Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America

Vireo atricapillus. Woodhouse, Proc. Acad., Philada., VI. p. 60. (April, 1852.)

Form. Small, but compact, and rather broad; bill rather short, acute; wing with the third and fourth quills equal; tail rather short, even at the end, or slightly emarginate.

Dimensions. Male.—Total length, 7½ inches; Wing, 2¼; tail, 1¾; expanse of Wings, 7¼.

Color. Male.—Head above and cheeks black; stripe before the eye, and entire under parts, white, tinged with greenish-yellow on the sides and flanks; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, dark olive-green; quills brownish-black, with a greenish tinge, and edged externally with greenish-yellow; wing-coverts tipped with greenish-white; tail feathers brownish-black, edged externally with greenish-yellow; bill and feet dark; iris light red.

Hab. Texas. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington city.

Obs. This is a very distinct and peculiar species of this genus, not at all resembling any other, and readily distinguished by its black head. It belongs, however, strictly to the same group as V. flavifrons, V. solitarius, V. noveboracencis, and others, and is one of the most interesting of the more recent additions to the ornithology of the United States.

PICOLAPTES BRUNNEICAPILLUS.—La Fresnaye.
The Brown-headed Creeper.
PLATE XXV.—Adult Male.

This is a species belonging to a large family of birds, very numerous in the tropical and southern regions of the American continent, though of which not more than two species are known to venture so far north as to come within the limits of the United States. They subsist on insects, which they capture on the trunks and branches of trees, or, in the countries where such plants abound, on the large species of Cactus, and others of a similar character.

Some of the larger birds of this group have very long and singularly curved bills, which it is supposed are peculiarly adapted to searching for insects in the deep furrows or interstices of the rough barks of trees. All have more or less strong feet and claws, designed for their manner of creeping on trees, somewhat similar to that of the Woodpeckers, but more like the Nuthatches, or little Sapsuckers, as they are commonly designated in the United States, and the Brown Creeper of our woods (Certhia americana). The latter is in fact the only northern representative of the family to which our present species belongs, but so small, that it conveys but a faint idea of the form and colors of these birds generally. They are, however, for the greater part, birds of plain colors, frequently brown of various shades, or snuff-colored.

The bird figured in the present plate was first noticed in Texas, by Capt. J. P. McCown, of the United States Army, and is given by Mr. Lawrence as an addition to the ornithology of the North in the Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, V. p. 114 (1851), but with no account of its habits. Since that time, it has been again observed by Mr. Clark at several localities in Texas, and is known to be of frequent occurrence in the States of Mexico immediately south of the Rio Grande, and in other parts of the same country.

The Brown-headed Creeper was seen by Dr. Heermann in Mexico, and in his paper in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy, II. p. 263, he thus mentions it:—

“I found this bird in the arid country back of Guaymas, on the Gulf of California. The country itself is the picture of desolation, presenting a broken surface, and a confused mass of volcanic rocks, covered by a scanty vegetation of thorny bushes and cacti. In this desert I found several interesting species, which enter into our fauna as birds of Texas, and this species was one of the number. It appeared to be a lively, sprightly bird, uttering at intervals a clear, loud, ringing note. The nest, composed of grasses, and lined with feathers, was in the shape of a long purse, laid flat between the forks or on the branches of a Cactus. The entrance was a covered passage, varying from six to ten inches in length. The eggs, six in number, are of a delicate salmon color, very pale, and often so thickly speckled with ash and darker salmon-colored spots, as to give a rich cast to the whole surface of the egg.”

In the original description of this bird by the Baron La Fresnaye, an eminent French ornithologist, in Guerin’s Magazine of Zoology, 1835, p. 61 (Paris), his specimen is represented as being probably from California. It has not been noticed in that country by either of our American naturalists, though found by Dr. Heermann, as above stated, near Guaymas, in Northern Mexico.

Our figure is rather less than two-thirds of the size of life.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Picolaptes. Lesson, Traité d’Ornithologie, I. p. 313. (1831.)

Bill moderate, or rather long, curved, rather wide at base, but compressed towards the end; apertures of the nostrils large; wings rather short, rounded; first quill short; fourth, fifth, and sixth, usually longest and nearly equal; tail moderate, or rather long, soft at the end; legs and feet rather large and robust; claws curved, sharp. An American genus, nearly allied to others, and containing numerous species.

Picolaptes brunneicapillus. La Fresnaye, Guerin’s Mag. de Zoologie, 1835, p. 61.

Form. Bill curved; culmen distinct; wings short; tail rather long; tarsi and toes strong, and covered with scales; tail wide, with its feathers broad and soft.

Dimensions. Total length of skin, about 8¼ inches; wing, 3½; tail, 3½ inches. Female rather smaller.

Colors. Entire plumage above, brown, darkest and unspotted on the head; but on other upper parts with every feather having a central stripe or oblong spots of white, disposed to form longitudinal stripes; quills with numerous spots of white on the edges of their outer webs, forming somewhat regular oblique stripes, and on their inner webs with regular transverse stripes of white; tail, with its central two feathers, grayish-brown, transversely barred with brownish-black; other tail feathers brownish black, with irregular wide transverse bands of white, more numerous on the two outermost feathers.

Under parts white, tinged with fulvous on the flanks and abdomen; feathers of the throat and neck before tipped with black; those of other under parts with circular or oblong spots of black, large on the under tail-coverts; bill and feet horn-color. Sexes alike.

Hab. Texas and Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington.

Obs. This bird somewhat resembles several of its genus, but is not difficult to distinguish. In many specimens, especially of the male bird, the black predominates on the throat and neck before, so as to present an almost uniform color.

Several late writers have placed this species in the genus Campylorhynchus (Spix).

ARCHIBUTEO FERRUGINEUS.—(Lichtenstein).
The Ferruginous Buzzard.
PLATE XXVI.—Adult and Young.

This is one of the largest and most handsomely plumaged of the Rapacious birds of North America, though belonging to a division characterized by heavy and comparatively slow flight, and not manifesting any considerable degree of that courage and cunning which are generally so remarkable in this great group of the ornithological kingdom. In fact, on examination of the fine bird now before us, or of the Black Hawk of the Atlantic States, which is nearly related to it, one would scarcely infer that the object of such an admirable organization is nothing more important than the destruction of the smallest and most defenceless of quadrupeds or of reptiles. Yet such is apparently the case; many of the birds of this group, though powerful in structure, and furnished with the usual apparatus of strong and sharp bills and claws, and other accompaniments of predatory habits, rarely attack any animal more formidable than a mouse or ground-squirrel, or in some cases a frog or other of the weaker species of reptiles.

It is, however, entirely erroneous to attribute a noble or generous character to any of the predatory animals, though from an early period of history several species have been so regarded. On the contrary, there is in all these classes, whether of birds or of other animals, a marked absence of the very traits which are in some measure assigned to them, and even more unmistakably so in some of the more celebrated, as the Eagles and Lions, than in the more humble species. Yet the rapacious animals present a study in natural history of deep interest. Owing the sustaining of their existence for the greater part to rapine and violence, yet holding an important place in the great design of the physical universe, they appear to personate a principle, if we may be allowed to use the expression, involving one of the most momentous and mysterious of problems, the existence of evil in the world. The prowling and treacherous Lion, and the robber Wolf, have unfortunately but too strong analogies in that race which is the head of the visible creation, and they and their kind everywhere present the same intrinsic meanness which is characteristic of violence and injustice, of vice and of crime amongst men.

The bird now before the reader is, so far as known, exclusively a Western species. It was first made known to American naturalists by Mr. Edward M. Kern of this city, who, when attached as artist to Colonel Frémont’s Expedition of 1846, obtained it in California and brought home specimens in a collection made by him, of the birds of that country. It had however been previously noticed and described as a bird of California by Professor Lichtenstein, a distinguished European naturalist, in a paper on the natural history of that country, in the Transactions of the Royal Academy of Berlin (1838, p. 428).

Since Mr. Kern, the only American naturalist who has noticed this bird is Dr. Heermann, who has met with it during both of his visits to California, but especially during his connection with a party under command of Lieut. Williamson, of the U. S. Topographical Engineers, which has recently completed an examination and survey for a route for a Railroad to the Pacific Ocean through the southern portion of the territory of the United States. For our present article, Dr. Heermann has with great kindness allowed us to make the following extract from his journal, kept during the survey to which we have alluded:

“During a previous visit to California, I had seen this species in the valley of the Sacramento river, and had considered it as rare in that section of the country, but during the recent survey in which I have been engaged in the southern part of the state, I found it very abundant, and on one occasion saw five or six individuals in view at the same moment, in the mountains, about sixty miles east of San Diego. It was there much more frequently seen than any other species.

“As large tracts of that country inhabited by this bird are often entirely without trees, it alights on the ground or on some slightly elevated tuft of grass or a stone, where it sits patiently for hours watching for its prey. Its food, on dissection, I found to consist almost entirely of small quadrupeds, principally various species of mice, and in one instance the crop was filled with the remains of a ground-squirrel. In plumage it appears to vary as much as its allied species, A. sancti-johannis. One specimen, which was shot by a soldier attached to our party, had the tail strongly tinged with the red color which characterizes that appendage in the red-tailed Hawk, (B. borealis).

“I have several times seen a bird sailing over the prairies, about the size of the present species, but with its entire plumage deep-black and of heavy and continued flight. It was I think certainly of this genus; but never having been so fortunate as to have procured a specimen, I am unable to decide whether it was this bird, the Black Hawk (A. sancti-johannis), or a new species to add to this group. My impression is that it was the Black Hawk, but it may have been the present in a stage of plumage yet undescribed.

“The nest and eggs of the present bird I procured on the Consumnes river, in 1851. The nest was in the forks of an oak and was composed of coarse twigs and lined with grasses; the eggs, two in number, were white, marked with faint brown dashes. This nest was placed in the centre of a large bunch of Misletoe, and would not have been discovered, but having occasion to climb the tree to examine some Magpie’s nests, the Hawk in flying off betrayed her retreat. The eggs of this species are quite different from those of the European A. lagopus, but with those of A. sancti-johannis, I have never had an opportunity of comparing them.”

Mr. Kern’s specimens are marked as having been procured in the Tulavie valley, California, in January, 1846. He observes, in his notes in our possession, that finding this bird remarkably fat and in excellent general condition, some of the party shot it for the mess-kettle whenever opportunity offered, and found it “very good eating.” Possibly under stress of capital appetites.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Archibuteo. Brehm. in Oken’s Isis, 1828, p. 1269.

Tarsi feathered in front to the toes, but more or less naked behind. General form, compact and heavy; wings, long and broad, formed for long-continued but not very rapid flight; bill, short, curved, edges of the upper mandible festooned; tail, moderate, wide, tarsi rather long; toes, short; claws, moderately strong, curved, very sharp. Contains about six species, three of which are American.

Archibuteo ferrugineus. (Lichtenstein.)

Buteo ferrugineus. Licht. Trans. Berlin Academy, 1838, p. 428.

Archibuteo regalis. Gray, Genera of Birds, 1 pl. 6 (1849, plate only).

Form. Robust and compact; bill, rather large; wings, long, with the third quills longest, all the primaries more or less incised on their inner webs near the end; tarsi feathered in front to the toes, naked and scaled behind; toes, short; claws, strong.

Dimensions. Total length (of skin), female, about 22 inches; wing, 16½ to 17; tail, 9 inches.

Color. Adult.—Tibiae and tarsi bright ferruginous, with transverse stripes of brownish-black, irregular and indistinct on the latter. Entire upper parts with irregular longitudinal stripes of dark-brown and light ferruginous, the latter color predominating on the shoulders and rump. All the upper plumage white at the bases of the feathers, and on the back with concealed irregular transverse stripes of brownish-black. Quills, ashy-brown, lighter on the outer webs, and with a part of the inner webs white, and with obscure brown bands. Tail, above, ashy-white, tinged with pale ferruginous, and mottled obscurely with ashy-brown, in some specimens narrowly tipped with black; tail, beneath, yellowish-white, unspotted. Entire under parts of the body white, slightly tinged with yellowish, with narrow longitudinal lines and dashes of reddish-brown on the breast, and narrow irregular transverse lines of the same color, and others of black, on the sides, flanks, and abdomen; under tail coverts, white; axillary feathers and some of the inferior coverts of the wing, bright ferruginous; toes, yellow; bill and claws, dark.

Young.—Entire upper parts dark umber-brown, a few feathers edged and tipped with pale ferruginous; upper coverts of the tail white, spotted with dark-brown; entire under parts pure white, with a few longitudinal lines and dashes of dark brown on the breast, and arrow-heads or irregularly shaped spots of the same color on the sides and abdomen, larger and more numerous on the flanks. Tibiæ and tarsi white, irregularly spotted with dark-brown; axillary feathers, white, with large subterminal spots of brown; under wing coverts and edges of the wings white, with a few brown spots; under tail coverts, white.

Hab. California. (Mr. Kern, Dr. Heermann.) Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. This very distinctly characterized species somewhat resembles some stages of plumage of the Rough-legged Hawk and of the Black Hawk (Archibuteo lagopus and sancti-johannis) but not sufficiently to render it necessary to point out differences. It has, as yet, only been observed in California, but will, very probably, like many other species of Western birds, be found to inhabit also the northern regions of this continent.

CULICIVORA MEXICANA.—Bonaparte.
The Black-headed Gnat-catcher.
PLATE XXVII.—Male and Female.

This delicate little bird is an inhabitant of Texas, where it was first noticed by Capt. J. P. McCown, of the U. S. Army. He obtained it near Ringgold Barracks, in 1850, since which period specimens have been brought in the collections of various other officers and naturalists. It is also known as a bird of Mexico.

This species belongs to a small group of little fly-catching birds, of which several others are found in America, though two of them only come within the limits of the fauna of the United States. Of these, one, the little blue gray Flycatcher (Culicivora cœrulea), has been long known as a summer resident in the woods and forests of the Middle and Northern States, and is one of the earliest to return, from its winter journey in the south, to its northern home. The other is the bird now before the reader.

These little Flycatchers are amongst the smallest of our native birds. They almost exclusively inhabit the woods, and are constantly seen actively engaged in the capture of the minute insects on which they feed, in pursuit of which they search very industriously, not only shrubbery, but trees of the greatest height. The present is the smaller of the two northern species, and is represented in our plate of the size of life.

For the following memorandum relating to this little bird we are again indebted to the kindness of Dr. Heermann:

“I first met with this species near San Diego, California, in 1851, and during the recent survey found it abundant in the vicinity of Fort Yuma. Its habits much resemble those of the Blue-gray Gnat-catcher of the Eastern States (Culicivora cœrulea), it is very quick in its movements, searching actively for food, preferring, apparently, the low trees and bushes, and at times darting about in the air in pursuit of small insects. The only note that I ever heard it utter was a chirp, so feeble in its tone that it could be heard but a short distance.

“The last specimen procured by me was shot in a hedge bordering a field cultivated by the Pimos Indians, whose village is situated about two hundred miles above the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers.”

The figures in the present plate, which we regard as those of adult male and female, are of the size of life.

The plant is Zauschneria californica, a native of California.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Culicivora. Swainson, Zoological Journal, III., p. 359. (1827.)

Small, bill rather long, compressed towards the tip, wider at base, upper mandible somewhat curved, base with about five pairs of rather long, weak bristles; wing, moderate or rather short, first quill very short, fourth and fifth, longest and nearly equal; tail, long, with the feathers graduated, outer shortest; legs, long, slender; toes, rather short. Colors usually cinereous and black. A genus exclusively American and containing several species.

Culicivora Mexicana. Bonap. Cons. Av., p. 316. (1850.)

Form. Small and slender; bill, moderate, rather long; wings, moderate; tail, long, several of the central feathers equal, others shorter and graduated, outer feathers shortest; legs and feet, long and slender.

Dimensions. Total length (of skin) about 4¼ inches; wing, 12¾; tail, 2¼; inches.

Colors. Male.—Head, above, glossy black; upper parts of the body and wings, grayish-cinereous or lead-colored; lower parts very pale ashy-white, deeper on the sides and flanks; quills, brownish-black, edged externally with ashy-white; tail, black, the two outer feathers tipped with white, having their outer webs of that color, the next two also edged on their outer webs with white and tipped with the same, readily seen on the inferior surface of the tail; bill and legs, dark. Female, with the head above uniform with the other parts—not black—otherwise, like the male.

Hab. Texas, Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington city.

Obs. This species very much resembles the South American Culicivora leucogastra, De Wied, (which is C. atricapilla, Swainson,) but is smaller. We have never seen specimens of the present species with the under parts of such a clear white as is usual in the larger bird just mentioned, though it may assume it in its perfectly mature plumage. The South American bird measures in total length about five inches.

The Prince of Canino’s description of Culicivora mexicana as cited above, we regard as applicable to the female of the present species. All the species of this genus more or less resemble each other, and now require careful revision, having the appearance to us of being rather confused than otherwise, and but imperfectly described.

GYMNOKITTA CYANOCEPHALA.—(De Wied.)
The Prince Maximilian’s Jay.
PLATE XXVIII.—Adult Male.

We have the pleasure of presenting to the reader, in the plate now before him, one of the most singular of the birds of the family of Crows and Jays yet known to inhabit North America.

This bird was discovered in the Rocky Mountains, by that learned and enthusiastic naturalist, Maximilian, Prince of Wied, who in the course of travels in North America, and especially in the interior, contributed a large amount of valuable information relating to the natural history of the northern portion of our continent, as he had previously to that of South America. Few books, in fact, contain more important observations in the various departments of North American Zoology than the work of that nobleman, “Travels in the Interior of North America,—edition in German, Coblenz, 1839;” but, unfortunately, and certainly without his approbation, nearly everything relating to natural history is omitted in the English edition, London, 1843. In Ornithology, the works of the Prince Maximilian are particularly valuable, and in that relating to North America, there are many notices of little known and interesting species, and the first descriptions of some which have since been regarded as previously unknown by American writers.

The present bird differs in generic as well as specific characters from all other forms of the family to which it belongs. Its short, heavy figure approximates it somewhat to the Nut-crackers of the old world (Nucifraga), and to Clark’s Crow of Western America (Picicorvus columbianus), and its habits, so far as known, are in some respects similar to those of the latter. It does not appear, however, to be in any considerable degree a fruit-eater, but is decidedly carnivorous, and almost rapacious; preying on Reptiles, particularly the various species of Phrynosoma, or Horned Frogs, as they are called with but little propriety, which abound in Western North America. It appears, in fact, to resemble in habits, to some extent, the reptile-eating Kingfishers (Genus Todiramphus) of Asia, the Pacific islands and Australia, and if not absolutely allied, is certainly a strongly analogous representative of those curious birds.

The first specimens of this bird which were brought to the attention of American naturalists, were sent to the Philadelphia Academy, by Mr. Edward M. Kern, who procured them during his connection with Col. Frémont’s Expedition of 1846; and previously no others appear to have reached Europe, than those of its discoverer, the Prince Maximilian.

More recently it has been observed by several of the naturalists who have visited Western America. Our friend, T. Charlton Henry, M. D., of the United States’ Army, has noticed it repeatedly in the vicinity of Fort Webster, in New Mexico. To him we have the pleasure of expressing our obligations for the following interesting notes relating to this bird, as well as for many others:

“This singular and handsome Jay, I first met with near San Miguel, in July, 1852, where I observed a party of some twenty or thirty specimens flitting through the cedars along the roadside. They were mostly young birds, and constantly alighted on the ground, for the purpose, as I ascertained, of capturing lizards, which they killed with great readiness and devoured.

“Since that time, I have frequently observed this bird in the winter only, in the neighborhood of Fort Webster, and always in flocks of about forty or fifty; indeed I am not sure that I have not repeatedly fallen in with the same flock, and it may not therefore be as abundant as I am inclined to suppose. Here they evince an exceeding wariness and are very difficult to approach; I have chased a flock for hours without succeeding in getting within gun-shot.

“Almost invariably a flock alights near the summit of a hill, and passes down its side rapidly, all the birds keeping quite near to each other, and individuals frequently alighting on the ground, when their attention is attracted by their favorite food. They appear to be very social and keep up a continued twittering note. I have occasionally seen them flying in close flocks, high in the air, and apparently passing from one mountain or hill to another.

“This bird, so far as I have seen, is exclusively a mountain species, as I have never observed it in the plains or the bottom lands, which are the usual haunts of its relatives, Steller’s and the California Jay. It differs, however, from them in many respects, and is the only species of these birds that I have never met with singly or in parties of half-a-dozen individuals only. I have always seen it in large flocks. Its food appears to be exclusively reptiles.”

C. B. R. Kennerly, M. D., a young naturalist of great promise, who was attached as Zoologist to Lieut. Whipple’s party, for surveying a route for a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, brought fine specimens of the bird now before us, in the large and highly interesting collection of birds made by him in the countries traversed by the expedition. To Dr. Kennerly we are indebted for the following notice of this species:

“During the march of our party from the Rio Grande to the Sierra Madre, we saw this bird nearly every day. At that season, which was November, large flocks were constantly found in the vicinity of the running streams, which on being frightened from the low bushes, circled around, loudly uttering their peculiar cry, and rising higher and higher, until they reached the summit of some tree on the rocky hills. When settled, they continued their discordant notes, which somewhat resemble some of those of the common Cat-bird (Mimus felivox).”

The Prince Maximilian’s specimens of this bird were obtained on Maria’s river, one of the tributaries of the Upper Missouri, in the northern part of the possessions of the United States in Western America, and much farther north than it has been observed by either of the late naturalists. It probably inhabits a very extensive district, the limits of which cannot at present be conjectured.

The figure in the present plate is that of the adult male, and is about two-thirds of the natural size.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Gymnokitta. De Wied in Bonap. Consp. Av., p. 382. (1850.)

General form, rather short, robust; bill, straight, wide at base, somewhat rounded and flattened at the point, ridge of the under mandible (or gonys) very distinctly ascending; wings, rather long, first quill very short, fourth, longest, but only slightly longer than the third and fifth; tail, moderate, containing twelve feathers; legs and feet, strong.

Gymnokitta cyanocephala. (De Wied).

Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus. De Wied, Travels in North America (1839, Coblenz).

Cyanocorax Cassinii. McCall, Proc. Acad. Philada., V. p. 216. (1851.)

Form. Bill, straight, wide at base, blunt and rounded, and somewhat flattened towards the point; wings, rather long, secondaries, broad and mostly obtuse at their ends; tail, moderate, tarsi rather long, moderately robust, and with the toes distinctly scaled; claws, curved, rather strong and sharp.

Dimensions. Total length (of skin), about 10 inches; wing, 6; tail, 4½; bill, from gape, 1½ inches.

Colors. Adult.—Throat, white, tinged with bluish running into stripes on the neck before. Entire other plumage, above and below, ashy-blue, much darker and clearer on the head, palest on the abdomen, tibiæ and under wing coverts. Cheeks and frontal feathers, pale ultramarine; bill and claws dark; irides, light-brown—sexes alike.

Hab. New Mexico, Nebraska. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington city.

Obs. This species does not resemble any other in such degree as to readily lead to confusion, and as yet stands alone in its genus.

The bird described by Col. McCall, as above, and to which he did us the honor to apply our name, he has since ascertained to be the present species, of which, at the time of the publication of his description, no specimen was exhibited in the nearly complete collection of Jays in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy, nor had it ever been mentioned by any American ornithologist. He observed it in the vicinity of Santa Fé, in considerable numbers.

Although as we have said above, nearly the whole of the valuable Zoological notes in the German edition of the Prince Maximilian’s Travels, are omitted in the English translation; two notices of the present species may be found in the latter, pp. 287, 297, the last of which is the description, and seems to have accidentally escaped the singular want of judgment which induced the omissions to which we allude.

PTILOGONYS NITENS.—Swainson.
The Black Flycatcher.
PLATE XXIX.—Adult Male and Female.

This gracefully formed, but sombre-colored little bird was first added to the Ornithological fauna of the United States, by our valued friend, Colonel George A. McCall, Inspector General in the Army of the United States, who observed it, and obtained numerous specimens, while on a tour of duty in California, in 1852. It had previously been known as a Mexican species, having been described by Mr. Swainson, in 1838, from specimens sent from that country.

This bird belongs to a small group of Fly-catchers, containing not more than five or six species, all of which are inhabitants of either Western North America, Mexico, or the southern portion of this continent. They appear to possess the habits of true Fly-catchers, and are remarkable for their slender but active forms, in which the long and ample tail and the elongated feathers of the head, capable of being erected into a handsome crest, are generally conspicuous. The best known North American species is Ptilogonys obscurus, La Fresnaye (which is Ptilogonys Townsendii, Audubon), a bird that is now brought from the far west by nearly all collectors.

Respecting the curious little species which is the subject of our present article, we have the pleasure of laying before the reader the following notes very kindly furnished by Col. McCall.

“The first opportunity that I had for observing the manners of this bird, was afforded me in 1852, while travelling from Valle-cita to El Chino, in California. On that occasion, as I left the country bordering the desert, and began to ascend the hills, my route followed the course of a mountain brook, whose clear waters were at intervals shaded with gnarled and scrubby oaks. In approaching one of these clumps of trees, I remarked a number of dark-colored birds, which afterwards were found to belong to this species, darting upwards from the topmost branches, and after diving and pitching about in the air for a moment, returning again to the dead branches with the lively port that proved them to be engaged in the agreeable pastime of taking their insect prey. A nearer approach showed them to be light and graceful on the wing; but less swift and decided in their motions than most of the true Fly-catchers. There were about a dozen in company, and they presented a pleasing sight, as three or four together were constantly either pitching upwards to a considerable height in the air, or gliding silently back to their perches. In these ærial evolutions, the bright spot on the wing, which is formed by broad patches of white on the inner webs of six or seven of the quill feathers, and is visible only when the wing is spread, gleamed conspicuously in the sunshine, and formed a fine contrast with the glossy black of the general plumage. I sat upon my horse, watching their movements for some time, and I now perceived that two of their numbers were of a dusky hue, and without the wing spot to which I have referred; but I could discover no difference in their manners or their style of flight. I, therefore, had little doubt of their being adult females; for although at that period of the year, (June 20) the young birds might have been well grown, yet there is generally a want of decided character in the unpractised flight of young birds, which betrays them to the Sportsman’s eye. In fact, these birds agreed with Swainson’s description of the female in general terms; and my only regret is that I was not able to satisfy myself by dissection whether these to which I now refer were in reality adult females, or young males in their first plumage.

“However, on my attempting to approach still nearer, these birds became alarmed, and winging their way to the hill-side, alighted on the scraggy bushes scattered among large projecting rocks, where they resumed their sport, rising lightly into the air and darting about after insects, which seemed to be abundant. I followed—but they were now on the qui vive, and, without permitting me to get within gun-shot, flew from bush to bush, as I advanced, keeping all the while in a loose irregular flock, and still pursuing their sport of fly-catching. In this way they continued to ascend the hills, until the broken character of the ground abruptly stopped my horse. Having, however, dismounted, I clambered over the rocks, and at last succeeded in killing two of them. These were alike in plumage—black, with the wing spot; and one of them, which I dissected, proved to be a male.

“As I journeyed on towards the Sierra Nevada, I met, during several days succeeding, these birds, either in small companies, or singly; and subsequently I found a few individuals between El Chino and Los Angeles; but they were invariably black, with the white wing spot. And I never on any occasion, except the one I have referred to, saw one of those clad in dusky garments, which I had supposed were females.

“The localities in which I found these birds, were either on the mountainsides, or in the timbered borders of mountain streams.

“The measurements of the fresh specimen were as follows—length, 8 inches; wing, 3½; tail, 3½.

“The figure slender—the feet rather strong.”

This bird has also been noticed by Dr. Heermann, in various parts of California, and by Dr. Henry, and Dr. Kennerly, in New Mexico. To the former gentleman, we are indebted for the following contribution, intended for our present article:

“This bird is seldom found in the northern part of California, though I procured both adults and young on the Consumnes river, in 1851. Since then, however, a naturalist and friend of mine residing there has not seen a single other specimen, though giving much of his attention to ornithology, and to the migratory habits of such birds as pass through that section of country.

“I was therefore surprised to meet with this species after sixty miles of travel on the Colorado desert near the Little Lagoon. It was perched on a Mesquite tree, jerking its tail almost incessantly, as do various other species of Fly-catchers, and dashing occasionally in irregular curves and angles high into the air in pursuit of insects. On approaching the Colorado, this Fly-catcher became quite abundant, as I frequently saw companies of twenty or thirty together, many of which would be on the wing at the same time, engaged at their usual employment. At Fort Yuma, this species was also met with in considerable numbers late in November, when they were migrating southward. Its note is a low, plaintive whistle. This bird undoubtedly incubates in California, as I have seen specimens which were certainly very young birds, though I have not been so fortunate as to discover its nest.”

Near Fort Webster, in New Mexico, Dr. Henry has seen this bird, though he considers it of rather rare occurrence. Dr. Kennerly noticed it in abundance during the months of February and March, on the route of Lieut. Whipple’s party, from the Big Sandy creek to the Great Colorado river.

Our plate represents the adult male and female about two-thirds of the size of life.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Ptilogonys. Swainson, Zool. Jour. III. p. 164. (1827.)

Bill, moderate, wide at base, upper mandible curved towards the end, and distinctly notched; wings, moderate or rather long, first primary very short, or rudimentary; tail, long; legs and feet, moderate. General form, rather slender; head frequently with elongated crest-like feathers. Contains several species of birds, all of which are American.

Ptilogonys nitens. Swainson. Lardner’s Cab. Cy. Birds, Pt. III. p. 285. (1838.)

Form. Slender; crest-like feathers of the head much elongated; wings with the fifth and sixth quills longest and nearly equal; tail, long, graduated.

Dimensions. Total length (of skin) about 7½ inches; wing, 3¾; tail, 4 inches.

Colors. Male.—Entire plumage glossy black, with a greenish lustre, except a spot on the inner web of each primary quill, occupying about the middle third of its length, which is pure white. Bill and feet, black.

Female.—Entire plumage, except the tail, cinereous, tinged with olive on the back and abdomen; superior wing coverts, and inferior tail coverts, edged and tipped with white. Quills, dark-brown—secondaries edged with white; tail, black, without lustre. Young—like the female; but in the males, with the spot on the primaries discernable, though more or less obscure.

Hab. California, New Mexico and Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington city.

Obs. A remarkable resemblance exists between the bird now before us and two other species of Fly-catchers of another genus, Fluvicola comata (Licht.), and Fluvicola nigerrima (Vieill), both of which are natives of South America, and we have seen the latter also from Mexico. The three birds resemble each other in general form in a very considerable degree, and in colors are almost absolutely the same, the prevalent black of the plumage differing only in shade. Generic and specific distinctions can, however, readily be made out on comparison of specimens. Fluvicola has the bill longer and not so wide at the base and with much stronger bristles; the wings are differently constructed, the first primary being long and well developed, not short or rudimentary as in Ptilogonys. In those two species of Fluvicola, which differ from each other materially only in size, the white spot is more at the base of the wing feathers than in Ptilogonys nitens, in which it occupies the middle third of the primaries. Fluvicola comata is the same as Blechropus cristatus, Swainson, in Naturalist’s Library, Flycatchers, p. 99, plate 7. No other species of Ptilogonys is black.

TROGLODYTES MEXICANUS.—(Swainson.)
The White-throated Wren.
PLATE XXX.—Adult Male.

In the United States, the little House Wren is associated with so many pleasing recollections, and possesses such pre-eminently social and familiar habits, that one almost expects in all birds bearing the name of wrens, to find similarity of disposition, and perhaps similar regard from the people of other lands. But this is by no means the case. There is really but one House Wren, and that is the little fellow who comes punctually in the early spring, and evidently without a doubt of his being welcome to take possession of the box or other habitation of the previous season, perhaps of many seasons. And forthwith he commences housekeeping, which usually, if no accidental discouragements intervene, is very successful, as one may judge from the number of little heads soon to be seen by peeping in at the door of his domicile.

The Wren is, in this country, nearly as much of a household bird as the Robin, of Europe, and more than any other, not even excepting the Martin, is universally regarded with favor. He is, however, the only one of the numerous species of American Wrens that shows any disposition to cultivate the acquaintance of mankind, or at all to accept of any proffered hospitalities. Though the Carolina Wren and Bewick’s Wren both venture occasionally into the garden or orchard, they are comparatively shy and apprehensive, apparently, of there being danger in too great familiarity.

The large species represented in our present plate is a native of Mexico and California, and lives exclusively in localities remote from the habitations of man. Though known as a bird of Mexico, it is not represented as an abundant species in that country, and within the limits of the United States has been observed only by Dr. Heermann, and Dr. Kennerly.

In his notes on the Birds of California, in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy, II. p. 263, Dr. Heermann’s observations on the present bird are as follows, and contain the first notice of this species as an inhabitant of the United States:

“I first met with this bird in the fall of 1851, on the Consumnes river, but in the spring of 1852, I procured three specimens on the Calaveras river. It is an active bird, having a loud sprightly song, that is heard at a considerable distance, and which it repeats at short intervals. I found it occupied in searching for insects between and under the large boulders of rock which, along some portions of this river, are thrown together in confused masses, as if by some terrific convulsion of nature.”