A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3

_Vultur aura_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 122, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. 246, 1789.—LATH. Syn. I, 9; Syn. Supp. I, 2; Ind. Orn. 4.—Gen. Hist. I, 12, pl. iii.—PENN. Arct. Zoöl. I, 221.—BART....

From Fort Yuma, on the Colorado River, to Eagle Springs, between El Paso and San Antonio, where he last saw a flock of these birds, Dr. Heermann states he found them more or les...

Dr. Suckley found this Pigeon a very common bird in Washington Territory, especially west of the Cascade Mountains. He saw but a single flock containing five individuals east of...

Mr. Audubon states that while the Great Horned Owl usually nests in large hollows of decayed trees, he has twice found the eggs in the fissures of rocks. In all these cases, lit...

The love-season of the Partridge commences early in March, and is indicated by the drumming of male birds. This sound is produced by the male bird only, who, standing on a falle...

_Aquila leucocephala_, BRISS. Orn. I, 422, 1760.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. iii, 1807.—PALLAS, Zoog. Ross. As. I, 347, 1811.—SWAINSON, Classif. B. II, 207, 1837; Anim. Menag. 10...

These birds are said by Mr. Audubon to be Ground Doves in habit. Their flight resembles that of the so-called Ground Dove, and is seldom higher than the tops of the mangroves, a...

Early in February the love-season is said to commence, the first demonstrations being made by the males, but for some time persistently avoided by the females. At this period th...

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Similar to var. _borealis_, but beneath continuous pure white, without rufous tinge, and without distinct spots across the abdomen, or lacking them entirely;...

=Pipilo aberti= (II, 128). Captain Bendire found this species breeding abundantly in the vicinity of Tucson, in Southern Arizona. The nests were not on the ground, as is usual a...

_Juv._ (♂, 53,193, Truckee River, Nevada, July 24, 1867; R. Ridgway: first plumage). Above plumbeous-black, tail more slaty. Every feather broadly bordered terminally with dull...

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Upper surface transversely mottled with blackish-brown and grayish-white, the former predominating, especially on the dorsal region; feathers of the nape and...

The males were always observed in the immediate vicinity of the nest, and began to assume their summer moult about the 6th of June, most of their necks at that time being alread...

SP. CHAR. Head with a crest of two straight feathers, much longer than the bill and head. Anterior half of the body grayish-plumbeous; the upper parts generally olivaceous-brown...

_Ortyx massena_, LESSON, Cent. Zoöl. 1830, 189.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. 1870, 357 (Guadelajara). _Cyrtonyx massena_, GOULD, Mon. Odont. 1850, 14; tab. vii.—M’CALL, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, 18...

Mr. Audubon met with a nest of this Owl on one of the mountain ridges in the great pine forest of Pennsylvania, containing four eggs nearly ready to be hatched. They were bluish...

When a flight of Pigeons discovers an abundant supply of food, sufficient to induce them to alight, they are said to pass around in circles over the place, making various evolut...

The variations in this species are very slight, and never sufficient to mislead the student. One specimen (26,590, ♂; Fort Tejon, Cal.; J. Xantus) differs from the adults descri...

In view of the very appreciable, though rather indefinite, differences above indicated, and the obscure history of the present bird, we prefer, at least until more familiar with...

Mr. Downes, of Halifax, who speaks of this Hawk as common in Nova Scotia, breeding all over that province, adds that it does not molest the poultry-yards, being too weak to atta...

Mr. Audubon mentions that at the same period they were still to be met with in some portions of New Jersey, in the “brushy” plains of Long Island, on Mount Desert Island in the...

+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+------------+ |Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. | Middle | Specimens. | | | | | | | Toe. | | +----+-----------...

The nests that were taken from trees are described as having been built in a crotch, not far from the top, and to have been formed externally of dry twigs, sticks, and small bra...

_Scops maccalli_, CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex. p. 180, 1850; Birds N. Am. 1858, 52.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 200, 1865.—COUES, Prod. Orn. Ariz., p. 13, 1869.—SCL. & SALV. P. Z. S., 1868...

Mr. Boardman gives this species as resident, though rare, in the neighborhood of Calais, being occasionally found there in the breeding-season. In Oxford County, Maine, Professo...

2. Vertex with only a trace of rufous, or none at all. ♂. Black zone of tail only .60 in width; breast nearly pure white; spots of black usually only on the sides, elliptical. ♀...

In Louisiana, as Mr. Audubon states, it is more abundant than anywhere else; and Dr. Woodhouse speaks of it as very common in the Indian Territories, and also in Texas and New M...

_Tetrao virginianus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 277, 16 (female?).—GMELIN, I, 1788, 761. _Perdix virginiana_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 650.—WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 21, pl. x...

Richardson assigns as the northern limit of this species the region of the Great Slave Lake, latitude 61°, and as its most southern point latitude 41°. It was found in abundance...

Mr. Salvin met with what he presumed to be this species in Central America, ascribing the immense flights of Hawks seen by him in the month of March, in the Pacific Coast region...

SP. CHAR. Body above dark greenish-olive; beneath brownish-yellow, tinged with olive. Head and upper part of neck plumbeous. Tail-feathers lustrous green, all tipped with white,...

Mr. Dresser informs us that he was so fortunate as to find this graceful bird very abundant in some parts of Texas, and he had a good opportunity of observing and admiring it in...

In eight out of twelve North American adult specimens, there is but the slightest amount of spotting on the breast; in two of these (4,366, Puget Sound, and 12,014, Oregon), non...

SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (♂, 23,792, Mazatlan, Mexico; J. Xantus). Upper surface umber-brown, more ashy anteriorly, posteriorly more brownish. Head above with a few narrow longitudinal...

According to Audubon, the Canada Grouse indicate the approach of rainy weather by retiring to roost at an unusual time in the day, whenever a storm is impending. If observed to...

_Young_ (♂, 12,814, Racine, Wisconsin, July, 1859; Dr. R. P. Hoy). Upper surface continuous plain dark sepia-olive; face darker, approaching fuliginous-vandyke,—perfectly unifor...

The var. _mexicanus_, originally described by Mr. Swainson from Mexican specimens obtained near Real del Monte, has been ascertained to cross our boundaries, and is found in all...

♀ (43,139, Fort Anderson, May 24, 1864, “♀ and two eggs”; R. MacFarlane). Generally similar to the male. Head above conspicuously streaked, but the dusky prevailing. Above the t...

[86] _Falco unicinctus_, TEMM. Pl. Col. 313, 1820. _Morphnus unicinctus_, LESS. Man. Orn. I, 1828, 90. _Astur unicinctus_, CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 1829, 332.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn...

Mr. Dall mentions shooting a pair near Nuk´koh, on the Yukon River, that had a nest on a dead spruce. The young, on the 1st of June, were nearly ready to fly. It was not a commo...

=Catherpes mexicanus=, var. =conspersus= (I, 139). Numerous specimens obtained in Colorado by Mr. Allen and Mr. Aiken, and in Southern Utah by Mr. Henshaw, establish the fact of...

The eggs of this Dove are of a white color, are oval in their shape, of about equal size at either end, and measure .91 of an inch in length by .70 in breadth.

The first indication of their presence in spring is the courting call of the male. This is a prolonged sound, resembling the whir of a rattan cane moved rapidly through the air....

GEN. CHAR. General aspect somewhat vulturine, but bearing and manners almost gallinaceous. Neck and legs very long. Bill very high and much compressed, the commissure very strai...

_Juv._ (♂, 51,293, Costa Rica, La Palma, August 25, 1867; José C. Zeledon). Whole upper surface black, deepest on the tail; it occupies the whole head (except the chin, throat,...

=Nyctea.= Four outer quills with their inner webs emarginated. Ear-tufts rudimentary; loral feathers hiding the bill, and claws and entire toes concealed by long hair-like feath...

_Juv._ ♂ (16,570, Bogota; W. Evans). Differing from the adult in deeper rufous and broader black bars; those on the tail twelve in number, more than doubling in width those of t...

The family _Vulturidæ_,[94] as long recognized, included all the naked-headed, carrion-feeding _Raptores_ of both the Old and the New World. The later researches of science, how...

+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ |Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. |Middle Toe.|Specimens.| +----+-----------+-----------+-------...

_Adult male_ (No. 30,896, Mirador, E. Mexico; Dr. C. Sartorius). Above brownish-slate, becoming gradually darker anteriorly, the head above being pure dark plumbeous; on the rum...

=Centronyx bairdi= (I, 531). The past year has been a remarkably fortunate one for our knowledge of this species, and, owing to the investigations of Mr. C. E. Aiken, Dr. Coues,...

Mr. MacFarlane furnishes very full and interesting notes and observations on the habits of our _canadensis_, as attentively studied by him in the neighborhood of Anderson River,...

SP. CHAR. Form strong and heavy, like _B. borealis_, but still more robust; tibial plumes unusually developed, long and loose, their ends reaching to or beyond the base of the t...

A very remarkable characteristic of the Owls is the fact that many of the species exist in a sort of _dimorphic_ condition, or that two plumages sufficiently unlike to be of spe...

SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (♂, No. 59,063, Wahsatch Mountains, Utah, May 23, 1868; parent of eggs; L. E. Ricksecker). Above cinereous-drab, becoming gradually paler and more bluish poste...

The flight of this bird he describes as both rapid and protracted, sweeping along with such speed as to enable it to seize its prey with only a slight deviation from its course,...

_Falco æsalon_, RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, pl. xxv, 1831.—NUTT. Man. Orn. II, 558.—COUES, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1866, p. 42 (in text). _Falco_ (_Hypotriorchis_) _richardsoni_, R...

This genus is peculiar to America, the two most closely related genera being _Elanus_ on the one hand and _Harpagus_ on the other. Its species belong to the tropical and subtrop...

GEN. CHAR. Bill short, the tip remarkably short and obtuse, and only gradually bent; cere on top about equal to the culmen, very broad basally in its transverse diameter, and as...

The prevalent impression that the eggs of this Hawk are generally unspotted, so far as I am aware, is not correct. All that I have ever seen, except the eggs above referred to f...

Mr. G. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1860, p. 22) found the Black Vulture very abundant in Honduras, where it is always to be seen in the villages, sitting on the roofs of the houses, wheeli...

Coloration of the sexes alike at all ages; old and young slightly different in pattern and tints. Scutellæ of tarsus and toes uninterrupted from “knees” to claws; tarsus but lit...

Dr. Suckley obtained a specimen near Fort Benton, on the Upper Missouri, in Dakotah, and Dr. Cooper procured others thirty-five miles west of Fort Kearney, in Nebraska, in Augus...

EMAR´GINATE, _a._ Notched at the end; slightly forked, especially in case of a tail so shaped; also notched, or abruptly narrowed along the edge, in its continuity, as the borde...

OR´GAN, _n._ Any individual part, or system of parts, of the body having a specific physiological function, considered with reference to its action, processes, or results. Eye,...

INCUM´BENT, _a._ Depressed or bending down upon something; laid at full length; chiefly said of the hind-toe when its whole length rests on the ground or other support, owing to...

AX´IS, _n._ Second cervical vertebra. Also, an imaginary line passing along the middle of any one of the three mutually perpendicular planes of the body, the longitudinal, verti...

36. =Frontal points= (_Antiæ_). The two projecting feathered angles of the forehead embracing the base of the culmen, or included between the frontal angle of the maxilla and th...

[14] _Strix flammea_, var. _guatemalæ_, RIDGWAY. Central American specimens differ very appreciably from Mexican and North American examples, in being considerably darker-colore...

SCAP´ULAR, _n._ Any feather of a series growing on the pteryla humeralis, in an oblique line across the humerus. _Scapulars_ is generally said, the plural designating these feat...

The group of birds usually known as the _Raptores_, or Rapacious Birds, embraces three well-marked divisions, namely, the Owls, the Hawks, and the Vultures. In former classifica...

Quiscalinæ, II. 147, 202. Quiscalus, II. 202, 212. æneus, II. 213, 218. ænius, II. 218. aglæus, II. 213, 221. assimilis, II. 214. baritus, II. 213, 221. brachypterus, II. 213. b...

Macrocercus pachyrhynchus, II. 586. Megaceryle alcyon, II. 392. Megapicus, II. 494. Megaquiscalus, II. 214. Megascops, III. 47. Melampicus, II. 559. Melanerpes, II. 553, 559. al...

Dædalion, III. 220, 236. nitidum, III. 245. Dædalium, III. 220, 236. Dendragapus, III. 421. obscurus, III. 422. richardsoni, III. 427. Dendrochelidon, II. 422. Dendrocopus princ...

Aburria, III. 397. Acanthis, I. 491. canescens, I. 498. holbölli, I. 493. Acanthylis, II. 431. pelagica, II. 432. vauxi, II. 435. Accipiter, III. 220, 222. æsalon, III. 142. ard...

VO´MER, _n._ A bone of the skull, lying at the base, in the median line, in advance of the sphenoid. Also, the peculiarly shaped and enlarged last bone of the tail, or pygostyle.

[1] The whole of the systematic portion of the article on the _Raptores_, has been prepared by Mr. Ridgway; the biographies, however, are furnished by Dr. Brewer, as usual. The...