Part 58

HAB. Eastern Province United States, north to about 40°, though occasionally straying as far as Nova Scotia; west to borders of the plains. In winter, south through the whole of Middle America (except the Pacific coast) as far as Ecuador and Peru. Cuba; Jamaica.

In the accompanying cut we give outline of the bill of the two varieties of _Pyranga æstiva_ as compared with a near ally, _P. saira_, of South America. (13,190, _P. æstiva_; 34,344, _P. æstiva_ var. _Cooperi_; 50,994, _P. saira_.)

[Line drawings: 13190 34344 50994]

This species is one of wide distribution; its habitat in the United States including the “Eastern Province,” north to Nova Scotia, and west toward the Rocky Mountains, along the streams watering the plains, through Texas, into Eastern Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America, as well as some of the West India islands.

In the different regions of its habitat the species undergoes considerable variations as regards shades of color and proportions. Specimens from Texas and Eastern Mexico exhibit a decided tendency to longer bills and more slender forms than those of the Eastern United States; the tails longer, and colors rather purer. In Central America and New Granada the species acquires the greatest perfection in the intensity and purity of the red tints, all specimens being in this respect noticeably different from those of any other region.[107]

Specimens in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, from Peru (39,849 ♂, 39,849 ♂, and 39,850 ♀, head-waters Huallaga River), are undistinguishable from those killed in the eastern United States.

The young male exhibits a variegated plumage, the red appearing in patches upon the other colors of the female; in its changing plumage, the red generally predominates on the head, and often individuals may be seen with none anywhere else. In this condition there appears to be a great resemblance to the _P. erythrocephala_ (see synoptical table), judging from the description, but which appears to be considerably smaller, and perhaps has the red of the head more continuous and sharply defined.

The young male in first summer resembles the female, but has the yellow tints deeper, the lower tail-coverts approaching orange.

HABITS. The Summer Redbird is found chiefly in the Southern States, as far north as Southern New Jersey and Illinois. Mr. Audubon speaks of their occurring in Massachusetts, but Mr. Lawrence has never known of their having been found farther north than the Magnolia Swamps near Atlantic City, N. J. One or two recent instances of the capture of these birds in Massachusetts, as also in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, have occurred, but these must be regarded as purely accidental.

This species is said by Mr. Salvin to enjoy an almost universal range throughout Guatemala. It occurred in December at the mouth of the Rio Dulce, in the pine ridges near Quisigua, and along the whole road from Isabel to Guatemala, a distance of eighty leagues.

Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with these birds also, in all varieties of plumage, throughout Colombia, South America, at Herradura, Cocuta Valley, and Canta. Mr. Boucard obtained them at Plaza Vicente, Mexico. Dr. Woodhouse observed this species throughout the Indian Territory, Texas, and New Mexico, where it seemed solitary in its habits, frequenting the thick scrubby timber. It has been known to breed at various points in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas. To the northward it breeds more or less abundantly, as far as Washington, D. C., on the east, and Southern Illinois and Kansas on the west, being much more common in the Mississippi Valley than in the States on the Atlantic in the same parallel of latitude.

Mr. Dresser found it quite common about San Antonio, Texas, during the summer season, arriving there about the middle of April, which is just about the period at which the three specimens were taken near Boston. It is comparatively rare in Pennsylvania, though abundant in the southern counties of New Jersey, and in Delaware, Eastern Maryland, and Virginia. It is also abundant in the Carolinas, in Georgia, Florida, and the Gulf States.

Wilson, in describing the nest and eggs of this species, has evidently confounded them and some of their habits with those of the Blue Grosbeak. Their eggs are not light-blue, nor are the nests, so far as I know, as described by him. Audubon and Nuttall copy substantially his errors.

The food of this species during the spring and early summer is chiefly various kinds of large coleopterous insects, bees, wasps, and others. Later in the season, when whortleberries are ripe, they feed chiefly on these and other small fruit. In taking its food it rarely alights on the ground, but prefers to capture its insects while on the wing.

The usual note of this bird, which Mr. Audubon pronounces unmusical, resembles the sounds “_chicky-chucky-chuck_.” The same writer states that during the spring this bird sings pleasantly for nearly half an hour in succession, that its song resembles that of the Red-eyed Vireo, and that its notes are sweeter and more varied and nearly equal to those of the Orchard Oriole.

The late Dr. Gerhardt of Varnell’s Station, in Northern Georgia, informed me that these birds are quite common in that section of country. The nest is usually built on one of the lower limbs of a post-oak, or in a pine sapling, at a height of from six to twenty feet. They are usually constructed toward the extremity of the limb, and so far from the trunk as to be very difficult of access. They are generally built from the middle to the end of May. The eggs are four in number.

In Southern Illinois, according to Mr. Ridgway, the Summer Redbird arrives about the 20th of April, staying until the last of September. It is more abundant than the Scarlet Tanager, and much less retiring in its habits, frequenting the open groves instead of the deeper woods and the forests of the bottom-lands, being especially attached to the parks and groves within the towns. From its similarity in appearance, manners, and notes to the Scarlet Tanager, it is seldom distinguished by the common people from that bird, and those who notice the difference in color between the two generally consider this the younger stage of plumage of the black-winged species. Its song is said to be somewhat after the style of the Robin, but in a firmer tone and more continued. It differs from the song of the _P. rubra_ in being more vigorous, and delivered in a manner less faltering. Its ordinary note of anxiety when the nest is approached is a peculiar _pa-chip´it-tūt-tūt-tūt_, very different from the weaker _chip´-al, rā-rēē_ of the _P. rubra_. The nest is placed on a low horizontal or drooping branch, near its extremity, the tree being generally an oak, or sometimes a hickory, and situated near the roadside or at the edge of a grove. In its construction it is described as very thin, though by no means frail, permitting the eggs to be seen through the interstices from below. Mr. Ridgway never found more than three eggs in one nest.

A nest of this species (Smith. Coll., 589) from Prairie Mer Rouge, Louisiana, has a diameter of four inches and a height of two. Like all the nests of this family, the cavity is very shallow, its deepest depression being hardly half an inch. So far from corresponding with the descriptions generally given of it, this nest is well and even strongly put together, although a portion of the base and some of the external parts are somewhat openly interwoven, as if for ventilation. These materials are fragments of plants, catkins, leaves, stems, and grasses. These seem to constitute a distinct part of the nest, and are of unequal thicknesses in different parts of the structure. Within this external frame is a much more artistic and elaborately interwoven basket, composed entirely of fine, slender, and dry grasses, homogeneous in character, and evidently gathered just at the time its seed was ripening. It is of a bright straw-yellow, and forms the whole internal portion of the nest.

The eggs vary somewhat in size and shape, from an oblong to a rounded oval. Their length is from .80 of an inch to an inch, and their breadth averages .68. Their color is a bright light shade of emerald-green, spotted, marbled, dotted, and blotched with various shades of lilac, brownish-purple, and dark-brown. These are generally well diffused equally over the entire egg.

Pyranga æstiva, var. cooperi, RIDGWAY.

_Pyranga cooperi_, RIDGWAY, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. June, 1869, p. 130, fig. .—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 142.

SP. CHAR. Length, 8.60 (fresh specimen); extent, 13.50; wing, 4.24; tail, 3.68; culmen, .84; tarsus, .80. _Male._ Generally rich pure vermilion, similar to that of _æstiva_, but lighter, brighter than in eastern examples, and less rosaceous than in Central American specimens. Upper surface scarcely darker than lower, the head above being hardly different from the throat, and abruptly lighter than the back, which, with the wings and tail, is of a much lighter dusky-red than in _æstiva_; exposed tips of primaries pure slaty-umber, primaries faintly margined terminally with paler (in the type, this character is not apparent, owing to the feathers being somewhat worn; in other specimens, however, it is quite a noticeable feature, although possibly not to be entirely relied on). _Female._ Above orange-olivaceous, beneath more light yellowish, purest medially; crissum richer yellow than other lower parts, being in some individuals (young males?) intense Indian-yellow, with the inner webs of the tail-feathers margined with the same; quite distinct line of orange-yellow over the lores.

HAB. Upper Rio Grande and Colorado region of Southern Middle Province; south, in winter, along Pacific coast of Mexico as far as Colima.

This bird, quite different from Eastern _æstiva_, is, however, probably only a representative form of the same species in the Colorado and Upper Rio Grande region, migrating south in winter, through Western Mexico to Colima, as specimens from Texas and Middle Mexico appear to be quite intermediate, at least in form.

HABITS. This is a new form, whose claim to distinctness was first made known by Mr. Ridgway, in 1869. In appearance, it most resembles the _P. æstiva_, but is larger. It has been found in the Middle Province of the United States, from Fort Mohave at the north, to Colima and Mazatlan in Mexico.

Dr. Cooper found this bird quite common near Fort Mohave, after April 25, in the Colorado Valley, latitude 35°. They chiefly frequented the tall cottonwood, feeding on insects, and occasionally flew down to the _Larrea_ bushes after a kind of bee found on them. He states also that they have a call-note sounding like the words _ke-dik_, which, in the language of the Mojave Indians, signifies “come here.” They sing in a loud, clear tone, and in a style much like that of the Robin, but with a power of ventriloquism which makes the sound appear much more distant than it really is. The only specimens of this species known to have been obtained in the United States were taken at Los Pinos, New Mexico, by Dr. Coues, and at Fort Mohave by Dr. Cooper. Other specimens have been procured from Western Mexico.

FAMILY FRINGILLIDÆ.—THE FINCHES.

CHAR. Primaries nine. Bill very short, abruptly conical, and robust. Commissure strongly angulated at base of bill. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly, but the sides with two undivided plates meeting behind along the median line, as a sharp posterior ridge. Eyes hazel or brown, except in _Pipilo_, where they are reddish or yellowish. Nest and eggs very variable as to character and situation.

I still labor under the inability expressed in Birds of North America (p. 406), in 1858, to satisfactorily define and limit the subfamilies and genera of the _Fringillidæ_ of North America, and can only hope that by the aid of the figures of the present work no material difficulty will be experienced in determining the species. The distinctions from the allied families are also difficult to draw with precision. This is especially the case with the _Tanagridæ_, where we have much the same external anatomy, including the bill, nearly all the varying peculiarities of this member in the one being repeated in the other.—S. F. B.

All the United States species may be provisionally divided into four subfamilies (the European House-Sparrow forming a fifth), briefly characterizable as follows:—

Coccothraustinæ. Bill variable, from enormously large to quite small; the base of the upper mandible almost always provided with a close-pressed fringe of bristly feathers (more or less conspicuous) concealing the nostrils. Wings very long and pointed, usually one half to one third longer than the forked or emarginate tail. Tarsi short.

Pyrgitinæ. Bill robust, swollen, arched above without distinct ridge. Lower mandible at base narrower than upper. Nostrils covered; side of maxilla with stiff appressed bristles. Tarsi short, not longer than middle toe. Tail shorter than the somewhat pointed wings. Back streaked; under parts not streaked.

Spizellinæ. Embracing all the plain-colored sparrow-like species marked with longitudinal stripes. Bill conical, always rather small; both mandibles about equal. Tarsi lengthened. Wings and tail variable. Lateral claws never reaching beyond the base of the middle claw.

Passerellinæ. Sparrow-like species, with triangular spots beneath. Legs, toes, and claws very stout; the lateral claws reaching nearly to the end of the middle ones.

Spizinæ. Brightly colored species, usually without streaks. Bill usually very large and much curved; lower mandible wider than the upper. Wings moderately long. Tail variable.

SUBFAMILY COCCOTHRAUSTINÆ.—THE TRUE FINCHES.

CHAR. Wings very long and much pointed; generally one third longer than the more or less forked tail; first quill usually nearly as long as or longer than the second. Tertiaries but little longer, or equal to the secondaries, and always much exceeded by the primaries. Bill very variable in shape and size, the upper mandible, however, as broad as the lower; nostrils rather more lateral than usual; and always more or less concealed by a series of small bristly feathers applied along the base of the upper mandible; no bristles at the base of the bill. Feet short and rather weak. Hind claw usually considerably longer than the middle anterior one; sometimes nearly the same size.

In the preceding diagnosis I have combined a number of forms, all agreeing in the length and acuteness of the wing, the bristly feathers along the base of the bill, the absence of conspicuous bristles on the sides of the mouth, and the shortness of the feet. They are all strongly marked and brightly colored birds, and usually belong to the more northern regions.

The bill is very variable, even in the same genus, and its shape is to a considerable extent of specific rather than of generic importance. The fringe of short bristles along the base of the bill, concealing the nostrils, is not appreciable in _Plectrophanes_ (except in _P. nivalis_), but the other characteristics given above are all present.

Genera.

A. Bill enormously large and stout; the lateral outline as long as that of the skull. Culmen gently curved.

_Colors green, yellow, and black._

Hesperiphona. First quill equal to the second. Wings one half longer than the tail. Lateral claws equal, reaching to the base of the middle claw. Claws much curved, obtuse; hinder one but little longer than the middle.

B. Bill smaller, with the culmen more or less curved; the lateral outline not so long as the skull. Wings about one third longer than the tail, or a little more; first quill shorter than the second. Claws considerably curved and thickened; hinder most so, and almost inappreciably longer or even shorter than the middle anterior one. Tarsus shorter than the middle toes. Lateral toes unequal.

_a. Colors red, gray, and black, never streaked._

Pyrrhula. Bill excessively swollen; as broad and as high as long, not half length of head; upper outline much curved. Tail-coverts covering two thirds the tail, which is nearly even, middle and hinder claws about equal.

_b. Colors red and gray, or streaked brown and white._

Pinicola. Bill moderately swollen; longer than high or broad, upper outlines much curved; the tip hooked. Tail-coverts reaching over basal half of tail, which is nearly even. Middle claw longer than hind; outer lateral claw extending beyond base of middle (reaching to it in _Pyrrhula_ and _Carpodacus_). ♀ and _juv._ not streaked.

Carpodacus. Bill variable, always more or less curved and swollen; longer than high or broad; the tip not hooked. Tail-coverts reaching over two thirds the tail, which is decidedly forked. Middle and hind claw about equal. ♀ and _juv._ streaked.

_c. Colors black and yellow._

Chrysomitris. Bill nearly straight. Hind claw stouter and more curved, but scarcely longer than the middle anterior one. Outer lateral toe reaching a little beyond the base of the middle claw; shorter than the hind toe. Wings longer and more pointed. Tail quite deeply forked.

C. Hind claw considerably longer than the middle anterior one, with about the same curvature; claws attenuated towards the point, and acute. Lateral toes about equal. Wings usually almost one half longer than the tail, which is deeply forked. Tarsus shorter than middle toe.

_a. Points of mandibles overlapping._

Curvirostra. Tarsus shorter than middle toe. Bill much compressed, elongate falcate, with the points crossing like the blades of scissors. Claws very large; lateral extending beyond the base of the middle. Colors red or gray. Streaked in _juv._

_b. Points of mandibles not overlapping._

Ægiothus. Tarsus equal to the middle toe. Bill very acutely conical; outlines and commissure perfectly straight. Lateral toes reaching beyond the base of the middle one. No ridge on the side of the lower mandible. Streaked; a crimson pileum (except in one species).

Leucosticte. Culmen slightly decurved; commissure a little concave. Bill obtusely conical; not sharp-pointed. A conspicuous ridge on the side of the lower mandible. Claws large; the lateral not reaching beyond the base of the middle one. Colors red and brown.

D. Hind claw much the largest; decidedly less curved than the middle anterior one. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Lateral toes equal; reaching about to the base of the middle claw. Hind toe as long or longer than the middle one. Bill very variable; always more or less curved and blunted. Palate somewhat tuberculate; margins of lower jaw much inflexed. Tail slightly emarginate or even. Wings one half longer than the tail. First quill as long as the second.

Plectrophanes. Colors black and white. With or without rufous nape or elbows. Much white on tail.

GENUS HESPERIPHONA, BONAP.

_Hesperiphona_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424. (Type, _Fringilla vespertina_.)

[Line drawing: 16770, _Hesperiphona vespertina_. 18597, _Coccothraustes vulgaris_.]

GEN. CHAR. Bill largest and stoutest of all the United States fringilline birds. Upper mandible much vaulted; culmen nearly straight, but arched towards the tip; commissure concave. Lower jaw very large, but not broader than the upper, nor extending back, as in _Guiraca_; considerably lower than the upper jaw. Gonys unusually long. Feet short; tarsus less than the middle toe; lateral toes nearly equal, and reaching to the base of the middle claw. Claws much curved, stout, and compressed. Wings very long and pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the tail. Primaries much longer than the nearly equal secondaries and tertials; outer two quills longest; the others rapidly graduated. Tail slightly forked; scarcely more than two thirds the length of the wings, its coverts covering nearly three fourths of its extent. Nest and eggs unknown.

This genus is allied to the European _Coccothraustes_, but differs in wanting the curious expansion of the inner secondaries, as shown in Fig. 18,597. Species are said to occur in Asia, but we have only two in America,—one peculiar to Mexico (_H. abeillii_), the other _H. vespertina_.

The American species may be thus distinguished:—

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Wings and tail black, the tertials with more or less whitish; body concolored, with more or less of a yellowish tinge. ♂. Body yellowish, more olivaceous above; no white at base of primaries. ♀. Body grayish, merely tinged with yellow; a white spot at base of primaries. Nest and eggs unknown.

1. H. vespertina. ♂. Head olivaceous-sepia, with a yellow frontal crescent and a black occipital patch. ♀. Crown plumbeous-brown; a dusky “bridle” down side of the throat; upper tail-coverts tipped with a white spot.

Yellow frontal crescent broad, as wide as the black behind it; inner webs of tertials partially black; secondaries and inner webs of tail-feathers tipped with white. _Hab._ Northern mountain regions of United States and interior of British America … var. _vespertina_.

Yellow frontal crescent narrow, less than half as wide as the black behind it; inner webs of the tertials without any black; secondaries and inner webs of tail-feathers without white tips. _Hab._ Southern Rocky Mountains of United States, and mountains of Mexico … var. _montana_.

2. H. abeillii.[108] ♂. Head entirely black, sharply defined. ♀. Crown (only) black; no dusky “bridle” on side of throat; upper tail-coverts without white tips. _Hab._ Mountains of Guatemala and Southern Mexico.

Hesperiphona vespertina, BONAP.

EVENING GROSBEAK.

_Fringilla vespertina_, COOPER, Annals New York Lyceum, N. H. I, ii, 1825, 220 (Sault St. Marie).—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 515; V, 235, pl. ccclxxiii, ccccxxiv. _Fringilla_ (_Coccothraustes_) _vespertina_, BON. Syn. 1828, 113.—IB. Am. Orn. II, pl. xv. _Coccothraustes vespertina_, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 269.—AUD. Birds Am. III, 1841, 217, pl. ccvii. _Hesperiphona vespertina_, BON. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 409.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 195.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 174. _Coccothraustes bonapartii_, LESSON, Illust. de Zoöl. 1834, pl. xxxiv. ♀ (Melville Island). _Loxia bonapartii_, LESS. Bull. Sc. tab. xxv. _Hesperiphona vespertina_, var. _vespertina_, RIDGWAY (new variety from Mexico and the southern Rocky Mountains).

SP. CHAR. Bill yellowish-green, dusky at the base. Anterior half of the body dusky yellowish-olive, shading into yellow to the rump above, and the under tail-coverts below. Outer scapulars, a broad frontal band continued on each side over the eye, axillaries, and middle of under wing-coverts yellow. Feathers along the extreme base of the bill, the crown, tibiæ, wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail black; inner greater wing-coverts and tertiaries white. Length, 7.30; wing, 4.30; tail, 2.75.

The female differs in having the head of a dull olivaceous-brown, which color also glosses the back. The yellow of the rump and other parts is replaced by a yellowish-ash. The upper tail-coverts are spotted with white. The white of the wing is much restricted. There is an obscure blackish line on each side of the chin.