronica and cantabrigiensis, and the T'ringa
atra, Gm. should be referred to this bird. The two first are the young ones.
nie
4
392
ag
bordered or dotted on the edge with whitish; 1; the ump white,
and the tail striped with brown and white, t we charac era which
exist more or less in all the species of Europe; | feet of ¢ a reddish
brown. In winter the belly and breast. become white, when it
is almost ash coloured above, with red feet. It is then the
Grand Chevalier a pieds roges, Scol. calidris, L. Enl. 876.(1)
Tringa gambetta, Gm. Gambette; Enl. 845; Frisch, 240,
Naum. 9, f. 9. In summer, brown above, with black spots, and
some few white ones, on the edges of the feathers; white be-
neath with brown spots, particularly on the breast and neck;
red feet; numerous brown and white stripes on the tail. In win-
ter its spots are nearly effaced, and the mantle is of an almost
uniform grey; in this state it is the fig.,. Eni. fe" gee size is a
third less.
Totanus stagnatilis, Bechst.; Chevillier 2 dongs piedss Bonelli.
Something smaller than the preceding, but Ths longer and more
slender legs: in summer its back is brown, with irregular black
spots; its belly white, and brown spots mark the neck and
breast. In winter the mantle becomes of a upiforgn ee nei and .
the under part of the body white. The smipeey the tail are
irregular and parallel to its edges. > >
Tringa ochropus, L.; Le Béecasseau; Enl.. 848. A bronze-black,
above, the edges of the feathers dotted with whitish; white. be-
neath, spotted with grey on the forepart of the neck and on the |
sides; only three black bands on the lower half of the tail; feet,
greenish; still smaller than either of the two preceding ones.
It is much esteemed as game, and is common along the banks
of rivulets in Europe, although it is rather a solitary bird.
Tringa glareola, Gm.; Bécasseau des bois, chiefly differs from
the preceding in Ha from seven to eight blackish stripes | :
along the whole length of the tail. The pale spots on its. back .
are broader. The spots on the neck and breast almost totally
disappear in winter.
Tot. macularius, Wils. VII, lix, 1, 2?(2) Tringa hypoleucos,
L.; La guignette, Enl. 850. The smallest of the European spe-
cies, being about as large as a Pelidna (Zr. alpina, Gm.);
a bronzed greenish-brown, with transverse, fawn coloured
and black marks on the wings; beneath and in front, whites.
rump, and the middle quills of the tail, colour of the back, the
lateral ones only being striped with black and white as in the
(1) Under the wrong name of Barge grise.
(2) This mark of doubt may be removed: it is not the Tot. ache Wils.
Am. Ed.
f
|
GRALLATORI&. 393
other species. The feathers of the beak as well as the small
wing-coverts, when young, have a light fawn coloured edging.
Its habits are the same as those of the preceding.
Among the species foreign to Europe, we should particularly
notice that of North America, with the large beak and semi-
palmated feet, Scolopax semipalmata, L.; Ency. Method. Pl.
Ornith., pl. lxxi, fig. 1; Wils. VII, lvi, 3, which is nearly as
large as the one first named, with .a shorter and thicker beak,
plumage brown-grey above, whitish beneath; brownish spots on
the neck and breast; toes well bordered with equal and consi-
derable membranes.(1) The
Losrrgs, Cuy.(2)
We think requires to be separated from Phalaropus, because al-
though the feet are similar, the bill is that of a Totanus; such is
Tringa hyperborea, L.; Lobipede a hausse-col; Enl. 766, of
which the 7ringa fusca, Edw. 46, is probably the female or the
young. This little bird, which is grey above, white beneath,
and has its scapulars tinged with red, has a broad red gorget
round its white throat.(3)
Himanropvus,(4) Briss.
The bill round, slender and pointed, even more so than that of a
(1) It is on this character that M. Ch. Bonaparte founds his subgenus Caror-
Tropnorus. Addto the common species, Tot. speculiferus, which resembles the
semipalmatus, but stands higher, and has a longer beak, with the usual feet;—
Tot. vociferus, Wils. VII, lviii, 5, or Tot. melanoleucos, Ord, Ib.;—Tot. flavipes,
Wils., LVI, 4;—Tot. solitarius (Tot. glareolus, Wils.), Wils., VII, lviii, 3. [See
App. XXIV of Am. Ed.) The T'ot. Bartramius, Wils., VU, lix, 2, has a propor-
tionally shorter beak than the other species, although in every thing else its
characters are the same.
N.B. This genus, mixed up by Buffon with several varieties of Ruffs, has been
distributed by Linnzus, without any reason, among his two genera Scolopax and
Tinga. This confusion is not yet dissipated, as I had no opportunity of observ-
ing all the foreign species. Itis easy to see, however, that I could not retain the
genus Arires of Illiger. ’
I should also observe, that the most»exact descriptions will not suffice for dis-
© tinguishing the species with certainty, until those of my Toranus are separated
_” from my Sandpipers and Godwits, according to the forms of the beak, as above
“mentioned. Itis this which has prevented me from giving all the synonymes of
Bechstein and Meyer.
e's» (2)! M. Vieillot, to have the air of producing a change, retains here the name of
Phalaropus.
(3) Add the Phal. frenatus, Vieill. Gal. pl. 271, or Phal. liseré, T. Col. 270;
Wils., IX, pl. lxiii, f. 3? Itis the subgenus Hotoronrus of Ch. Bonap.
(4). Himantopus, feet like a string, (alluding to their weakness) is the name
given to this bird in Pliny.
Vou. I.—2 Z
394 AVES.
Totanus, and the nasal grooves occupy but half its length. The ex-
cessive length and tenuity of the legs which are reticulated and des-
titute of a thumb, and the weakness of their bones, which is so ex-
treme as to render walking painful to them, are what principally
distinguish the species of this subgenus, and give rise to their
name.
One species only is known in Europe,—Charadrius himantopus,
L., Enl. 878, which is white, with a black calotte and mantle,
and long red feet; it is a rare bird whose habits are but im-
perfectly known.(1)
This is perhaps the only place for the
, Recurvirostra, Lin.
Or the Avosets, although their feet, which are webbed to near the
ends of the toes, almost entitle them to a situation among the Pal-
mipedes; but their high tarsi and half naked legs, their long, slen-
der, pointed, smooth, and elastic bill, together with the mode of life
resulting from this conformation, equally approximate them to the
Snipes. What particularly characterizes, and even distinguishes
them from all other birds, is the strong upward curve of their beak.
Their legs are reticulated, and their thumb much too short to reach
the ground.
The European species,—Recurv. avocetia, L., Enl. 353, is
white; a black calotte and three bands on the wing of the same
hue; feet, lead-coloured; it is a pretty bird of a graceful form,
found in winter on the sea shore. The American species,—R.
americana, Wils. VII, Ixiii, 2; Leach, Zool. Misc., pl. 101,
differs from it in a red hood.
The coasts of the Indian seas produce a third which is white,
with black wings.and red feet, the RP. orientalis, Cuy.(2)
FAMILY V.
q
M a BORA PTL ag
This family is furnished with very long toes, fitted for will
ing on the grass of marshes, and even for swimming, in those,
numerous species especially, in which they are bordered with |
a membrane. ‘There are no membranes, however, between
(1) Add, Him. nigricollis, Wils. VU, pl. lviii, 2, and Vieill. Gal. pl. 229.
(2) Vicillot has changed this name into Recurvir. leucocephala, Gal. pl. 272.
GRALLATORIE. 395
the bases of their toes, not even between the external ones.
The beak, more or less compressed on the sides, is lengthened
or shortened according to the genus, never, however, becom-
ing as slender or as weak as that of the preceding family.
The body of these birds is also singularly compressed, a cir-
cumstance which is owing to the narrowness of the sternum ;
their wings are moderate or short, and their flight feeble.
They all have a long thumb.
They have been divided into two tribes according to the
armature or non-armature of their wings ; but this character is
liable to exceptions.
Jacanas, Briss.—Parra, Lin.(i)
The Jacanas are greatly distinguished from the other Grallatoriz
by having four very long toes, separated down to their root, the
nails of which, that of the thumb in particular, are also extremely
long and pointed, from which peculiarity, they have received their
vulgar name of Surgeons. The beak is similar to that of the Lap-
wings in its moderate length, and in the slight inflation of its end.
Their wing isarmed with aspur. They are noisy and quarrelsome
birds, which inhabit marshes of hot climates, where they walk with
great facility by means of their long toes.
America produces some species in which the base of the bill is
covered by a flat, naked membrane, which extends to part of the
forehead.
P. jacana, L. Enl. 322. (The Common Jacana.) Blaek, with
ared mantle; the primary wing-quills green; fleshy wattles under
the beak; very sharp-pointed spurs. It is the most common
species in all the hot climates of America.(2)
Some of the same description are also found in Asia,
» (A) Jacana, or Jahana, i is properly, in Brazil, the name of the Gallinulz.. The
7 ‘Surgeons are there called Aquapuazos, because they walk over the aquatic plants
ealled Aquape (Azzar.). It is possibly through an error of transcription that one
of'them in Marcgrave is named guapeccaca.
Parra is the Latin name of some unknown bird.
(2) The-J: varié (P. variabilis), En\. 846, is only the common species at an early
age. ‘The P. brasiliensis and the P. nigra exist only on the somewhat equivocal
- authority of, “Marcgrave. The P. viridis, which also rests on the description of
Marcgrav e, appears to me, from the description itself, to be a Porphyrio. The P
africana, Lath. scarcely differs. As for the P. chavaria, see the following article
- on the Palamedez.
396 AVES.
P. znea,(1) with a black body reflecting blue and violet tints;
mantle bronze-green; rump and tail blood-red; anterior quills
of the wing green; a white streak behind the eye. Its spurs are
blunt and small.
Others have been discovered in the East, in which this membrane
is deficient, and which are otherwise remarkable for some singular
differences in the proportions of their quills.
P. chinensis; Jacana @ longue queue; Encycl. Method., Orn.
pl. 61, f. 1; Vieill. Gal. 265. (The Long-tailed Jacana.) Brown;
head, throat, front of the neck and coverts of the wings white;
back of the neck furnished with silky feathers of a golden yel-
low; asmall pediculated appendage to the end of some of the
wing-quills; four quills of the tail black, and longer than the
body. The Chirurgien de Lucon of Sonnerat, (P. luzoniensis, ) is
the young of the same: independently of some difference in the
colours, it has not yet acquired its long tail.
The East produces others which are tufted, and in which the spur
on the wing is deficient, P. gallinacea, Tem. 464.
PALAMEDEA, Lin.
The Kamichi resemble the Jacanas, but on a very large scale, in
the two strong spurs of each of their wings, in their long toes and
strong nails, that of the thumb in particular, which is long and
straight as in the Larks; but their beak, whose aperture is small, is
but slightly compressed, and is not inflated; the upper mandible,
also, is somewhat arcuated. Their legs are reticulated. The species
known,
P. cornuta, L., Enl. 451; Vieill. Gal. 261; Anhima in Brazil;
Camouche at Cayenne, &c. is larger than the Goose, blackish,
with a red spot on the shoulder, and a singular appendage on
top of the head, consisting of a long, slender, mobile and horny
stem. There are no membranes between the toes. This bird is
found in the inundated places of South America, and has a very
loud cry. It is a strict monogamist. It has been said that it
hunts reptiles, but though its stomach is but slightly musealiins
it rarely feeds on any thing but aquatic plants and seeds.(2)
A distinct genus has been made of another,
Cuauna, Illig.(3)
Parra chavaria, L.; Chaia of Paraguay, Azzar.; Col. 2195
(1) Vieillot has changed this specific name into melanchloris, Gal. 264. It is
also the P. superciliosa, Horsf. Jav.
(2) Bajon., Mem. sur Cayenne, II, 284.
(3) Vieillot has changed this name into Or1srorornts.
:
GRALLATORIA. 397
Vieill. Gal. 267, which has no horn on the vertex, and whose
occiput is ornamented with a circle of erectile feathers. The
head and upper part of the neck are only covered with down,
and it has a black collar. The rest of its plumage is lead-co-
loured, and blackish with a white spot on the tip of the wing,
and a second over the base of some of the large quills. The ex-
ternal toes are considerably palmated. It chiefly feeds on aquatic
plants, and the Indians of Carthagena always keep some of them
among their geese and chickens, as it is sufficiently courageous,
according to them, to repulse even the Vulture. A singular
circumstance attending this bird is, that air is every where in-
terposed between the skin and muscles, even on the legs, in
such a quantity as causes it to crackle under the finger.
Although there is scarcely any part of the leg naked in(1)
Meearopius,
We still think it should be placed near Palamedea. It is a genus
lately discovered in New Guinea, in which the bill is arched and
slightly compressed, the membranous nostrils occupying about the
one half; the legs are strong, high, and scutellated; the thumb and
toes long, and terminated by large nails somewhat flattened; the tail
is short, the circumference of the eye partly naked, and there is a
small tubercle on the carpus, the first and slight vestige of the spur
of the Palamedex. The membrane between the external toesis very
short; between the internal ones it is somewhat larger. The eggs
are very disproportionate in size to that of the bird.
One species is tufted almost like the Chavaria,—the Megap.
Duperrey, Less. and Garn., Voy. de Duperr. Zool., pl. 37. Two
others, the MW. de Freycinet and M. de Lapeyrouse, Quoy and Gaym.
Voy. de Freycin. pl. 28 and 27, and Col. 220, are destitute of
the tuft.(2) A fourth, which is smaller, the lectelie de Dur-
ville, Voy. de Dup., pl. 38, appears to have no tail.
Of the tribe whose wings have no armature, Linneus com-
prises in his genus /ulica such as have their beak prolonged
~ into a sort of shield, which partly covers the forehead; and
in his genus Radius, those in which this peculiarity does not
exist. [See App. XXV of Am. Ed. ]
(1) There is scarcely any part of the leg naked in the Rallus Crez.
(2) The Mégap. Duperrey is called Tavon in Manilla. Although hardly as large asa
Partridge, it lays an egg equal in size to that of a Goose. Add the Mégap. a2 pieds
rouges, Col. 411.
398° AVES.
me Rauuus, Linn.
The Rails, which, in other respects, have a strong, mutual re-
semblance, present bills of very different proportions.
Among the species in which it is longest, the Rattus, Bechst., is
placed
Ral. aquaticus, L.; Rale d’eau d’ Europe, Enl. 749; Naum. 20,
f.41. (The Water Rail.) A fawn coloured brown, spotted with
blackish above; bluish ash colour beneath; the flanks striped
with white and black; common in ponds, &c., where it swims
well, and runs lightly over the leaves of aquatic plants; it feeds
on small shrimps, and its flesh has a marshy odour.(1)
Other species have a shorter beak, Crex, Bechsty; among which
we find
Ral. crex, L.; Le Rale de genéts, Enl. 7503 Frisch, 212, B;
Naum. 5, f. 5. Fawn coloured brown, spotted with black above;
greyish beneath; flanks streaked with black; red wings. It lives
‘and builds in the fields, running through the grass with great
celerity. Its name, Crex, expresses the sound of its note. It
has been called the Quail-King, because it arrives and departs
with those birds, and leads a solitary life on the same grounds,
from which arose the conjecture that it was their leader. It
feeds on grain, as well as on worms and insects. .
Ral. porzana,L.; La Marouette, Enl. 7513 Frisch, 211; Naum.
31, f. 42. (The Little Spotted Rail.) A deep brown dotted
with white; flanks marked with whitish stripes; found in the
vicinity of ponds, and constructs a nest with reeds, that has the
form of a wherry, which it fastens to the stem of some one of
those plants; it is a good swimmer and diver, and does not leave
France till the middle of winter.(2)
(1) There is a variety or species at the Cape, Mallus cxrulescens, Cuv., the
black and white stripes of whose abdomen are merely a little more extended. Add
ofthe Water Rails: Lal. virginianus, Edw., 729; Wils. LXII, 1;—crepitans, Ib. 2;— P
longirostris, Enl. 849;—variegatus, Enl. 77 5;—philippensis, Enl. 774;—torquatus;—
striatus;—the Fulica cayennensis (which is a true Rail), Enl. 352, as well as the.
Gallinula gigas, Spix, xcix;—sarracura, Id. XCVIIN;—mangle, Id. ‘XCVI—rufi
ceps, Id. XCVI, and cxria, Id. XCV.—The Ral. fuscus, Enl. ane begins to have : a
shorter bill. *
(2) There are two other Rails in murope with short ‘oe smaller than the
porzana, R. Bailliont, Vieill. Dict., and &. pusillus, Naum., 32, F. 43. Amon
these short beaked Rails may be placed the Ral. cayennensis, Enl. 753 and 368;—
minutus, Enl. 847;—jamaicensis, Edw. 278;—noveboracensis, Vieill. Gal. 266;—
nigro- lateralis; Lichten.;—carolinus, Edw. 144, Wils. 48, 2; s—Galhinula. _eurizona,
T. Col. 417;—G. rubiginosa, 1d. Col. 387.
The Ral. benghalensis, Gm., isa Ethynchea.
4
%
GRALLATORIA, 399
Fuuica, Lin.
The Coots may be divided as follows, from the form of the beak
and the appliances of the feet. . .
Gauinuta, Briss. and Lath.
Or the Water Hens. The beak very similar to that of the Ground-
Rail, from which these birds are distinguished, by the shield on the
forehead, and by very long toes, furnished with a very narrow
border.
Fulica chloropus, L.; La Poule d’Eau commune, Enl. 877;
Frisch, 209; Naum. 29 and 38. (The Water-Hen.) A deep
brown above; slate-grey beneath, with some white on the thighs,
along the middle of the lower part of the abdomen, and on the
external edge of the wing. The young, Fulica fusca, Gm., Pou-
lette. d’eau, Buff., are more lightly coloured, and have a larger
frontal escutcheon.(1)
Porruyrio, Briss.
The beak higher in proportion to its length; very long toes, with-
out any very sensible border; the frontal shield large, rounded in
some, and square above in others. These birds stand on one foot,
using the other to convey their food to the beak. Their colours are
usually fine shades of blue, violet and aqua-marina. Such is
Fulica porphyrio, .; Poule Sultane Ordinaire; Edw. 87, a
beautiful African bird, now naturalized in several islands and
coasts of the Mediterranean.(2) Its beauty would render it an
ornament to our pleasure grounds.
Furica, Briss.
The True Coots, in addition to a short beak and a large frontal
shield, have their toes much widened by a festooned. border that
renders them excellent swimmers, in consequence of which their
(1) The Poule d’eau ardoisée de l Inde, Vicill. Gal. 268, hardly differs from the
common one;—the P. d’eaw tachetée, or the Grinette, F. nexvia, Alb., U, 73, is only
a young Ral. crex. Add Ral. phenicurus, Enl. 896.
Add Gal. martinica, Gm.; Wils. IX, pl. xxiii, f. 2. Am. Ed.
(2) The Ful. maculaia, flavipes and fistulans, originally rest on some bad
figures of Gesner, from drawings which had been sent to him. But the Ful. mar-
tinica and flavirostris are true Rhyncheas. The martinica is in Vicill. Gal. 267.
Add the Tuléve d manteau verd (Porph. smaragnotus, T.), Enl. 910;—the J. d man-
teau noir (Porph. melanotos, T.);—the T. meunier (P. pulverulentus, T.), Col.
405;—the 7. emeraudine (P. smaragdinus, T.) Col, 421;—the P. albus, L. Philip.,
Voy. to Bot. Bay, p. 273; J. White, p. 238
400 AVES.
lives are passed in ponds and marshes. Their polished plumage is
not less adapted to this kind of life than their conformation, and
these birds establish an evident link between the order of the Gral-
latoriz and that of the Palmipedes. There is but one in Europe,
F. atra, F. aterrima, and F. xthiops, Gm.; La Foulque, Enl.
197, Frisch. 208, Naum. 30, f. 40. (TheCoot.) The shield of
a deep slate colour; edge of the wings whitish; in the nuptial
season the shield becomes red: found wherever there is a
pond.(1)
We will terminate this sketch of the Grallatorie with three
genera, which it is diflicult to associate with any other, and
which may be considered as forming separately so many small
families.
Curonis, Foster.—VAcGinALIs, Lath.
Or the Sheath-Bills. Their legs are short, almost like those of the
Gallinacez; their tarsi scutellated, their bill stout and conical, hav-
ingahard substance enveloping its base, which, it appears, the bird
has the power of raising and depressing.
Only one species is known, and that is from New Holland,
Vag. Chionis, Lath. III, pl. 89, Chionis necrophaga, Vieill. Gal.
258. Itis the size of a Partridge, with entirely white plumage.
It haunts the sea-coast, where it feeds on the dead animals
thrown up by the waves.
GLAREOLA.
The beak of the Pratincoles is short, conical, arcuated throughout,
has a large opening, and resembles that of the Gallinacee, Their
excessively long and pointed wings remind us of the Swallows,(2)
or of the Palmipedes of the high seas; their legs are of a moderate
length, their tarsi scutellated, and their external toes somewhat pal-:
mated; their thumb touches the ground. Aquatic worms and insects
constitute their food. The European species,
Glar. austriaca, Enl. 882; Glar. pratincola, Leach,’ Lin.
Trans., XIII, pl. xii; Naum., 29, F. 59, is brown above, white
beneath and on the rump; a black circle round the throat; feet
and base of the beak, reddish. It appears to be found in all the |
north of the eastern continent. (3)
(1) Add the Coot of Madagascar (Ful. cristata, Gm.) Enl.797; Vieill. Gal. 269.
Add also F’. americana, Gm.; Wils. IX, pl. Ixxiii, f. 1. 4m. Ed.
(2) Linnzus (Edit. XII) even placed the common epPgiEs in the genus Hirundo, -
under the name of Hir. pratincola.
(3) Glareola nevia, Gm., is the young of the common species. See Leach, Lin.
GRALLATORIA. A401
Our last genus will be that of
Puenicoprerus, Lin.
Or the Flamingos, one of the most extraordinary and insulated of
all birds. The legs are excessively long; the three anterior toes’are
palmated to their ends, and that of the hind one is extremely short;
the neck, quite as long and slender as the legs, and their small head
furnished with a beak whose lower mandible is an oval longitudinally
bent into a semi-cylindrical canal, while the upper one, oblong
and flat, is bent crosswise in its middle, so as to join the other
exactly. The membranous fossex of the nostrils occupy nearly all
the side of the part which is behind the transverse fold, and the
nostrils themselves are longitudinal slits in the base of the fossex.
The edges of the two mandibles are furnished with small, and very
delicate transverse laminz, which, with the fleshy thickness of the
tongue, creates some affinity between them and the Ducks. Were
it not for the length of their tarsi, and the nudity of their legs, we
might even place them among the Palmipedes. They feed on shell
fish, insects, and the spawn of fishes, which they capture by means of
their long neck, turning the head on one side to give more effect to
the hook of the upper mandible. They construct their nest of earth
in marshes, placing themselves astride of it to hatch their eggs, a
position to which they are forced to resort, by the length of their
legs. The species known,
Ph. ruber, Enl. 68 (The Red Flamingo), is from three to four
feet in height; ash coloured, with brown streaks, during the
first year; in the second there is a rosy hue on the wings, and
in the third it acquires a permanent purple-red on the back, and
rose-coloured wings. The quills of the wing are black; the
beak yellow, with a black tip, and the feet brown.
This species is found in all parts of the eastern continent be-
low 40°. Numerous flocks are seen on the southern coast of
France, and they sometimes ascend as far as the Rhine.
M. Temminck thinks that the American Flamingo, which is alto-
gether of a bright red, Wils. VIII, 66, and Catesb. 73, is a different
species from that of Europe.(1)
Trans. XIII, pl. xii, f. 2. Add Glar. australis, Leach, loc. cit. pl. xiv, or Glar.
isabella, Vieill. Gal. 263;—Glar. orientalis, Leach, XI1;—Glar. lactea, Tem.
Col. 399.
(1) M. Temminck has positively ascertained that the Flamingo of America is
different from that of Europe. The latter he calls Phen. antiquorum, but the
American species Ph. ruber. Am. Ed.
Vou. I.—3 A
402 AVES.
ORDER VI.
PALMIPEDES.
These birds are characterized by their feet, formed for
natation, that is to say, placed far back on the body, attached
to short and compressed tarsi, and with palmated toes. Their
dense and polished plumage saturated with oil, and the thickly
set down which is next to their skin, protect them from the
water in which they live. ‘They are the only birds whose
beak surpasses—which it sometimes does to a considerable ex-
tent—the length of their feet, and this is so, to enable them to
search for their food in the depths below, while they swim on
the surface. Their sternum is very long, affording a com-
plete guard to the greater part of their viscera, having, on
each side, but one emargination or oval foramen, filled up
with membrane. Their gizzard is usually muscular, the ceca
long, and the inferior larynx simple; in one family, however,
the latter is so inflated as to form cartilaginous capsules.
This order admits of a tolerably precise division into four
families.
FAMILY I.
BRACHYPTERZ.
A part of this family has some external affinities with that of
the Gallinule. ‘Their legs, placed further back than in any
other birds, renders walking painful to them, and obliges them,
when on land, to stand vertically. In addition to this, as
most of them have but feeble powers of flight, and as some of
them are wholly deprived of that faculty, we may consider
them as exclusively attached to the surface of the water:
their plumage is extremely dense, and its surface frequently
polished, presenting a silvery lustre. ‘They swim under wa-
ter, using their wings with almost as much effect as though
they were fins. Their gizzard is muscular, and their ceca
PALMIPEDES. 403
moderate; the lower larynx is furnished on each side with
a peculiar muscle.
Co.tymsus, Lin.{1)
The only particular character of the Divers is a smooth, straight,
compressed and pointed bill, and linear nostrils; but the differences
in the feet have caused them to be subdivided.
5 Popicers, Lath.—Cotyrmsus, Briss. and Illig.
The toes of the Grebes, instead of being palmated, are widened
like those of the Coots, the anterior ones only being united at base
by membranes. ‘The middle nail is flattened, and the tarsus strongly
compressed. The semi-metallic lustre of their plumage has caused
it to be occasionally employed as fur. Their tibia, as well as that
of the succeeding subgenera, is prolonged above into a point which
gives a more efficient insertion to the extensors of the leg.
These birds live on lakes, &c., and build among the rushes.
In certain circumstances, it appears that they carry their young ones.
under their wings. Their size and plumage are so much changed
vy age, as to have caused an improper multiplication of species.
”M. Meyer reduces those of Europe to four.
Col. cristatus, Gm., Enl. 400 and 944; Frisch, 183; Naum.
69, F. 1063 Col. urinator, Gm., Enl. 941; Edw. 36 (The Crested
Grebe), is the size of a ducks blackish-brown above, silver-white
beneath; a white band on the wing; it acquires with age a double
black tuft, and the adults have in addition a broad red collarette
on the upper part of the neck, edged with black.
“Col. cornutus, Enl. 404, 2; Col. obscurus, Enl. 942; and Col.
caspicus, Gm., Vieill. Gal. 281; Edw. 145 (The Horned
Grebe), resembles the preceding in form, but the collarette of
the adult is black; its tufts and the front of its neck red. It is
much smaller.
Col. subcristatus; and the young, parotis and rubricollis, Enl.
931; Lath. Supp. I, 118; Naum. 70, f. 107 (The Grey-cheeked
Grebe), also has the front of its neck red, but the tufts of the
adult are small and black, and its collarette very short and grey.
Intermediate, as to size, between the two last.
Col. minor, Gm. Enl. 905 (The Little Grebe), is as large as
a Quail, and has neither crest nor collarette; its plumage is
brown; more or less shaded with red, the breast and belly ex-
cepted, where itis asilver-grey. The throat of the young bird
is white. (2)
(1) Colymbus, the Greek name of these birds.
(2) Add the Pod. carolinensis, Lath., Catesb. 41, 91, Enl. 95;—the Gr. aux
404 AVES,
<
Ww ph
HELIoRNIS, Bogmat. ~ Popo, Liki ge GitcnrebuLaons, Buff.
5
The feet lobulate as in the Coots and Grebes, but the tail more
developed than in either of the two; the nails also are sharper.(1)
[See App. XXVI of Am. Ed. | .. 7
%
Mercvs, Briss.(2)—Cotymsus, Lath.—Eupyres, Illig.
The true Divers have the feet of ordinaty»Palmipedes, alon
with all the forms of the Grebes, that is, the anterior toesare nil
to their ends by membranes, and are terminated by point adits
They are northern birds, which rarely breed in Fr nc where they _
arrive in winter, at which season is occasionally sen onthecas
Col. glacialis, L., Eni. 9523; Col. immer, Gm., Wils. Am. IX,
Ixxiv, 3; Naum. 66, f. 103. (The Great Norther ae)
The adult is two feet six inches in length, its head and neck
black, changing to a green with a whitish collar; back, a black-
ish brown dotted with whitish; white beneath; the lower man-
dible, which has a slight curve upwards, is marked by a groove
beneath. The young birds, Col. immer, Gm., Briss., VI,
which more frequently visit the fresh waters, differ considerably
as to the extent of the black on the neck, and of the grey or
brown on the back, which, added to their diminished size, has -
occasioned a multiplication of the number of species. We ‘
tinguish ‘
Col. arcticus, L., Edw. 146; Naum. Supp. 30, f. 603 and fe
young, Enl. 914 (The Black-throated Diver), which is some-
what smaller; the back of the neck ash-coloured, and the lower
mandible straight and without a groove. The young resemble
those of the preceding.
Col. septentrionalis, Enl. 308; Edw. 97; Naum. 67, f. 943 Vieill.
Gal. 282; Col. stellatus, Gm.; Buff. VIII, xxi; Enl. 992, Naum.
Supp. 31, f. 62. (The Red-throated Diver.) The adult male is
brown above, white beneath; face and sides of the neck ash-co-
loured; front of the neck red. The female and the young are
brown dotted with white above, and all white beneath.
belles joues (Pod. kalipareus, Less. and Garn.), Voy. de la Coq., Zool. No. 45;—the
Gr. Rolland (Pod. Rollandi), Quoy and Gaym., Voy. de Freycin., Zool., pl. xxxvi.
(1) Plotus surinamensis, Gmel., Enl. 893;—Heliornis senegalensis, Vieill. Gal.
280. M. Ch. Bonap. as well as inci: thinks that this genus should be approx-
imated to that of Anhinga.
(2) Mergus (diver), the Latin name of some sea-bird difficult to determine. Lin-
nzus, following Gesner, has applied it to the Merganser. Eudytes, a Greek word
composed by Illiger, has the same meaning.
PALMIPEDES, 405
Uria, Briss. et Illig.(1)
The Guillemots have a bill, which, though of the general form
of the preceding, is covered with feathers down to the nostrils; there
is also an emargination at the point which is somewhat arcuated.
Their chief character, however, consists in the absence of the thumb.
Their wings, much shorter than those of the divers, scarcely enable
them to flutter. They feed on fish, crabs, &c. and are found among
rocky precipices when they breed.
The large species called the Great Guillemot, Colymbus troile,
L., Enl. 903; Brit. Zool., pl. H; Edw. 359, 13; Frisch, 185, is
the size of a Duck, the head and neck brown, back and wings
blackish, and a white belly; there is a white line upon the wing
formed by the tips of the secondary quills. It inhabits the ex-
_ treme North, although it breeds on the rocky coasts of England
and Scotland. In very hard winters it is seen on those of
France. o
There is a smaller species which is black, with the upper
part of the wing white, Col. Grylie, L.; Vieill. Gal. 2943 Choris.,
Voy. aut. du M., Isles Aleut., pl. xxii, sometimes mottled
throughout with white, C. marmoratus, Frisch, Suppl. B., pl.
185, Edw. 50 and Penn., Arct. Zool., II, xxii, 2. Individuals
“are sometimes seen, all white, C. lacteolus, Pall.(2)
We may also separate from the Guillemots the
Pia
oy Crpuus,(3)
Vulgarly called Greenland Divers, which have a shorter bill with
a more arcuated back, but without any emargination. The symphysis
of the lower mandible is extremely short. Their wings are larger,
and the membranes of their feet well indented.
The species most known, called the Little Guillemot or Green-
land Dove, Colymbus minor, Gm.; Enl. 917; Mergulus Alle,
Vieill. Gal. 295; Brit. Zool. pl. H, 4, f. 1; Edw. 91; Naum.
Ed. I, 65, f. 102, is the size of a large Pigeon, black above,
- (1) Uria, the Greek, or rather Latin name of an aquatic bird which appears to
have been either a Diver ora Grebe. Guillemot, the English name, would seem
to indicate its stupidity.
(2) Add the G. a grosbec {Uria Prunnichii, Sabine), Choris, Voy. aut. du M. pl.
xxi;—Uria lacrymans, Lapil., Ib., XX11J—consult the article inserted there on this
genus by M. Valenciennes.
(3) Cephus, the name of some sea bird often mentioned by the Greek writers,
which appears to have been a species of Petrel or Gull. Mehring, and subse-
quently Pallas, applied it to the Divers and Guillemots. Vicillot has changed it
into Mergulus, Gal. 295.
406 Aves.
white beneath, with a white’ line on the wing as in the Guille-
mot. Its bill is black, and feet red. Inhabits all the northern
coasts, and builds under ground. It is sometimes seen on the
French coast in winters ‘_ yt ke.
4 7 at
F
ALCA, Lin. <—" :
: ee iv *, B i 39 r
The Auks are known by the very much compressed, vertically
raised bill which has a trenchant back, cand is usually grooved —
transversely; and by the feet which are cpopletaippinated, and
have no thumb like those of the Guillemot. All these birds inhabit
4 4
the northern seas. We may divide the genus into two subgenera.
‘ 7 e t
Frarercura, Briss.—Morwon, Illig. | . a 6
Or the Puffins, whose bill, shorter than the heady 1 is as high, and
higher at base than it is long, which gives it a very extrao dinary
form; a folded skin usually covers its base. The nostrils pl ced near
for a moment; they live upon the ocean and breed on the rocks
£
the edge are mere slits. Their small wings cangjust sustain ae
The most common species, -Z/ca arctica, L. and labradoria,
Gm.; Mormon fratercula, Tem. Enl. 275; Brit. Zoo pl. H;
Edw. 358, 1; Frisch, 192; Naum. 65, f. 101, is the size of a Pr
geon, and has a black calotte and mantle; white beneath. It
sometimes breeds among the cliffs on the English coast, and is
very common on those of France during the winter.(1) e
M. Temminck distinguishes, under the name of Stariques (Pua-
LERIS) those species which have a less elevated bill.(2) -
” 6
Auca, Cuv.(3) Ww
“A
The true Auks have a more elongated bill, resembling in form
the blade of a knife; it is covered with feathers as far as the nos-
trils. Their wings are decidedly too small to support them, and
therefore they never attempt to fly.
Alca torda and pica, Gm.; Pingouin commun, Enl. 1004, the
adult 1003, in summer plumage, Edw. 358, 2, Briss. VI, VIII,
2, Brit. Zool. pl. H, 1. (The Common Auk.) Black above, white
(1) Add .2. cirrhata, Pall. Spic., V, pl. 1; Vieill. Gal. 299.
(2) Alca cristatella, Vieill. Gal. 297, or Starique cristatelle, T. Col. 200, and Pall.,
Spic. Zool., V, pl. 1, of which 2. pygmza is the young;—.2. psittacula, Pall. Spic.,
V, pl. 2, of which 2. tetracula, Ib. pl. 4, isthe young.
(3) Alea, Aik, Auk, the name of these birds in the Feroe Islands, and in the north
of Scotland. That of Penguin, first given to the Aptenodytes of the south by the
Dutch, indicates the oily nature of their fat. See Clusius, Exot., 101. It was #
Buffon who transferred this name exclusively to the northern Auks.
age
PALMIPEDES. 407
beneath; a white line on the wing and one or two on the bill.
The throat of the male is black, and there is a white line reach-
ing from the eye to the bill. Its size is that of a duck.
Alca impennis, L.; Le Grand Pingouin, Buff. 1X, xxix; Enl.
367. (The Great Auk.) Nearly as large as a Goose, the colours
very similar to those of the preceding species; but the bill is
entirely black and marked with eight or ten grooves, and there
is a white oval spot between the bill and the eye: its wings are
shorter in proportion than those of any other species of this
genus. It is said to lay but one large egg, spotted with purple.
t
. | APTENODYTES, Forst.
The Penguins are even less capable of flying than the Auks. Their
little wings are covered with mere vestiges of feathers, which at the
first glance resemble scales; their feet, placed farther behind than
those of any other bird, only support them by bearing on the tarsus,
» which is widened like the sole of the foot of a quadruped, and in
which are found three bones soldered together at their extremities.
| They have a small thumb directed inwards, and their three anterior
toes are united by an entire membrane. They are only found in
the Antarctic Seas, never going on shore except to breed. They
can only reach their nests by drawing themselves along on their
bellies. The difference in their bill authorizes their division into
three subgenera.
APpTENoDYTES, Cuv.
A long, slender, and pointed bill; the upper mandible a little
arcuated near the end; covered with feathers to one-third of its
length where the nostril is placed, from which a groove extends to
the point.
Apt. patagonica, Gm.; Le Grand Manchot, Enl. 975. (The
Great Penguin.) Is the size of a Goose, slate-coloured above,
white beneath; a black mask surrounded with a lemon-coloured
cravatte. Found in large troops near the straits of Magellan,
and as far as New Guinea. The flesh, though black, is eatable.
i CaTaRRHACTES, Briss.
The Gorfus(1) have the bill stout, but little compressed, pointed,
rounded on the back, and its point somewhat arcuated; the groove
(1) Gorfu, a corruption of goir fugel, the name of the Great Auk in the Feroe
Islands. See Clusius, Exot., 367. Catarrhactes is the Greek name of a very dif-
ferent bird, which could fly well, and precipitated itself from a height on its prey.
It was most probably a species of Gull.
>
408 AVES.
which arises from the nostril terminates Piauslg on the inferior
third of its edge.
Apt. chrysocoma, Gm.; Le Gorfou sauteur, Enl. 9845 Vieill.
Gal. 298. (The Snsrigiisis Gorfu.) As large as a_ stout
Duck, black above, white beneath, and has a white or yellow
tuft on each side of its occiput. Found in the vicinity of the
Falkland Islands and of New Holland. It sometimes leaps out
of the water while swimming, and lays its eggs in a hole on the
shore.(1)
cal
SpHEniscus, Briss.(2)
A compressed and straight bill, irregularly furrowed at bases;
end of the upper mandible hooked, that of the lower one truncated;
the nostrils exposed and placed in the middle. ?
Apt. demersa, Gm.; Sphénisque du Cap, Enl. 382, and 1005.
Black above, white hepaaths the bill brown with a white band
on the middle; the male has a white eye-brow, black throat and_
a black line on the breast, which continues along each flank.
Found near the cape where it breeds among the rocks.(3)
FAMILY I.
LONGIPENNES.
This family includes those birds of the high seas, which
from their immense strength of wing are to be met with in
every latitude. They are known by the freedom or nullity
of the thumb, by their very long. wings, and by their bill
which is not notched but hooked at the point in the first ge-
nera, and simply pointed in the others. Their inferior larynx
has but one peculiar muscle on each side, their gizzard is mus-
cular and their ceca short. |
ProceLuaRria, Lin.
The Petrels have a bill hooked at the end, the extremity of which
(1) Add Apt. catarrhactes, Edw., 49;—A. papua, Sonner. Voy. I, pl. 115, and
Vieill. Gal. 299;—.4. minor, Lath. Syn. II, pl. 103.
(2) Spheniscus, a name given by Meehring to the Oidemia, and by Brissonto the
Penguins; from =¢oxv (wedge).
(3) Aptenod. torquata, Sonner. Voy. I, 114, appears to be the feticand of the ae
demersa. a
PALMIPEDES. 409
seems to consist of a distinct piece articulated with the remainder.
Their nostrils are united and form a tube laid on the back of the
upper mandible; there is a nail planted in the heel, but no thumb.
Of all'the Palmipedes, these remain most constantly at a distance
from land, and when a tempest supervenes, they are forced to seek
shelter on reefs and ships, from which circumstance they derive
their name of Storm Birds: that of Petrel—Little Peter—has been
given to them on account of their habit of walking on the water,
‘which they effect by the aid of their wings. They make their nests
“in holes of rocks, and eject on those who. attack them an oily fluid
with which their stomach seems to be always filled. The greater
number inhabit the Antarctic Seas.
’ Those species are more particularly called Perrets—Procet-
~ LARIA—whose lower mandible is truncated.
¢ “Proc. gigantea, Gm. ; Petrel géant; Quebranta huessos; Lath.
Syn. III, pl. 100 (The Giant Petrel), is only found in the South
Seas. It is the largest of all the species, surpassing the Goose in
size. Its plumage is blackish, though there are some varieties
in which it is more or less white.
Proc. capensis; Petreldu Cap, &c. Enl. 964 (The Cape Petrel),
is the size of a small Duck, white above, spotted black and
white beneath. It is found in the same seas as the preceding
species, and is frequently spoken of by navigators.(1)
_ . Proc. glacialis; Fulmar; Petrel de Saint-Kilda, Eul. 593 Brit.
Zool. pl. M,f.1. (The Fulmar.) White, with an ash-coloured
mantle; bill and feet yellow; size of a stout duck. It breeds
among the cliffs on the coasts of the British islands, and of the
whole north.(2) ¢
Certain small species, with a somewhat shorter bill and
rather longer legs and black plumage, the THALASSIDROMA,
Vigors, are particularly designated by sailors under the name
of Storm Birds.(3)_
The most common, Proc. pelagica, Briss. VI, xiil, 1; Wils.
VII, lix, 6; Edw., 90, is scarcely larger than a Lark; stands
high; all brown except the rump which is white, and a white
_ line on the end of the great wing-coverts. When it seeks shel-
ty
(1) Better known to mariners as the Cape Pigeon. Am. Ed.
(2) Add the Pétrel hartie, Temm., Col. 416;—the Petrel bérard, Freycinet, 37 ;—
_ Proc. cinerea, Lath.;—Proc. desolata, 1d.;—Proe. turtur, Forst.
(3) The “Mother Carey’s Chickens” of the English and American seamen.
Am. Ed.
Vou. L.—3 B
410 AVES.
ter on a vessel, it may be considered ‘as the forerunner of a
hurricane.(1)
We separate, with Brisson, under the name of
PuFFINUS, t
Or Puffins, those in which the end of the lower ngage
curved downwards along with that of the upper one, and i in which
the nostrils, although tubular, do not open by one common orifice,
but by two distinct holes. Their bill also is proportionally longer.
Proc. puffinus, Gm.; Puffin cendré, Enl. 962. Cinereous
above; whitish beneath; wings and tail blackish: the young is
darker. Its size is that of a Crow. Very common in almost.
every sea.(2) ° uf
There is a species, long cauifauoae’ with the preceding one,
which is not larger than a Woodcock, and which breeds in im+
mense numbers on thenorthern coasts of Scotland and the neigh-
bouring islands, whose inhabitants salt them for their winter
provision. It is black above and white underneath, the Procel-
laria Anglorum, Tem. Edw., 359. 7
Navigators occasionally speak of some birds of the Antarctic seas —
by the name of Petrels, which a constitute two separate genera.
They are the .
PreLecanorvEs, Lacep.—Hatoproma, Illig., *.
Which have the bill and figure of the Petrels, with a dilatable
throat like that of the Cormorant, and are without the vestige of a
thumb like the Albatross. Such is Procellaria urinatriz, Gm.
PacuyrTiLa, Illig. {
Or the Prions, Lacep., which, similar in other respects to the
Petrels, have separate nostrils like a Puffin, the bill widened at ~
base, and its edges furnished internally with very delicate, vertical
and pointed laminz, analogous to those of Ducks. Such are the
Blue Petrels, Proc. vittata and czrulea, Forst.
(1) The fig. Enl. 933 is a closely allied species of the South Seas (Proc. ocean-
ica, Forst.)—Add Proc. Leachii, Tem. Act. de phil., VI, pl. 9, f. 1;—Proc. Wil-
sonii, Ch. Bonap.; Wils. VII, lxx, 6, Id. Act. de phil. VI, pl. 9, f. 2;— Proc, fre
gatta, Lath., Rochef., Antill., p. 1525 ;—Proc. marina, Vieill. Gal. 292. :
(2) Add Proc. obscura, Vieill. Gal. 301;—and Proc. pacifica, or uliginosa,
White, 252, which perhaps does not differ from the Proc. xquinoctialis, Edw., 89. —
PALMIFEDES. A411
DriomEDEA, Lin.(1)
_, The Albatross is the most massive of all aquatic birds. The large,
strong and trenchant bill is marked with sutures, and is terminated
by a stout hook, which seems to be articulated with it. The nostrils
_ *vesemble short rolls laid on the sides ofthe beak; there is no thumb,
noteven the small nail that is observed in the Petrels. They inhabit
the South seas, and feed on Mollusca, &c.
D. exulans, L., Enl. 2373 Vicill. Gal. 293, is the species best
known to navigators, who, on account of its size, white plumage,
_. sand black wings, and because it is particularly common beyond
~ the tropic of Capricorn, have called it The Cape Sheep. The
English also style it the Mun of War Bird,’&c. It is the great
enemy of the Flying-fish. It constructs a high nest of earth,
and lays a number of eggs, which are considered good food.
. The cry of this bird is said to be as powerful as that of the
Ass.(2) ;
Various Albatrosses, more or less brown or blackish, have
been observed; but whether they form varieties of the exulans,
or are distinct species, has not yet been ascertained.(3)
a
4)
.
_ Larus, Lin.(4)
‘The Gulls have a compressed, elongated, pointed bill, the superior
mandible arcuated near the end, and the inferior forming a salient
angle beneath. The nostrils, placed near its middle, are long, nar-
row, and bored quite through; their tail is full, their legs tolerably
long, and their thumb short. They are cowardly and voracious
(1) Diomedea, the ancient’name of certain birds of the Island of Diomedes, near
Tarentum, which were said to receive the Greeks favourably, and to attack the
barbarians. As to the word Albatross, I find that the early Portuguese navigators
called the Boobies and other oceanic birds Alcatros, or Alcatrass. Dampier applied —
this name to the present genus, Grew changed it into 2bitross, and Edwards into
Albatross.
(2) The cry of the Albatross has been quite as much exaggerated as its size. I
have repeatedly heard it when within a hundred yards of the bird, and from various
individuals, some of large size, and consequently adults—it is a piping kind of
. clang, deeper than that of a Goose, but something like it. dm. Ed.
(3) Such is the Diom. spadicea—Add D. brachyura, Tem. Enl. 963;—D. melano-
phris, T. Col. 456;—D. chlororhynchos, Lath. V, pl. xciv, Col. 468;—D. fuliginosa,
Col. 469. '
on (4) Larus, the Greek name of these birds, Gavia in latin, whence Gabian in
Provence; they are called Mauves, or Mouettes, in French, from their German
name Maeve.
412 AVES.: . , °
birds, which swarm along the sea coasts, feeding on fish, the-flesh
of dead bodies, &c. ‘They breed in the sand, or in clefts of rock,
laying but few eggs. When they fly into the country, bad weather
may be expected. Several species are found on the coast of France,” ©
and, as their plumage is greatly changed by age, the number has
been still more increased. When young, they are usually spotted A
with grey. Buffon calls x Fhe
Gorranps,1) '
The large species whose size exceeds that of a Duck. One of the |
largest is, , i . a
Lar. marinus and nzevius, Gm.; Goéland a manteau noir, Bil,» .
990 and 266 (The Great Black-backed Gull), which, at first, »
spotted with white and grey, afterwards becomes all white, with |
a black mantle; the beak is yellow, with a red spot underneath;
feet, reddish. 2 ~.
Lar. glaucus, Gm.; Burgomestre; Naum. Ed. I, 36, is nearly
as large, and only differs from it in the mantle, which is a light |
ash colour. Its young also are spotted.(2) The ~
Mavves or Movetres
>
Are the smallest species. ;
Lar. fuscus, L.; Lar. flavipes, Meyer, Frisch, 2183 Naum, *
Ed. I, f. 51, B. (The Silver Gull.) Is all white; the mantle
excepted, which is black; the feet are yellow. :
Lar. eburneus, Gm.; Mouette blanche, Enl. 994. (The Ivory °
Gull.) All white, with black feet. From Spitzberg and Green-
land: sometimes wanders into Europe.
Lar. cyanorhynchus, Meyer; Mouette a pieds bleus, Enl. 977,
Briss. VI, xvi, 2.. (The Common Gull.)» When old, of a beguiti-2a
ful white, with a light ash coloured mantle; the primary quills
of the wing partly black, with white spots at their tips, the feet
and bill, lead coloured. Feeds on shell fish. |
Lar. ridibundus, L.; L. hybernus, and L. erythropus, Gm.; La-
M. a pieds rouges, Enl. 969 and 970; Briss. VI, xvii, 1. Is very “~
similar to the preceding, except that when young the tip of the
tail is black, and that there are some black and brown on the
wing: in spring the head of the adult becomes brown, and re- ©
(1) Gotland, a corruption of Gull, Gull-ent. : ere.
(2) M. Temminck distinguishes the Lar. argentatus, Lath. Enl. 253,—Add the ni
Goéland leucomele, Vieill. 61, and the Goél. a téte noire du Bengale. {Add L. ‘ca-
pistratus, Temm.;—L. canus, L.. Enl. 977;—L. argentatus, Brunn: Enl. 253;—L. m
argentatoides, Brehm. Am.Ed.) ° ,
& PALMIPEDES. ; 413
mains so ‘during the summer—Enl. 970; the feet and beak are
more orlessred. It has been called, from its note, the Laugh-
— emg Gull.Q) , ;
, Lar. tridactylus, and Lar. rissa, Gm.; La M. 2 trois doigts,
“Briss. VI, xvi, 1, and xvii, 2, is also very stati to the preced-
ing species, but may be distinguished by its very short and im-
perfect thumb. When young it is more or less spotted with
black or brown, Enl. 387.
‘ ‘Lesrtris, Illig.(2)—Srercorarius, Briss.—Lazpes, Buff.
These birds have very properly been separated from the Common
Gulls. Their membranous nostrils, larger than those of the latter,
open nearer to the point and edge of the beak; their tail is pointed.
They pursue the small Gulls with singular ferocity to rob them of
ther, food, and, as it is said, to devour their excrement. Hence their
name.
Lar. parasiticus, Gm.; Labbe a longue queue, Enl. 762; Edw.
148) (The Arctic Gull.) A deep brown above, white beneath;
the two middle quills of the tail are double the length of the
others. Itis very rare in France. When young it is all brown,
and is then the Zar. crepidatus, Gm.; Enl. 991, or better, Edw.
149.(3) * ig, |
The arctic regions produce a species the size of a Goéland,
which is brown, with the base of the wing-quills white, Lar. ca-
taractes, Gm., Brit. Zool. pl. L., 6; and another the size of a
Mouette, brown above, white underneath, with a brown collar
on the breast, the Zestris pomarinus, Tem.(4)
Sterna, Lin.(5 )
The Terns, or Sea-Swallows, derive this latter appellation “from
their excessively long and pointed wings and from their ae tail,
(1) Add Lar. atricilla, Pall. Nov. Com. Petr., XV, xxii, 2; Catesb., I, 89; Wils.
IX, Ixxiv, 4, by the name of ridibundus;—Lar. leucopierus;—L. cirrhocephalus,
Vieill. Gal. 289, or poliscephalus, Licht.;—L. leucophithalmus, Licht. Col. 366;—L.
Sabini, Leach;—L. minutus, Falk. Voy. Tl, xxiv;—L. melanurus, T. Col. 459,
and Tiles, Voy. de Krusenst., pl. lvii.
(2) Anspss, thief, the name of these birds among the Swedish fishermen. Vieil-
lot has changed these names to STERcoreEvs.
(3) This is clearly a mistake. The Z. crepidatus, Brehm. is identical with the L.
Buffonii, Boie, Enl. 762. Am. Ed.
(4) I cannot affirm the identity of the Lestris catarractes, Freycin., 38, and of
the Stercoreus pomarinus, Vieill. Gal. 288, with the above species.
(5) Stern, or Tern, is their English name, latinized as aboye by Turner, and ad-
~ mitted by Gesner.
414 AVES. @
which render their flight and carriage analogous to those of Swal-
lows. Their bill is pointed, compressed, and straight, without
curve or projection; the nostrils, placed near its base, are oblong
and pierced quite through; the membranes, which unite their toes
are deeply emarginate, consequently they swim but seldom. They
fly over the waves in every direction and with great rapidity, uttering |
loud cries, and skilfully raising from the surface of the water the © '
Mollusca and small Fish on which they feed. They also penetrate to
the lakes and rivers of the interior. The most common species that
is found on the fresh waters of France in the spring is, 6
—
St. hirundo, L.; Le Pierre-Garin, &c., Enl. 9873 Frisch, 2193,
Naum. 37, f. 52; Wils. VII, Ix, 1. (The Common Tern.) In
the adult state, white with a light ash-coloured mantle, black
calotte, red feet, and red bill with a black point. It is about
one foot long,and two feet from the tip of one wing to that of the
other.
St. minuta, L.; Petit Hir. de mer, Enl. 996; Wils. V, Ix, 25
Naum. 38, f. 55. (The Small Tern.) Only differs from the pre-
ceding by being a third smaller, and having a white forehead.
St. cantiaca, Albin, II, Ixxxviii; Hir. de mer a bec noir, is larger
than S. hirundo; the beak is black, with a yellow point: the Sz.
striata, Gm., Lath. VI, pl. 98, is its young. #
St. caspia, Pall. Saban! Mus. Carls., Ixii; Meyer, Ois. d’Al-
lem., II, vi; Sav., Egypt., Ois. pl. ix, F. 1. (The Caspian Tern.)
The largest of the European species; white, with an ash colour-
ed mantle; occiput, black and white mixed; red beak and black
feet.
St. nigra, fisstpes and neevias Hir. de mer noire, Enl. 338 and
9243; Frisch, 220. (The Black Tern.) The tail less forked;
when young, its mantle is spotted with black; the adult is al-
most entirely of a blackish ash colour.
Among the species foreign to Europe, we should notice the
Hir. de mer @ aigrettes, St. inca, Less. and Garn., from the coast.
of Peru, Voy. de la Coq., Zool. pl. 47, which is black; red bill
and feet; a band on the cheek, and the feathers of the ear pen-
dent and white.(1)
(1) Add of Europ. Spec.: St. Dougalii, Montag.; Vieill., Gal. 290;—S?. anglica,
Id., or aranea, Wils. VIL, Ixxii, 6;—St. arctica, Tem. i—St. leucopareia, Natter. ;—
St. leucoptera, Tem., Schinz., Ois., de Suisse, frontisp. mt
Of spec. foreign to Europe: St. cayana, Enl. 998;—St. melanauchen, Tem, col
427;—St. melanogaster, 1d. Col. 434;—St. fetiginote, Wils.
+
PALMIPEDES. 415
¢
We may also distinguish from the other Terns,
Pa tt °
®
:
Tur Noppisgs,
Whose tail is not forked, and is nearly as long as the wings.
There is a slight projection under their bill, the first indication of
_ that in the Mauves. But one species is known,
~ . St: stolida, L.3 Noddi noir, Eni. 997 (The Noddy), which is
a blackish sole | top of the head whitish. Celebrated for the
blundering manner in which it throws itself on vessels.(1)
Ruyncuoprs, Lin.
The Skimmers resemble the Terns in their small feet; long wings
and forked tail, but are distinguished from all birds by their extra-
ordinary bill, the upper mandible of which is shorter than the other,
both being flattened so as to form simple blades, which meet without
clasping. Their only mode of feeding is by skimming their aliment
from the surface of the water with the lower PanliDls, which they
effect while on the wing. One species,
Rhym. nigra, L., Enl. 357 (The Black Skimmer), is white,
with a black ridin and calotte; a white band on the wing;
outside of the external quills of the tail white; bill and feet red;
hardly as large as a Pigeon. From the vicinity of the An-
tilles.(2)
FAMILY WI.
TOTIPALMATA.
The birds of this family are remarkable for having the thumb |
united with the toes by one single membrane, a mode of or-
ganization that renders their feet complete oars, notwithstand -
‘ing which, they perch upon trees, being almost the only Palmi-
pedes who do so. They all fly well and have short feet.
Linnzus separated them into three genera, the first of which
it was necessary to subdivide.
(1) The St. philippensis, (Sonner. Voy. I, pl. Ixxxv,) does not appear to differ
from the sfolida;—the St. fuscata, Lath., Briss., VI, pl. xxi, 1, also seems to be-
long to this subgenus, as well as the St. tenucrostris, T. Col. 202.
(2) Add Rhyn. flavirostris, Vieill. Gal. 291;—4h. cinerascens, Spix, Clj—Li.
- brevirostris, Id. CI.
416 . AVES... bee’ .
a
_ — _——
Priecanus, Lin. Pe” Ay
The Pelicans comprise ‘all those in which the bas of ‘the bill i s
found to have some part destitute of feathers. Their nostrils aré’ . |
fissures, the apertures of which are scarcely perceptible. Theskin »
of their throat is more or less extensible, and their tongue very ”
small. Their thin gizzard, with their other stomachs, forms alarge
sac. Their ceca are moderate or small. ' ; :
Prxecanus, Illig—Onocroratus,. Briss.(1),
+ . ,
The bill of the True Pelicans is very remarkable for its extr eme “<
length, its straight, very broad and horizontally flattened form, for :
the hook which terminates it, and for the lower mandible whose ‘y
flexible branches sustain a naked membrane, susceptible of being
dilated into’a large sac. _Two grooves extend along its length, in
which the nostrils are concealed. The circumference of the eye is
naked, and the tail round. €:
P. onocrotalus, L.; Enl. 87; Edw. 92; Frisch, 186. (The Com-
mon Pelican.) As large as a Swan, entirely white, slightly tinged |
with flesh colour; the hook of the bill of a cherry-red; is more ~ ]
or less disseminated throughout the eastern continent, breeds f
in marshes, and feeds exclusively on living Fish. It is said to
transport both food and water in its sac. The different changes
this bird undergoes from age are not sufficiently ascertained to
render certain the species of its genus that are enumerated. (2)
PHatacrocorax, Briss.—Canrso, Meyer.—Hatixvs, Illig.
(1) Pelecanus and Onocrotalus ave two Greek names of this bird Latinizéd:
(2) I see no difference between the Common Pelican and the Pelec. roseus, Son-
ner. Prem. Voy. pl. liv. As to the Pelec. manillensis, Id. LUI, Sonnerat himself
says he thinks it is the young of the voseus. Neither can I find any difference be- ”
tween the fustus, Edw. 93, and that of the Pl. Enl. 965, called roseus, but which i is q
much more like the manillensis. Temminck thinks this figure represents the young
q
of the common species. The philippensis, Briss., V1, pl. lvi, is the same. specimen
f
\
The Cormorants(3) have an elongated ‘ant compressed beak, the cd
from which the Pl. Enl. 965 was taken, so that both are the young of the onocrota-
lus. That of pl. 957, also called fuscus, appears to be really a species identical ©
with that of Vieill. Gal. 276.—Add the Pel. a lunettes (P. perspicillatus, T.) Col..
276. * tae é Z:,
(3) Cormorant, from Cormoran, a corruption of Corbeau marin, on account of a a
"
black colour. It is in fact the Aquatic Crow of Aristotle. Phalacrocorax (Bi
Crow) is the Greek name of this bird, indicated by Pliny, but is not employed
Aristotle. That of Carbo is only used by Albert, who perhaps derived it from the as
German name Scharb. To all these names Vieillot has added that of Eyre,
Gal. 275.
PALMIPEDES. 417
end of the upper mandible hooked, and that of the Iower one truncat-
ed; the tongue is very small, and the skin of the throat less dilatable;
the nostrils resemble a’small unpierced line, and the nail of the mid-
dle toe is notched like a saw.
The Trur Cormorants have a round tail composed of fourteen
quills.
Pel. carbo, L., Enl. 927; the young, Frisch, 187 and 188; and:
Brit. Zool. pl. L, 1. (The Cormorant.) Black-brown, undulated
with jet black on the back, and mixed with white near the end
of the bill and front of the neck; circumference of the throat
and the cheeks, white, in the male, which also has a tuft on the
occiput. Its size is that of the Goose. It breeds in holes among
the rocks or upon trees, and lays three or four eggs.
Pel. graculus, Gm.; Enl. 974, the young. (The Little Cor-
morant.) Is somewhat smaller, of a deeper black and more
bronzed; no white on the front of the neck; the feathers on the
back more pointed; not so common as the preceding species.(1)
Tacuyretes, Vieill.
The Frigate Birds differ from the Cormorants in their forked tail
and short feet, the membranes of which are deeply emarginated; in
an excessive length of wing, and in a bill both of whose mandibles
are curved at the point. So powerful are their wings, that they fly
to an immense distance from all land, principally between the tro-
pics, darting upon the Flying Fish and striking the Boobies to make
them disgorge their prey.
_ One species only is well known, the Pelecanus aquilus, L., Enl.
961, Vieill., Gal., pl. 274, whose plumage is black, the under part
of the throat and neck more or less varied with white, and the
bill red. Its wings, when expanded, are said to measure from
ten to twelve feet.(2)
Sura, Briss.—Dysporus, Illig.
The Boobies(3) have a straight, slightly compressed, pointed
bill, the point slightly arcuated; its edges are serrated, the teeth
pginc te Sanne, eRe ee
(1) Add the Cormoran longup., Tem. (Pel. eristatus, Olafs.), Voy. en Isl., tr.
fr. pl. xliv, Col. 322, and Vieill. Gal. 276;—Pel. africanus, Lath.; Sparm. Mus.
Carls., 1, 10;—Pelec. pyemexus, Pall., Voy, App-, pl. 1.
(2) Naturalists have, somewhat gratuitously, raised to the rank of species the
Pelec. minor, Edw. 309, and leucocephalus, Buff. Ois., VII, pl. xxx, and perhaps
even the P. Palmerstoni, Lath.
(3) Sula is the name of the common species at the Feroe Islands, Hoyer, Clu-
sius, Exot. 36. Booby, their English name, from their stupidity, ut sup.
Vou. L—s C
418 AVES.
. inclining backwards; the nostrils are prolonged by a line which ex-
tends to near the point. The throat is naked as well as the circum-
ference of the eye, the former not being susceptible of much dilata-
tion; the nail of the middle toe is serrated, the wings much smaller
than those of the Frigates, and the tail somewhat wedge-shaped.
They are called Boobies on account of the excessive stupidity with
which they permit themselves to be attacked by men and birds, the
Frigate Birds particularly, which, as already stated, force them to
yield up the fish they have captured. The most common is,
Pelecanus bassanus, L.; Enl. 278; Vieill.; Brit. Zool. pl. L.;
Naum. Sup. 56, f. 106. (The Common Booby). White; the pri-
mary quills of the wings and the feet, black; the beak greenish;
nearly as large as the Goose. It is called the Bassan Booby
from a small island in the gulf of Edinburgh, where it is very
abundant although it lays but a single egg. It is frequently seen
on the coast of France during the winter. The young is brown
spotted with white, Enl. 986. The remaining species are not
yet sufficiently ascertained.(1) ’ é
Prorus, Lin.(2)
The Darters have the body and feet very similar to those of a Cor-
morant; a long neck and small head, with a straight, slender, pointed
beak, whose edges are denticulated; the eyes and nudity of the face,
as in the Pelicans; their habits also are similar, perching on trees.
Several species or varieties are known from the hot climates
of both continents. They are not larger than the Duck, but
they have a longer neck.(3) [See dpp. XXVII of Am. Ed.)
Puaton, Lin. .
The Tropic Birds are known by two very long and narrow feathers
that flow from their tail, which at a distance resemble so many
straws. There is no naked part about the head. Their bill is
straight, pointed, denticulated, and tolerably strong; their feet short
and their wings long: their powers of flight are consequently great,
and as they rarely quit the torrid zone, their presence announces to
the mariner his vicinity to the tropics. On land, where they seldom
resort except to breed, they perch on trees.
(1) Add the Fou brun (Pelec. sula, L.), Enl. 973, Catesb. I, 87; Vieill. Gal. 277.
[See App. XXVI of Am. Ed.] ore
(2) Plotus, or plautus, signifies, in Latin, flat-foot. Klein has employed it for
one of his families of the Palmipedes. Linnzus applied it to the Darters.
(3) Plot. melanogaster, Enl. 959 and 960; Vieill. Gal. 278; Wils. IX, Ixxiy, 1, 2;—
Enl. 107;—Lath. Syn. VI, pl. 96:—Anhinga Levaillant, T. Col. 380.
PALMIPEDES. 419
A few species or varieties only are known, whose white plu-
mage is more or less varied with blackish, and which are not
larger than Pigeons.(1)
.
FAMILY IV.
LAMELLIROSTRES.
In this family we find a thick bill, invested with a soft
skin rather than with true horn; its edges are furnished with
famine or little teeth; the tongue is broad and fleshy, the
edges notched. The wings are of a moderate length, They
pass more of their time on fresh waters than at sea. The tra-
chea of the male, in the greater number, is inflated near its
bifurcation into capsules of various forms. The gizzard is
large and very muscular, the ceca long. The great genus,
Awas, Lin.
Comprises those Palmipedes, the edges of whose large and broad
bill are furnished with a range of thin’ salient Jaminz, placed
transversely, which appear destined to allow the water to pass off
when the bird has seized its prey. They are divided into three sub-
genera, whose limits, however, are not very precise.
Cyenus, Meyer.
The bill of the Swans is of an equal breadth throughout, higher
at base than it is wides the nostrils about the middle of its length;
the neck is very long. They are the largest birds of the genus, and
feed chiefly on the seeds and roots of aquatic plants. Their intes-
tines and czca in particular are consequently very long. There is
no inflation of the trachea. Two species are found in Europe,
Anas olor, Gm.;. Cigne & bec rouge, Enl. 913. (The Red-billed
or Domestic Swan.) Beak red, edged with black, surmounted
at base by a rounded protuberance; the plumage snow-white.
When young, the beak is lead-coloured and the plumage grey.
This is the species, when domesticated, that forms the orna-
ment of our ponds and grounds. Its elegance of form, graceful
movements, and snow-white plumage have rendered it the em-
blem of innocence and beauty. It feeds both on fish and vege-
(1) Pheet. xtherius, Enl. 369 and 998;—Ph. phenicurus, Enl. 979, Vieill. Gal.
pl. 279.
420
It
less
AVES.
tables, flies extremely high and with great swiftness, using its
wings, which are a powerful weapon, in striking its enemies
when attacked. It breeds among the reeds in ponds, and lays
six or eight eggs of a®greenish-grey.
An. cygnus, Gm.; Edw. 150; Brit. Zool. pl. 2; Naum., Ed.
I, t. 13, f. 27. (The Black-billed Swan.) Bill black with a yel-
low base; the body white tinged with a yellowish grey—when
young, all grey. This species, which is very similar externally
to the preceding one, differs essentially from it internally, in
the trachea, which is bent over and penetrates to a considerable
extent in a cavity of the keel of the sternum, a peculiarity com-
mon to both sexes which does not exist in the domestic Swan.
The latter is also erroneously called the Wild Swan, and the
Singing Swan. The tale of its singing on the approach of death
is a fable. a
An. plutonia, Sh.; A. atrata, Lath.; Cigne noir; Nat. Misc. pl.
108; Vieill. Gal. 286 (The Black Swan), has been lately dis-
covered in New Holland; it is the size of the common species,
but its cafriage is less graceful and elegant; it is all black, the
primary quills excepted, which are white, and the bill with
the naked skin on its base, which is red.(1)
is impossible to separate from the Swans, certain species, much
elegant it is true, but which have the same kind of bill. Se-
veral have a tubercle at.its base. The most common,
An. cygnoides, L..; Oie de Guinée, Enl. 347, is bred in poultry
yards, where it mixes with the Geese. It is a whitish grey with
a brown grey mantle; the male is recognised by a feathered ap-
pendage which hangs under his bill, and by a large tubercle
which surmounts its base. Another species, much rarer, called
by its first describers
An. gambensis, L.; Oiede Gambie; Lath. Syn. III, p. 2, pl. 102,
is remarkable for its size, long legs, tubercle on the forehead,
and for two large spurs with which its wing is armed. Its plu-
mage is a purple black, the throat, front, and under part of the
body and wings, white.(2)
(1) The Ote @ cravatte (An. canadensis, L.) Enl. 346, Wils., LX VII, 4, appears
to me to be a true Swan.
(2) Buff. has confounded this Goose with a variety of the Oie d’Egypte, Enl.
982.
The figure of Latham is defective, inasmuch as it shows but one spur; the
helmet also is not salient.
(An.
This is also the place for the Oie bronzée 4 créte sur le bec, Fpcaats apoa, of Marcgr.
melanotos), Enl. 937, Vieill. 285.
PALMIPEDES. 421
AnsER, Briss.
Geese have a moderate or short bill, narrower before than be-
hind, and higher than wide at base; their legs, being longer than
those of the Ducks, and placed nearer the centre of the body, increase
their facility in walking. Several of them feed on seeds and plants.
There is no inflation at the root of the trachea, nor is there any
curve in that organ in any of the species known.
GreseE, properly so called,
Have a beak as long as their head; the ends of the lamellz extend
to its edges, appearing like pointed teeth.
in. anser, L. (The Common Goose), which has acquired all
sorts of colours in our poultry-yards, originates from a wild
species that is grey, with a brown mantle undulated with grey
and an orange-coloured beak, the Ans. cinereus, Meyer; Albin.,
90; Naum. Ed. I, pl. 41, f. 60. There is another species, how-
+ ever, which arrives late in the fall, and which may be known by
its wings being longer than the tail, and by some white spots on
the forehead; its bill is orange with a black base and point.
Ans. segetum, Meyer, Enl. 985; Frisch, 155; Naum., I, C. 42,
fer.
Anas albifroms, Gm.; L’Oie rieuses Edw. 153; Naum. Ed. I,
43,f. 62. (The White- fronted Goose.) Is sometimes seen in
France during the winter. It is grey, with a black belly and
white forehead.
The north of both continents produces, a fourth species.
An. hyperborea, Gm.; Wils. VIII, Ixviii, 5; and the young
Ixix, 5; Naum. Ed. I, Sup. pl. 23, f. 46. (The Snow-Goose. )
White; feet and bill red; tips of the wing-quills black. It
sometimes wanders into the temperate parts of Europe during
the prevalence of heavy gales in winter. The young bird is
more or less grey. ,It is the An. cwrulescens, Gm., Edw. 152.
The
BERNACLES(1) .
Are distinguished from the Common Geese by a shorter and
slenderer bill, the edges of which conceal the extremities. of the
lamine.
France is sometimes visited during the winter by that species
- from the north of Europe, which is so celebrated by the fabu-
Ce a ge
(1) Bernacle, Scotch name of the .2. leucopsis.
422 AVES.
%
lous story of its growing on trees like fruit—Anas erythropus,
Gm., or better 4n. leucopsis, Bechst. Enl. 885; Frisch, 1893
Naum. I, c. 39, f. 77. Its mantle is ash-coloured, its neck
black; cheeks, throat, belly and forehead white; the bill black
and the feet grey.
An. bernicla, Gm.; Le Cravant,(1) Enl. 342; and better Frisch,
156; Naum. I, c. 39, f. 78; Wils., VIII, lxxii, 1 (The Brant),
is from the same country... The’ head, neck, and quills ofthe
wings are black, the mantle a brown-grey; a spot on each side
of the upper part of the neck, and the wie part of the tail,
white; the bill black and feet brown.
An. egyptiaca, Gm.; Le Bernache armée; Oied’ Egypte, Sc. §¢-
Enl. 379, 982, 983 (The Egyptian Goose), remarkable for
the lustre of its colours and the small spur attached to its wing,
also belongs to this subgenus; it is sometimes domesticated,
but always retains a propensity to return to its wild state. It
is the Chenaloper or Fox Goose, held in veneration among the
ancient Egyptians on account of its attachment to its young. (2)
The
Crreopsis, Lath.
Is a New Holland bird very similar to the Bernacles, with a still
smaller bill, the membrane of which is much broader, and extends
a little upon the forehead.
Cer. cinereus, Lath., Col. 206; Vieill. Gal. 284, is the only one
known. It is the size of a Goose, and of a grey colour.
Anas, Meyer.
Ducks, properly so called, have the bill broader at base than it
is high, and wider at the end than towards the head; the nostrils
nearer to its back and base. ‘Their legs being shorter than those of —
Geese, and placed farther back, renders walking more difficult to
them than to the latter. Their neck also is shorter; the trachea is
inflated at its bifurcation into cartilaginous capsules, the left of
which is usually the largest.
The species of,the first division, or those whose thumb is bor-
(1) Cravant, a corruption of grau ent, grey Duck.
(2) Geoff. St. Hillaire, Ménag. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat. art. Oie d’Egypte.
Add the dn. magellanica, Enl. 1006;—An. antarctica, which is closely allied to
it, Mus., Carls., 37, and Voy. de la Coq. Zool. 50;—An. leucoptera, Brown., Ill.
40;—A. ruficollis and torquata, Pall. Spicil., VI, pl. iv, which is said to penetrate
as far as Germany;—4n, coromandelica, Enl. 949, 950;—4dn. madagascariensis,
Enl. 770. °
.
4 ae ®
“ PALMIPEDES. “ 423
dered with a membrane, have a larger head, a shorter neck, the
“feet placed farther back, smaller wings, a stiffer tail, more com-
pressed tarsi, longer toes, and the membrane of the feet more entire. .
They walk with more difficulty, feed more exclusively on fish and
insects, and dive more frequently.(1) Among them we may distin-
guish the
Omen, Fleming.
By the breadth and inflation of the bill.
Anas nigra, L.; La Macreuse commune, Enl. 972; Naum.
Supp. 14, f. 28 and 29; Brit. Zool. pl. 2, 6; Wils. VIII, Ixxii,
2.(The Scoter), is all black, greyish when young; the bill
very broad with a protuberance on its base. It is found in
large flocks on the coast of France, where it feeds chiefly on
muscles. The An. cineraceus, Naum., I; C. 60, f. 91, 92, is. the
young female.
An. fusca, L.; La’ double Macreuse, Enl. 9563; Frisch, 165;
~ Naum. I, c. Supp. f. 15 and 16; Wils. LXXII, 3 (The Velvet
Duck); differs in its superior size, a white spot on the wing,
and a white streak under the eye. There is a circular, vertically
flattened inflation in the middle of its trachea.
An. perspicillata, L.; Enl. 995; Edw. 1553; Wils. VIII, Ixvii,
1. (The Black Duck.) Some white on the occiput and behind
the neck; the naked and yellow skin of the base of its bill also
surrounds the eyes.
New Holland produces a speckled species, remarkable for a
large fleshy appendage that hangs under its bill, dn. lobata,
Nat. Misc., VIII, pl. 255, and Col. 406.(2) ,
We may also separate
Cuancuta, Leach.
» In which the bill is short and narrower towards the end; and
place first on the list, those species the middle quills of whose tail
are the longest, which renders it pointed. Such are
An. glacialis, L., Enl. 1008; Edw. 280; Naum. 52, f. 76; Wils.
VIII, Ixx, 1, 2; the young male, Enl. 999; Naum. 52, f. 76, B; the
adult in wedding livery, Edw. 156. (The Long-tailed Duck.)
_ (1) This division constitutes the genus PLaryrvs, ol ede or Hrproparss,
-Tem.; or Furiewza, Ch. Bonap,
(2) Add the Anas mersa and leucocephala, Voy. de Pall. fr. tr., pl. v and vi;
Naum. Sup. 40, f. 79, 80;—the dn. brachyptera, Lath., Voy. de Freycin. pl.
| « XXXIX.
424
+ ne iy
yan” &
" AVES. ; #
White; a fawn-coloured spot on the cheek and side of the neck;
breast, back, tail, and part of the wing black. Of all the European
Ducks, this has the shortest bill. Its trachea, ossified near the
root, has on one side five square membranous spaces resembling
so many panes of glass, above which it is inflated into an os-
seous capsule.
An. histrionica, L.; Enl. 798; Wils. VIII, Ixxii, 4; Edw. 995.
Naum. I, 'e. 52, f. 77s and the female, 4n. minuta, 799; Edw.
197. (The Harlequin Duck.) Ash-coloured; the male fantasti-
cally streaked with white; eyebrows and flanks red. Each of the
preceding species is occasionally seen in France, but at very
long intervals.
Then comes the common species with a round or square tail.
An. clangula, L.; Le Garrot, Enl. 802; the young, 4n. glau-
cion, L.(1) Frisch, 181, 182; Naum. I, c. 55, f. 81, 82; Wils.
*VIII, Ixvii, 6. (The Golden-eye.) White; head, back, and tail,
black; a small spot before the eye and two bands on the wing,
white; the bill blackish. The female is ash-coloured with a
brown head. The middle of the trachea is considerably dilated,
the two arches of the sac, however, preserving their flexibility.
It becomes singularly widened near the bifurcation.(2)
Somareria, Leach.
The Eiders have a bill longer than that of the preceding sub-
genus, and ascending more on the forehead where it is emarginated
by an angle of feathers, but still narrower before than at base.
After all these distinctions there remains the
An. molissima; L’ Eider, Enl. 208, 209, the adults of both —
sexes, Mus. Carls. 39; the three year old young male, Edw. 98;
Wils. VIII, xci, 2, 3; Naum. 64, f. 79, 80. (The Eider Duck.)
Whitish; calotte, belly and tail, black; the female grey, speckled
with brown. Celebrated for furnishing u us with that valuable —
article called eider down.(3) '
Furicuia, Leach,
Whose beak is broad and flat, but presents no other peculiarity.
Several species are found in France, in all of which the trachea ter-
(1) Glaucton, the Greek name of a Duck, so called on account of the cage of:
its eyes.
(2) Add An. albeola, Enl. 948, the same as dn. bucephala, Catesb., 1, 95;—An.
brachyptera, Voy. de Freycin. pl, xxxix. :
(3) Add An. spectabilis, Sparm. Mus. Carls., Il, pl. xxxvi; Edw. 1545 ati. 40, ;
f. 58, 59. |
PALMIPEDES. 425
minates in nearly similar inflations, forming on the left a partially
membranous capsule, supported bya frame and ramifications of bone.
An. ferina, L.; A. rufa, Gm.; Millouin commun, Enl. 8033
Naum. I, c. 58, f. 87, 88; Wils. VIII, xc, 6. (The Red-head.)
Ash-coloured, finely striated with blackish; head and top of the
neck red; lower part of the neck and the breast brown; the bill
a light lead-colour. Sometimes breeds among the reeds in the
ponds of France. Its trachea is of an equal diameter.
An. rufina, L.3 Mill. huppé, Enl. 928; Naum. I, c. 32, f. 63,
64. (The Pochard Duck.) Black; the back brown; some white
on the wing and flank; the head red, the feathers on its summit
turned up into a tufts red bill. From the borders of the Caspian
sea, and occasionally driven by the winds as far as France.
There are two successive inflations of its trachea, besides the
capsule of the bifurcation:
An. marila, L., Enl. 10023 Brit. Zool. 2; Wils. VIII, Ixix, 33
Naum. 59, f. 90; the female, An. freenata, Mus. Carls. 38; Naum.
59, f.90, B. (The Scaup Duck.) Ash-coloured, striated with
black; head and neck black, changing to green; black rump and
- stail; the belly and spots on the wing white; the bill lead-
coloured; found in small flocks in France during the winter, but
is from the remote parts of Siberia. Its trachea is very wide
at the commencement, and then narrow.
An. nyroca, Gm.; A. leucophtalmos, Bechst.; the female; /.
africana, Gm.3; Le Petit Millowin, Enl. 1000; Naum. I, c. 39, f.
89. Brown; head and neck red; a white spot on the wing; belly
whitish; a brown collar on the bottom of the male’s neck.
_ Breeds in the north of Germany, and is rarely seen in France.
Its trachea is very much inflated about the middle.
An. fuligula, L.; Le Morillon, Enl. 1001; Frisch, 171; Naum.
I, c. 56, f. 83, 84; Wils. VIII, Ixvii, 5; the young, Enl. 1007;
An. scandiaca, Frisch, VI, xxxvi, 1, 2. (The Tufted Duck.)
Black; the feathers of the occiput lengthened out into a tuft; the
belly and a spot on the wing white; bill lead-coloured. Found
in France every winter, where it proceeds from the North.(1)
The Ducks of the second division,(2) whose thumb is not border-
ed with a membrane, have a more slender head, narrower feet,
(1) Add of species foreign to Europe: .4n. spinosa, Enl. 967, 968;—An: Stellera,
Pall. Spic., VI, pl. v;—An. labradora, Wils. VII, lxix, 6;—An. valisneria, Ib LXX,
5;—An. rubida, tb. LXXI, 5, 6, of which, on account of its pointed: ‘tail M. Ch.
Bonap. makes his genus Oxyura.
(2) It is to this second division that M. Ch. Bonap. pardeiadly appiiea the
name of Anas.
Vout. IL.—3 D
426 . AVES.
longer neck, the bill more equal, and not so thick a body; they walk
better, and feed on aquatic plants and seeds as much as on fish, &c.
The inflations of their trachea consist of a bony and cartilaginous
homogeneous substance. They also admit of some subdivisions.
Ruyncnaspis, Leach.
A subgenus very remarkable for a long bill, the upper mandible
of which, forming the exact half of a perfect cylinder, is widened at
the end. Its lamellz are so long and delicate that they resemble
hairs. These birds feed on small worms, which they obtain from
the mud on the edge of brooks, &c.
An. clypeata, L..; Souchet commun, Enl. 971, 9725 Frisch, 161,
162, 163; Wils. VIII, Ixvii, 7; Naum. 49, f. 70, 71 (The Shove-
ler). A beautiful duck, with a green head and neck, white
breast, red belly, and brown back; the wings are variegated with
white, ash colour, green, brown, &e. It visits France in the
spring, and is excellent game. The lower part of its trachea is.
but slightly inflated. It is the Chenerotes of Pliny.
An. fasciata, Sh., Nat. Misc. pl. 697, is another species found
in New Holland. The edges of its upper mandible are extended
on each side into a membranous appendage.
rg
Tapvorna.(1)
The bill very much flattened towards the end, and bulging into
a salient lump at base.
An. tadorna, L.; Enl. 53; Frisch, 166; Naum. I, c. 55, f. 103
and 104, (The Shieldrake. ) The most highly coloured of all the
European Ducks: white: the head green; a cinnamon-coloured
cincture round the breast; the wing varied with black and white,
red and green. Common on the shores of the North Sea, and
of the Baltic, where it lays inthe downs, and frequently in holes 4
abandoned by rabbits. Its bifurcation is inflated into two nearly
similar osseous capsules.
Some Ducks of this second division have some naked parts about
the head, and very often a lump on the base of the bill. °
In. moschata, L., Enl. 989, commonly but improperly called
The Muscovy Duck; originally from South America, where it is
still found in its wild state, and where it perches on trees; is
now very common in our poultry yards, where it mixes with
(1) Tudorne, the name of this bird in Belon. Buffon, following Turner, mis-
took it for the Chenalopex of the ancients.
—
a
oe
PALMIPEDES. 427
the Common Duck. Its capsule is very large, circular, verti-
cally flattened, and all on the left side.
Some of them have pointed tails.
“An. acuta, L.; Le Pilet, Enl. 9543 Wils. VIII, lxviii, 3 33 Frisch,
160 and 168; Naum. 51, f. 74 and 75. (The Pintail.) Ash ada
ed above and on the flanks, finely striped with black; white be-
neath; the head tawny, &c. The capsule of the trachea is small.
The males of others have some of the feathers of the tail recurved.
An. boschas, L.(1) Enl. 776, 7773 Wils. VIL, be 7 Frisch,
158 and 159 (The Mallard), is known by its pale yellow feet,
yellow bill, the beautiful changeable green of the head, and
rump of the male, &c. In our poultry-yards it varies in colour,
like all other domestic animals. The wild breed is common in
the marshes; it builds among the reeds, in the hollow trunks of
willows, and sometimes upon trees. Its trachea terminates be-
low, in a large osseous capsule.
A singular variety is found in the Hook-billed Buck the 4n.
adunca, L.
Some of them have a crested head, and a bill somewhat more
narrow at the end, which, though foreign, are reared in all the avia-
ries of Europe. Such are,
_ dln. sponsa, L.; Enl. 980 and 981; Wils. VIII, Ixxviii, 3 (The
Summer Duck): and An. galericulata, L., Enl. 805 and 806;
_Vieill. Gal. 287 (The Chinese Duck). Some of the wing-fea-
thers in the male of this latter species are widened and turned
up vertically, in addition to those of the tail. Their capsules
are rounded, and of a moderate size.
There are other species which to the bill of a Duck add legs, even
longer than those of a Goose; they build and perch on trees.(2)
Some of this number have but semi-palmated feet.(3) Finally among
those which have no peculiar mark is the
An. strepera, L.; Le Chipeau; Enl. 958; Naum. I, c. 45, f. 65;
Wils. VIII, Ixxi, 1. (The Gadwal.) Reticulated and finely
striped with black; wings, red with a green spot and a white
one. The capsule of the trachea is small.
An. Penelope, L.; Le Siffleur; Enl. 825; Frisch, 164 and 169;
Naum. f. 72 and 73.(4) (The Whistler.) Finely striped with
(1) Borxas, Greek name of the Mallard.
(2) An. arborea, Enl. 804;—autumnalis, 826;—viduata, 808. [The Anas sponsa
and the 4. moschata likewise build on trees. Am. Ed.) .
(3) An. semipalmata, Lath.; Cuv. Mém. du Mus.
(4) Penelope, the Greek name of a red headed Duck, either the present spe-
cies or the ferina, L.
428 AVES.
black; vinous-coloured breast; red head; pale forehead; the wing
white, green, and black. The capsule is rounded, moderate,
and very bony.(1)
There are several small species designated by the general name
of Tra.
in. querquedula, L.; La Sarcelle ordinaire, Enl. 946, and the
old male, 4n. circia, Frisch, 176; Naum. 47, f. 66 and 67.
(The Garganey Duck.) A grey ground, reticulated with black;
a white line round, and at the end of the eye, &c. Common on
ponds, &c. Its capsule is a pyriform enlargement.
An. erecca, L.; La petite Sarcelle; Enl. 947; Frisch, 174; Naum.
48, f. 68, 69; Wils. VIII, Ixx, 4; Brit. Zool. pl. 2. (The Com-
mon Teal.) Finely striped with blackish; the head red; a green
band at the corner of the eye edged with two white lines, &c.
The capsule resembles a pea.(2)
Mereus, Lin.
The genus of the Mergansers comprehends those species in which
the bill, thinner and more cylindrical than that of ‘the Ducks, is
armed along its edges with small pointed teeth resembling those of
a saw and directed backwards; the tip of the upper mandible is
hooked. Their carriage and even plumage are those of Ducks, pro-
perly so called; but their gizzard is less muscular, and their intes-
tines and ceca shorter. The inflation of the lower larynx in the males
is enormous, and partly membranous. They live on lakes ene ponds,
where they are very destructive to fish.
Three species are found in France during the winter, whose
variations of plumage have induced some naturalists to increase
the number. It is said that they breed in the North among the
rocks or reeds, and lay a great many eggs.
Merg. merganser, L..; Le Harle vulgaire; Enl. 951; Naum. I,
c. 61} f. 93, Brit. Zool. pl. N3 Frisch, 190; Wils. VIII, lxviii, 1
(The Goosander), is the size of a Duck, and has red feet
and a bill of the same hue. The head of the old male is of a
deep green, the feathers on its summit forming asort of toupee;
the mantle is black, with a white spot over the wing; under-
(1) Add An. rutila, Pall. Nov. Com. Petrop., XIV, xxii;—An. cana and casarca,
Brown, Ill. 41 and 42;—n. pexcilorhyncha, Indian Zool. pl. xiv;—the Jensen (An.
americana), Enl. 955, Wils. VIII, lxix, 4;—the Maree (An. bahamensis), Catesb.
93;—.An. obscura, Wils. VII, Ixxii, 5;—An. arcuata, Gm. or paturi, Spix, C
(2) Add, An. discors, Enl. 966 and 403;—/An. manillensis, Sonner. Voy. I,
pl. lv.
PALMIPEDES. 429
neath and the neck, white, slightly tinged with rose-colour.
The young and the females—Merg. castor, Enl. 953; Frisch,
191; Naum. 61, f. 93, B, are grey with a red head. .
Merg. serrator, L.; Harle huppé; Enl. 207; Edw. 95; Naum.
I, c. 61, f. 90; Wils. VIII, Ixix, 2. (The Red-breasted Mergan-
ser.) Bill and feet reds the body variegated with black, white,
and brown; head of a black-green; a pendent tuft on the occi-
put. The young and the females,—Harles noirs, H. 2 manteau
noir; Naum. 62, f. 95, have a brown head.
M. albellus, L.; La Piette; Enl. 449; Frisch, 172; Naum. 63,
f. 97; Brit. Zool. pl. N. 1; Wils. VIII, xci, 9. (The Smew.)
Bill and feet blue; body white, varied with black on the man-
tle; a black spot near the eye, and one on the occiput. The
young males and the females——Merg. minutus, mustelinus, &c.
Enl. 450; Brit. Zool. pl. N. 2; Naum. 63, f. 98, are grey with
a red head.(1)
(1) Among the Mergansers foreign to Europe, the only ones well ascertained —
are the M. cucullatus of Carolina, Enl. 935 and 936, and the . brasiliensis, Vieill.
Gal. 283.
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APPENDIX
OF THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
1h
Vesp. carolinensis, Geoff. Anterior upper fore-teeth sub-simple,
larger than the ial remarkable for a strong odour resembling
that of a Fox.
V. lucifugus, L. C. Anterior upper fore-teeth bilobate; body
above dark brown, beneath cinereous; nose sub-bilobate; face with a
nakedish prominence on each side; ears oblong, naked, tragus sub-
linear, half as long as the ears; tail projecting a little beyond the
membrane; length to the insertion of the tail two inches and a quar-
ters tail one inch and a quarter.
V. noctivagans, L.C. Anterior upper fore-teeth bilobate, the
posterior sub-simple; colour black or dusky cinereous; hair on the
back and belly tipped with grey; ears short, naked, roundish; tragus
short and roundish; nose sub-bilobate; tail projecting a little beyond
the interfemoral membrane, which is hairy; length two inches and
five eighths; tail one and three eighths.
TT:
Add Plec. macrotis, L.C. Upper fore-teeth, four, trilobate, dis-
tant by pairs, the posterior smaller; ears very long, pointing for-
wards; tragus subulate, half the length of the ears.(1)
(1) There is another species with equally long ears, which are not united on the
cranium; which of these is the megalotis of Raffin., it is impossible to say.
432 APPENDIX.
Ill.
Nyc. noveboracensis. Easily known by its short and round ears,
and by the interfemoral membrane being hairy and including the
whole of the tail. There is a white spot at the insertion of the wing
and another at the base of the thumb; these marks are constant.
This species varies much in colour, and has been called V. lasiurus
by Schreber, V. monachus by some, and is figured Wils. Orn. VI,
pl. 4, whence it has been quoted by M. Cuvier as the Zaphizéus.
yct. crepuscularis, L. C. Above brown, beneath paler; a small
black wart above each eye; nose somewhat bilobate; chin with a
small double wart; ears moderate; tragus small, subulate; tail pro-
jecting a little beyond the membrane.
Nyct. cynocephala, L. C. The posterior fore-tooth on each side
smaller than the rest which are emarginate; nose furnished on the
top and sides with stiff short bristles; lips very large, somewhat
pendulous; ears broad, round, naked; tragus not apparent; tail long,
extending far beyond the membrane; outer and inner toes of the hind
feet woolly on the outside; the rest with each two long hairs on the top.
IV.
Meles europza; Ursus meles, L. (European Badger.) Above, grey,
beneath, black; a blackish band on each side of the head.
Meles labradoria; Ursus labradorius, L. (American Badger.)
Above grey, beneath paler; head brown, with a narrow white line
on the top; under jaw and throat white. From a comparison of
these two descriptions it will be seen, that it is impossible that they
can be but one species. They are totally distinct.
V. :
This is the animal called the Mink in the United States, and is
identical with the Vison. We have another, the Must. Pennanti,
Erxl., the Fisher, as it is commonly called, which in its manners
resembles the Must. martis.
VI.
Add to the description of Canis lycaon, “found also in America, in
the Missouri country and in Canada.’’ The other species, C. Jatrans,
and C. nubilus, mentioned in note (3), page 106, are probably varie-
ties of C. lupus. This animal always hunts in company, and barks
when in pursuit of its prey. It varies much in colour, being grey,
+
reddish, black, mixed black and grey, grey and reddish, and grey,
reddish and black, and in size from that of a small dog to that of the
largest mastiff.
i]
VII.
The Canis fulvus of some authors, the American Red Fox, is
identical with the European, and was introduced (at least into the
United States) by some Englishmen, who thought it afforded better
sport than the American species: not many years ago persons were
living who remembered when they were first brought to New Eng-
land. '
VIL.
This is an error. The Sc. cinereus, LL. (The Cat Squirrel), of our
country is cinereous above, beneath white, tail less distichous than
that of other species, longer than the body and striped with black;
length twelve inches, tail fifteen. There are but four teeth in the
upper jaw oneach side. Inhabits the northern and middle states.
Sc. carolinensis, L. (Little Grey Squirrel.) Above mixed white,
blackish and rusty; beneath white; cheeks rusty; tail as long as the
body, edged with white; upper jaw teeth, five on each side. This is
the species described by our author as the cinereus.
~ Sc. vulpinus. (The Fox Squirrel.) Length fourteen inches, tail six-
teen; very much resembles the Sc. cinereus, but differs in size and in
the texture of the fur which is coarser and longer, the hair having
frequently the appearance of being twisted or even geniculate. The
Sc. capistratus is a variety of this species, and so, most probably, is
the rufiventris. Some individuals are entirely of a rusty colour, |
others wholly black, and others again varied like a tortoise-shell cat.
Allthese have been found together in the same nest. The Se. niger
of some authors is the black variety of these three species. The Se.
cinereus is sometimes found entirely white with black eyes.
The other species found in the United States are Sc. macrourus,
Says—Sc. grammarus, Id.;—Sc. 4-vittatus, Id.;—Sc. lateralis, Id. 5
—Sc. hudsonius, Gm.
IX.
Some confusion appears to exist in this note with respect to the
Vou. L—s E
APPENDIX. g) ! 45
y
A434 : APPENDIX.
location of several American species, which truly belong to the
Aryicota, Cuy. or Hypupzus of Illiger.
é
X.
Add, of American species, Hypudceus xanthognatus, Leach;—Hyp.
riparius? Ord. A subdivision of this group will embrace the Hyp.
hispidus (Sigmodon, Say), and Hyp. messor, L. C: and another sub-
division, Hyp. floridanus (Neotoma, Say), and Hyp. gossipinus, L. C.
KI.
Here should come the new genus Psammomys, Le Conte, described
Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. of New York, III, 3, pl. 2,, which differs from
all the preceding in the form of the jaw teeth. The eyes are very
small, and the ears scarcely visible. It burrows like the Sorex.
But one species has-yet been found—P. ‘pinetorum, L. C.—which
inhabits the pine forests of Georgia. Its hair is a dark shining
cinereous colour, tipped above with brown, beneath a very pale ash;
head large and blunt; tail round and hairy.(1)
XII.
~~
Cathartes aura. (Turkey Buzzard.) Black, with a bluish gloss;
neck feathered equally all round; head red, bill white. The other
species Cathartes iota, Vieill. which by our author »is arranged in
the genus Percnopterus, undoubtedly belongs to, thewape genus with
the C. aura. Its vulgar name is the Carrion Crow. Its colour is
black, neck more feathered above than beneath; head black; bill
horn-colour. * Both these species are common in the warm parts of
our country: the first, however, ranges more to the north than the
other; it is sometimes seen at New York. They prey upon carrion
and excrementitious matters, but never attack living animals except
they perceive them helpless or unable to defend themselves.
XIII.
These citations, from F. pennsylvanicus, Wils. to F. hyemalis, Wils.
(1) On examining the work of Ruppel lately received at the Ac. of Nat. Sc. of
Philad., I find that he has anticipated Major Le Conte in the generic use of the
word Psammomys. As the rule of priority should be inexorably adhered to in these
cases, I would propose for the American animal the generic appellation of Piry-
mys, or Pine-mouse.
APPENDIX. 435
IV, xxxv, 1, are wrong. Instead of them should be inserted F. penn-
sylvanicus, Wils. VI, pl. liv, f. 1; —#. velox (Slate-coloured Hawk),
Wils. VI, pl. xlvi, f. 1;—. dubius, Gm. These three birds are con-
sidered (Syn. Am. Birds of Ch. Bonap.) as the same, and as identi-
cal with the F. fuscus of Gmel.
XIV.
Add M. Sayi, Bonap. Am. Or.I, pl. ii, f. 3;—M. fusca, Gm.
Wils. Orn. I, pl. Ixiii, f. 5; J. acadica, Gm. Wils. I, pl. xiii, f. 3.
XV.
Here should come the genus Vireo, Vieill. (Muscrcara, L., &c.)..
These have a bill like the Muscicapa, but it is shorter, not so much
depressed, but rather compressed; bristly at base; upper mandible
curved at the tip; tongue bifid at the tip. The colour of all the spe-
_ cies is olive, more or less inclining to yellow.
WV. flavifrons, Vieill. (Wils. Il, pl. 7, f. 3, MW. sylvicola). Throat,
breast, forehead, and circle round the eyes, yellow.
V. solitarius, Vieill. (MM. solitaria, Wils. Il, pl. xvii, f. 6). Head,
bluish; circle round the eyes white, breast pale ash, belly white.
V. noveboracensis, Vieill. (M. noveboracensis, Gm., M. cantatriz,
“Wils. Il, pl. xviii, f. 6). Spot at the base of the upper mandible,
and circle round the eyes, yellow; eye-lids white.
: WV. gilvus, Bonap. (Sylvia gilva, Vieill., M. melodia, Wils. V, pl.
xlii, f. 2). A line over the eyes, and body beneath, white; eye-lids,
brown.
\ V. olivaceus, Vieill. (M. olivacea, L. Wils. I, pl. xti, f. 3). Crown,
cinereous, bounded on the sides with black; line over the eyes, white;
eye-lids, rufous.
XVI.
The 7. minor, Gm., is quoted in this note as a synonyme of the
T. mustelinus, Wils., when in fact it is the solitarius, Wils., V, p.
xliii, f. 2. The 7. mustelinus, Gm., is the 7. melodes, Wils. I, p. ii,
f. 1. The 7. mustelinus, Wils., is the 7. Wilsoniz, Bonap. Wils. V,
p- xliii, £3.
436 APPENDIX.
. XVII.
Add to this note for American species; J. awrocapilla, L. Wils.
II, pl. xiv, f. 2;—/. noveboracensis, Lath. Wils. IT], pl. xxiii, f. 5;—
M. coronata, Wils. Il, pl. xvii, f. 4; M. palmarum, Bonap. II, pl. x,
f. 2;—M. maculosa, Lath. (Sy/. magnolia, Wils.) Wils. III, pl. xxiii,
f. 2;—M. maritima, Wils. VI, pl. li, f. 8;—M. pardalina, Bonap.
(Muse. canadensis, Wils.) Wils. Il, pl. xxvi, f. 2;—/M. mitrata, Bo-
nap. (Muse. cucullata, Wils.) Wils. IIT, pl. xxvi, f. 3;—M. pensilis,
(Syl. flavicollis, Wils.) Wils. Il,» pl. xii, f. 6;—JZ. virens, Wils. I,
pl. xvii, f. 3;—. Blackburneve} Wils..TH, pl. xxviii, f, 3;—J/. icte-
rocephala, Lath. (Syl. pennsylvanica, Wils.) Wils. I, pl. xiv, f. 5;—
M. castanea, Wils. Il, pl. xiv, f. 45—J/. striata, Wils. IV, p. xxx, f.
3;—WM. varia, Lath. (Certhia maculata, Wils.) Wils. III, p. xix, f. 33—
M. pinus, Wils. III, pl. xix, f. 4;—M. parus, Wils. V, p. liv, f. 35
. ae tigrina (Syl. montana, Wils.) Wils. V, p. xii, f. 2;—M. Tard,
Wils. III, pl. xlvii, f. 2;—/. discolor (Syl. minuta, Wils.) Wils. TTS
pl. xxv, f. 4;—W. eestiva (Syl. citrinella, Wils.) Wils. 11, Pagxv, £633
—WM. petxchia, Wils. pl. xxviii, f. 4;—J/. americana (Syl. pusilla,
Wils.) Wils. 1V, p. 28, xxviii, f. 3;--/M. canadensis, Wils. I, pl.
xv, f. 73—M. agilis, Wils. V, pl. xxxix, f. 4;—J/Z. formosa, Wils, III,
pl. xxv, f. 3;—M. autumnalis, Wils. III, pl. xxiii, f. 4;—. trichas,
Wils. I, pl. vi, f. 1 and 2, pl. xviii, f. 4;—. philadelphica, Wils. I,
pl. xiv, f. 6;—/. sphagnosa, Bonap. Wils. V, pl. xlili, f. 4;—M. —
rea, Steph., Bonap. II, pl. xi, f. 2, and Wils. I, pl. xvii, f. 53—
cerulea, Wils. II, pl. xviii, f. 5;—M. minuta, Bonap. (Muse. minuta,,
Wils.) Wils. VI, pl. 1, f. 5;—J/. Wilsonii, Bonap. (Muse. pusilla,
Wils.) Wils. III, pl. xxvi, f. 4. °
2
_ XVIIL
The Mot. pensilis, zstiva, ludoviciana, and canadensis quoted in
this note by our author, do not belong to this subgenus. There
should, however, be added for American species, W. calendula,:
Wils. I, p. v, f. 3;—. eristatus, Wils. I, p. viii, f. 2.
XIX.
It may be as well to insert here the genus Icrrria of Vieillot,
which, from its resemblance to many of the preceding genera, al-
APPENDIX. ; 437
though it wants the emargination on the upper mandible, cannot be
more appropriately arranged.
Bill strong, convex, somewhat curved, compressed, almost entire,
bristly at base; mandibles sub-equal, edges somewhat bent in; nos- .
trils round, half covered by a membrane; tongue slightly bifid at the
tip; intermediate between Turdus, Muscicapa, Vireo and Tanagra.
There is but one species known, Jct. dumicola, Vieill. which inhabits
the United'States (Pipra polyglotta, Wils. I, p. vi, f. 2). It is olive-
green, with the throat and breast yellow; belly white; circle round
the eyes, and line above them yellow.
XX.
Add for American species: F. amena, Bonap. I, p. viii, f. 4;—
F. cyanea, Wils. 1, p. vi, f. 53. ciris, Wils. III, p. xxiv, f. 1 and
23—F. americana, Wils. I, p. iii, f. 23—F. leucophrys, Wils. I, p.
xxxi, f. 4;—F. grammaca, Bonap. I,:p. v, f. 23—F. pennsylvanica,
Wils. III, p. xxii, f. 2;—F. graminea, Wils. IV, p. iii, f. 5;—F
melodia, Wils. II, p. xvi, f. 4;—F. savanna, Wils. IV, p. xxxiv, f.
4;—F. passerina, Wils. III, p. xxiv, f. 5;—F. canadensis, Wils. I,
p: xvi, f. 3;—F. socialis, Wils? II, ps xvi, f. 5;—F. palustris, Wils.
II, p. xxii, f. 1;—#'. caudacuta, Wils. iy, p. xxxiv, f. 33;—F. mari-
tima, Wils. p. xxxiv, f. 2.
+
XXI.
Ada F. psaltria, Banap. I, p. vi, f. 3;—F. pinus, Wils. II, p.
Avi, {791'. .
od
ey
XXII.
Add for-American species: D. vermivora, Wils. II, p. xxiv, f.
4;—D. prothonotarius, Wils: I, pl. xxiv, f. 2;—JD. solitaria, Wils.
II, p. xv, f. 4;—D. chrysoptera, Wils. I, p. xv, f. 2;—D. peregrina,
Wils. III, p. xxv, f. 2;—D. rubricapilla, Wils. Ill, p. xxvii, f. 33—
_D. celata, Bonap. I, p. v, f. 2. All the birds of this genus are more
nearly allied to Muscicapa and Sylvia, and ought to be arranged
with them.
XXIII.
The genus Quiscatus of Vieillot should find a place between this
genus and Caryocatactes. Its characters are as follows:
438 ‘APPENDIX.
. Bill large, compressed from the base, entire, the edges angular,
hardly bent in; upper mandible curyed from the middle, longer than
the lower, with an osseous prominence in the middle; tongue bifid
at tip; nostrils half closed by a membrane.
Q. major, Bonap. I, p. iv, f..1 and 2 (Graeula barrita of authors,
Jackdaw of the south). Black, with a blue gloss mixed with purple;
head and neck purples iris yellow. Female dusky; back, wings
and tail with a slight bluish gloss; head and neck dark brown; throat,
breast and belly, brown. '?
Q. versicolor, Vieill. Wils. III, p. xxi, f. iv (Grac. quiscula of au-
thors). Black, with a bluish gloss, mixed with purple; head and
neck with a purple gloss; iris yellow. Female more dusky. Both
these species are similar in their manners, are gregarious, and com-
mit great devastation in fields of grain.
Q. ferrugineus, Bonap. Wils. III, p. xxi, f. 3 (Grae. ferruginea of
authors). Black, with feathers more orless tipped with ferruginous.
N.B. Previous to the labours of M. C. Bonaparte, these three
birds were not understood. It is needless to occupy any space in
commenting on the errors that have hitherto existed respecting
them. °
XXIV.
>
Add, Tot. macularius, Temm. Wils. VIII, p. lix, f. 1. The Pha-
laropus frenatus alluded to by our author in note (3) is not figured in
Wilson, IX, p. lxiii, f. 3. The bird there represented is the Lobipes
Wilsonii of Sabine. ’ Ja
+ e°
XXV.
Here should come the genus Aramus, Vieill. characterized as
follows.—Bill much longer than the head, cleft beneath the eyes,
compressed, straight, curved, and somewhat turgid at tip; upper
mandible slightly furrowed, the lower turgid towards the middle,
angular beneath, acute; nostrils in wide orifices, linear, pervious;
lores naked; feet long; toes divided to their base, hind toe long.
lr. scolopaceus, Vieill. Brown glossed with green; feathers longi-
tudinally white in the middle; rump, quill, and tail feathers imma-
culate. Inhabits Georgia and Florida, Bonap. Syn. p. 308.
APPENDIX, ‘ 439
XXVI.
The Pel. sula, 1... The Brown Booby, Enl. 973, is the Sula fusca,
Briss. ,
XXVII.
Closely allied to the genus Prorus is the Hexrornis of Vieillot
which chiefly differs from it in having a shorter and slenderer bill,
the edges of which are entire, not denticulate. But two species are
known, the H. surinamensis, Enl. 893. Brown, beneath*whitish; sides
of the neck striped with black and white; bill and feet dusky, the
latter semi-palmate and barred with black. The other is the H.
senegalensis, Vieill. Gal. 280. Brown, beneath white; sides of the
neck and back speckled with black; bill and feet red; toes connected
only at the base; tail cuneiform.
oe:
ae alan tas eh
Ss % + eget agit )
eae ate. eg PM
eel hg a gage Den
tay DBs iy Joa ligne ones
aay Pedy ita Me i er “iy “j a je
&
ht r oe : Py od
aoe) ae Al 4. gh we ee
me ae eal
CATALOGUE
OF
THE MAMMALIA AND BIRDS OF THE UNITED
STATES.
MAMMALIA.
CARNARIA.
CHEIROPTERA.
Vespertilio carolinensis Nycticea noveboracensis
lucifugus, L. C. crepuscularis, L. C.
noctivagans, L. C. cynocephalus, L. C.
Plecotus macrotis, L. C.
INSECTIVORA.
Sorex(1) Scalops aquaticus
Condylura cristata
CARNIVORA.
PLANTIGRADA.
Ursus americanus Meles labradoria
horribilis Gulo luscus
Procyon lotor
NOs cee Sy NS Se
(1) We have many species of this genus in the United States, but not one that
has yet been properly determined.
Vou. I.—3 F
442
Putorius vulgaris
erminea
lutreola
Mustela martes
Pennantii
Mephitis putorius
Lutra brasiliensis
Sciurus carolinensis
cinereus
vulpinus
macrourus
grammarus
4-vittatus
hudsonius
striatus
lateralis
Pteromys volucella
hudsonia
Arctomys monax
Hoodii
Mus musculus
rattus
decumanus
Cervus alces
canadensis
CATALOGUE,
DIGITIGRADA.
Canis lupus
lycaon
vulpes
cinereo-argenteus
Felis discolor
rufa
borealis
AMPHIBIA.
Phoca vitulina
MARSUPIALIA.
Didelphis virginiana
RODENTIA.
Meriones canadensis
labradorius
Fiber zibethicus
Hypudzus xanthognathus
riparius? Ord
hispidus
messor, L. C.
floridanus
gossypinus, L, C.
Psammomys pinetorum, L. C.
Saccomys bursarius
Castor fiber
Hystrix dorsata
Lepus variabilis
americanus
RUMINANTIA.
Cervus virginianus
macrotis
Antilope lanigera
furcifer
Delphinus Delphis
phocena
Cathartes aura
tNosiLes
Falco communis
Cooperi, Bonap.
sparverius
fuscus
columbarius
ttH1eRoFALcones
Falco atricapillus
TtTAQuILz
Falco fulvus
haliztos
leucocephalus
ttttAsTuRES
tOrr
Strix nevia
otus
brachyotus
ttSrRicEs
Strix flammea
ttt Busonss
Strix magellanica
CATALOGUE.
Ovis Ammon
Bos bison
CETACEA.
Delphinus orca
Balzna mysticetus
ne
AVES.
ACCIPITRES.
DIURNZ.
VULTURINE.
Carthartes jota
FALCONES.
Falco palumbarius
pennsylvanicus
tttttMinvi
Falco furcatus
dispar, Temm.
plumbeus, Gm.
tttttt BuTEONEsS
Falco lagopus
Sancti Johannis
borealis
tttttttCires
Falco hyemalis
pygargus
NOCTURN &.
Strix cinerea
ttttNocruz
Strix funerea
nyctea
cunicularia
acadica
tttttULuLz
Strix nebulosa
443
444 CATALOGUE.
PASSERIN /.
DENTIROSTRES.
Lanius ludovicianus Motacilla maculosa
septentrionalis maritima
+Tyrannus pardalina, Bonap.
Muscicapa tyrannus mitrata
crinita pensilis
verticalis, Bonap. virens
forficata Blackburniz
ttMuscicapa icterocephala
Muscicapa Sayi, Bonap. castanea
fusca striata
virens varia
ruticilla pinus
Vireo flavifrons parus
solitarius tigrina
noveboracensis rara
gilvus discolor
olivaceus estiva
Bombycilla garrula pulchra
americana americana
carolinensis canadensis
Tanagra estiva agilis
rubra formosa
ludoviciana autumnalis
Turdus polyglottos trichas
migratorius philadelphica
lividus sphagnosa, Bonap.
rufus azurea
minor coerulea
mustelinus tiTREGULI
Wilsonii, Bonap. Motacilla calendula
Myothera obsoleta, Bonap. cristata
tSax1coLaz Troglodytes aedon
Motacilla sialis europzus
ttSyiviz palustris
Motacilla aurocapilla ludovicianus
noveboracensis Anthus spinoletta
coronata Icteria dumicola
palmarum
CATALOGUE. 4A5
FISSIROSTRES.
+CypsELi Hirundo bicolor
Hirundo pelasgia riparia
t}tHirunpinEs Caprimulgus carolinensis
Hirundo purpurea virginianus
rufa vociferus
fulva
CONIROSTRES.
Alauda alpestris tttCaARDUELES
Parus bicolor Fringilla tristis
atricapillus psaltria
Emberiza nivalis pinus
Pyrgita iliaca linaria
erythrophthalma Coccothraustes cardinalis
+Spizz vespertina, Bonap.
Fringilla amcena, Bonap. ludoviciana
cyanea cerulea
cirls purpurea
+TPAssERES Pyrrhula frontalis, Bonap.
Fringilla americana Loxia curvirostra
leucophrys leucoptera
grammaca Corythus enucleator
pennsylvanica Xanthornus baltimorus
graminea spurius
melodia phoeniceus
savanna xanthocephalus
nivalis pecoris
passerina agripennis
laponica Dacnis vermivora
canadensis prothonotarius
socialis solitarius
pusilla chrysoptera
palustris peregrina
caudacuta rubricapilla
maritima ciliata, Bonap.
Sturnus ludovicianus
CORACES.
Corvus corone
corax
ossifragus
Corvus columbianus
pica
Garrulus cristatus
446 CATALOGUE.
Garrulus floridanus Quiscalus versicolor
canadensis ferrugineus
Quiscalus major
TENUIROSTRES.
Sitta canadensis Certhia familiaris
carolinensis Trochilus colibris
pusilla Alcedo alcyon
SCANSORLE.
Picus auratus Picus pubescens ,
principalis querulus
pileatus torquatus
erythrocephalus tridactylus
carolinus Cuculus americanus
varius erythrophthalmus
villosus Psittacus carolinensis
GALLINACE/.
Meleagris gallopavo Perdix virginiana 7
Tetrao canadensis californiana
obscurus Columba fasciata, Bonap.
urophasianus, Bonap. zenaida, Bonap.
umbellus leucocephala
cupido passerina
phasianellus migratoria
albus carolinensis
GRALLATORLE.
PRESSIROSTRES.
Charadrius semipalmatus, Bonap. Charadrius pluvialis
melodus Squatarola helvetica
Wilsonii Hezmatopus ostralegus
vociferus
CULTRIROSTRES.
Grus canadensis on oo TARDEZ
americana ay Ardéa Herodias
Ardea alba
Pealii, Bonap.
candidissima
ludoviciana
ttBoraurti
7 Ardea violacea
CATALOGUE,
Ardea nycticorax
coerulea
minor
virescens
Tantalus loculator
Platalea ajaja
LONGIROSTRES.
‘Ibis rubra
alba
Numenius longirostris
hudsonicus
borealis
Scolopax minor
paludosa
Limosa xgocephala
fedoa
Calidris maritima
Temminckii
minuta
pusilla
islandica
Arenaria calidris
Pelidna alpina
subarcuata
Schinzii
pectoralis
platyrhynca
maritima
Machetes pugnax
447
Hemipalama semipalmata, Bonap.
Phalaropus fulicarius, Bonap.
Totanus semipalmatus
melanoleucus
flavipes
Bartramius
solitarius
macularius
Lobipes hyperborea
Wilsonii, Bonap.
Himantopus nigricollis
Recurvirostra americana
Rallus crepitans
virginianus
carolinus
noveboracensis
Gallinula martinica
chloropus
Fulica americana
Pheenicopterus ruber
PALMIPEDES.
BRACHYPTERA.
Podiceps cristatus
Uria troile
subcristatus Brunnichii, Sab.
cornutus Cephus alle
carolinensis Fratercula cirrhata
Colymbus glacialis arctica
septentrionalis Alca torda
Uria grylle
448
Procellaria Wilsonii, Bon.
Leachii, Bonap.
glacialis
Larus minutus
capistratus
atricilla
tridactylus
canus
eburneus
fuscus
argentatus
argentatoides
leucopterus
glaucus
Pelecanus onocrotalus
fuscus
Phalacrocorax carbo
graculus
cistatus
Tachypetes aquilus
CATALOGUE.
LONGIPENNES.
Larus marinus
Lestris cataractes
pomarina
Buffonii
paradisea
Sterna cayana
anglica
hirundo
arctica
minuta
nigra
fuliginosa
stolida
Rhynchops nigra
PALMAT.
PELECANI.
Sula bassana
fusca
Plotus melanogaster
Heliornis surinamensis
Phaeton ezthereus
LAMELLIROSTRES.
Cygnus musicus
Anser hyperboreus
albifrons
segetum
canadensis
leucopsis
bernicla
Anas nigra
glacialis
fusca
perspicillata
histrionica
Stelleri
clangula
albeola
mollissima
spectabilis
ferina
Anas valisneriz
marila
fuligula
labradora
rubida
clypeata
acuta
boschas
sponsa
strepera
americana
obscura
crecca
discors
Mergus merganser
serrator
cucullatus
albellus
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
Plate I. The Quadrupeds of this plate are sufliciently de-
scribed in the text, for which refer to the genera by the Index.
Plate II. This plate exhibits the osteology of the head of
two anomalous Mammalia.
Fig. 1, 2,3... The Aye-Aye (Cheiromys, C.), which, with the
teeth of the Rodentia, possesses a head very similar to that of
the Quadrumana, and principally as relates to the zygomatic
arch, the orbit, &c.
Fig. 4, 5,6. The Phascolomys, which also has the teeth of
the Rodentia united to a head very analogous to that of the
Carnaria, and evidently closely allied to that of the Phalangers.
Plates II and IV. The Birds of this plate are sufliciently
described in the text under their respective genera.
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