Part 42

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, wheeling in flocks high in the air, or feeding on the offal in the streets. They were very tame and very numerous, forty or fifty being frequently seen in a single company. They abounded in all parts of Central America that he visited.

With the exception of _Quiscalus macrurus_, Mr. Salvin regards this species as the most familiar bird in Guatemala. At night they retired to the forests, and in the early morning trooped back to their posts in the streets and lanes, and about the tops of the houses and churches. They generally nested in the forests, though in Antigua Guatemala they were said to use the ruins of the old churches for that purpose.

Mr. Dresser found this Vulture about equally common with the _R. aura_ on the Lower Rio Grande, but much less common near San Antonio. He usually found the two species in company, attended also by the _Polyborus auduboni_ and _Craxirex harrisi_. They were found breeding among the rocks at Systerdale, where they were said to be the only species found.

Dr. Coues did not meet with any in Arizona, nor were any taken on the survey of the Mexican boundary. In South Carolina he considered it chiefly confined to the lower country, while the _C. aura_ is more generally distributed over the State. The two meet together freely, and as they circle about in each other’s company they afford an excellent opportunity of noticing the great differences in their mode of flight and in the outline of their bodies and wings. On the other hand, Wilson, Ord, and others deny that the two kinds live together.

In the Southern Atlantic cities, especially Charleston and Savannah, the Black Vulture is a semi-domestic bird, and is very abundant. It is also to be found in the interior, but is neither so common nor so tame.

The _Catharista atratus_ is said to be much more sensitive to cold than the _aura_, and when the weather is at all unfavorable they cower around the tops of chimneys to enjoy the heat. Though tolerated and even protected by law, their filthy habits render them a source of annoyance to those whose houses they frequent. Their value as scavengers and the services they render in the removal of offal render them almost a necessity in Southern cities.

Both in their mode of flight and in their movements upon the ground this species differs materially from the Turkey-Buzzard. The latter walks steadily while on the ground, and when it mounts does so by a single upward spring. The Black Vulture is ill at ease on the ground, moves awkwardly, and when it essays to fly upward takes several leaps in a shuffling sidelong manner before it can rise. Their flight is more labored, and is continued by flapping several times, alternating with sailing a limited distance. Their wings are held at right angles, and their feet protrude beyond their tail-feathers. In all these respects the differences between the two birds are very noticeable, and plainly mark the species.

Mr. Audubon states that at the commencement of the mating-season, early in February, the gesticulations of the males are very conspicuous. They strut in the manner of a Turkey-cock, open their wings, lower their heads, and utter a puffing sound that is anything but musical.

Alexander Wilson describes with great minuteness a scene he witnessed near Charleston, where the carcass of a horse was devoured by these birds, the ground for hundreds of yards around being black with them. He counted at one time two hundred and thirty-seven, while others were in the air flying around. He ventured within a few yards of the horse without their heeding his presence. They frequently attacked one another, fighting with their claws and striking with their open wings, fixing their claws in each other’s head. They made a hissing sound with open mouths, resembling that produced by thrusting a red-hot poker into water, and occasionally a snuffling noise, as if clearing their nostrils. At times one would emerge with a large fragment, and in a moment would be surrounded by several others, who would tear it in pieces and soon cause it to disappear.

The Black Vulture breeds on or near the ground in the same manner as the Turkey-Buzzard, in hollow logs, decayed trunks of trees, and stumps, and also without this protection, the bare earth only being made use of. It is said to make no nest. The eggs seldom, if ever, exceed two in number. These are greater, both in their length and capacity, than those of the Turkey-Buzzard, although the measurements of the birds themselves would seem to show the latter to be apparently the larger bird. The average weight of the Black Vulture’s egg, however, is about one pound, or fifteen per cent greater than that of the Buzzard. Three from Charleston, Galveston, and the Rio Grande furnish the following measurements: 3.81 inches by 1.94; 3 by 2.06; 3.06 by 1.94. The principal difference between the eggs of this and the preceding species is in regard to their size. Their ground-color is the same, or nearly the same,—a yellowish-white or cream-color, almost never a pure white, and only in exceptional cases. The eggs are more elongate in their shape, and the blotches are usually larger. These are of a dark reddish-brown, confluent, and chiefly distributed around the larger end. There are also markings, smaller and less frequent, of lilac and purplish-drab, similar to those noticed in the eggs of _C. aura_. An egg from the Rio Grande is marked with small spots of reddish-brown and obscure lilac, equally distributed over the whole surface on a ground of cream-color.

Mr. Audubon is positive that this Vulture never breeds in trees, and that they never build any nest, but deposit their eggs on the ground, on a dead log, or in a hollow tree. Twenty-one days are required for hatching their eggs, on which the male and female sit by turns and feed each other. The young are covered with a light cream-colored down, and are fed with regurgitated food, in the manner of Pigeons. As soon as they are able, they follow their parents through the woods, at which period their entire head and neck, which afterwards become bare, are covered with feathers.

NOTE.

The following figures are given to illustrate some of the cranial and sternal peculiarities of the _Cathartidæ_.

FAMILY COLUMBIDÆ.—THE PIGEONS.

CHAR. The basal portion of the bill covered by a soft skin, in which are situated the nostrils, overhung by an incumbent fleshy valve, the apical portion hard and convex. The hind toe on the same level with the rest; the anterior toes without membrane at the base. Tarsi more or less naked; covered laterally and behind with hexagonal scales.

The bill of the _Columbidæ_ is always shorter than the head, thinnest in the middle; the basal half covered by a soft skin; the apical portion of both jaws hard; the upper one very convex, blunt, and broad at the tip, where it is also somewhat decurved. There is a long nasal groove, the posterior portion occupied by a cartilaginous scale, covered by a soft cere-like skin. The nostrils constitute an elongated slit in the lower border of the scale. The culmen is always depressed and convex. The bill is never notched in the true Doves, though _Didunculus_ shows well-defined serrations. The tongue is small, soft, and somewhat fleshy.

The wing has ten primaries, and eleven or twelve, rarely fifteen, secondaries; the latter broad, truncate, and of nearly equal length. The tail is rounded or cuneate, never forked.

The tarsus is usually short, rarely longer than the middle toe, scutellate anteriorly, and with hexagonal plates laterally and behind; sometimes naked. An inter-digital membrane is either wanting entirely, or else is very slightly indicated between the middle and outer toes.

The valuable monograph of Bonaparte in the second part of _Conspectus Avium_ renders the task of arranging the American _Columbidæ_ in proper sequence and of determining their synonomy comparatively easy. He divides the family into _Lopholæminæ_, _Columbinæ_, _Turturinæ_, _Zenaidinæ_, and _Phapinæ_, the second and fourth alone occurring in North America. They may be briefly distinguished as follows:—

=Columbinæ.= Tarsus shorter than the lateral toe; feathered above.

=Zenaidinæ.= Tarsus longer than the lateral toes; entirely bare of feathers.

SUBFAMILY COLUMBINÆ.

CHAR. Tarsi stout, short, with transverse scutellæ anteriorly; feathered for the basal third above, but not at all behind. Toes lengthened, the lateral decidedly longer than the tarsus. Wings lengthened and pointed. Size large. Tail-feathers twelve.

This section of doves embraces the largest North American species, and among them the more arboreal ones. The genera are as follows:—

=Columba.= Head large; tail short, broad, and rounded.

Outer toe much longer than the inner; bill rather short, stout …

_Columba._

Outer toe scarcely longer than the inner; bill lengthened, compressed …

_Patagiœnas._

=Ectopistes.= Head very small; tail much lengthened, cuneate.

GENUS COLUMBA, LINNÆUS.

_Columba_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Type, _Columba livia_, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill stout and rather short; culmen from the base of the feathers about two fifths the head. Lateral toes and claws about equal, reaching nearly to the base of the middle claw; the claws rather long, and not much curved. Tail rather short, rounded, or nearly even; as long as from the carpal joint to the end of secondaries in the closed wing. Second and third quills longest.

The genus _Columba_, as characterized above, includes the _C. livia_, or domestic Pigeon, the differences between it and the American forms being very slight. Reichenbach and Bonaparte separate the North American birds from _Columba_, under the name of _Chlorœnas_, while _C. leucocephala_ and a near ally of the West Indies (_C. corensis_) have been placed in the subgenus _Patagiœnas_, Reichenbach.

The variations of form among the numerous American members of _Columba_ are more with the species, however, than with groups, and withal are so exceedingly slight that an attempt at subdividing the genus is scarcely justifiable. They may be arranged by the style of coloration as follows. None of the American species have the forepart of the neck metallic, as in the European species, or _Columba_ proper, as restricted, and in which these metallic feathers have the fibres loose and blended, instead of being compact; the feathers also have a well-defined squamate arrangement in nearly or quite all the American _Columbæ_.

Species and Varieties.

=A.= Tail with a broad terminal band abruptly lighter in color than the basal portion, and with a more or less well-defined blackish band across the middle. Nape with metallic reflections.

_a._ A narrow nuchal band of white; the metallic feathers beneath this, with their outlines distinct, producing a squamate appearance.

1. =C. fasciata.= Blackish band across the middle of the tail narrow, and badly defined, and concealed by the coverts; terminal portion of the tail much lighter than the basal part. Bill yellow; crissum whitish; hood and anterior lower parts ashy vinaceous-purple; dorsal region ashy.

Bill tipped with black; wing-coverts conspicuously edged with white; back with an olivaceous cast. Wing, 8.80; tail, 6.10; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.13; middle toe, 1.37; outer, 1.05; inner, .94. _Hab._ Pacific Province of the United States, south to Guatemala …

var. _fasciata_.

Bill entirely yellow; wing-coverts not distinctly edged with white; back with a bluish cast. Wing, 8.30; tail, 6.20; culmen, .80; tarsus, 1.04; middle toe, 1.27; outer, 1.00; inner, .88. _Hab._ Costa Rica …

var. _albilinea_.[99]

2. =C. araucana.=[100] Black band across the middle of the tail as broad as the terminal lighter one, and wholly exposed; terminal portion not lighter than the base. Bill black; crissum deep slate; hood and lower parts deep purplish-vinaceous; dorsal region like the breast. Wing, 8.35; tail, 6.20; culmen, .58; tarsus, 1.13; middle toe, 1.26; outer, .90; inner, .77. _Hab._ Chile.

_b._ No nuchal bar of white; metallic feathers of the nape with their fibres blended, producing a soft even surface.

3. =C. caribæa.=[101] Tail much as in _C. fasciata_, but with a much greater contrast between the nearly equal dark basal and light terminal portions; the former more uniformly dusky, not showing any distinct darker intermediate band. Bill black; hood and lower parts light ashy-pinkish vinaceous; crissum white; dorsal region ashy. Wing, 8.70; tail, 6.90; culmen, .81; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe, 1.28; outer, .90; inner, .88. _Hab._ Jamaica.

4. =C. rufina.=[102] Terminal light band of the tail narrow, badly defined. Bill black. Forehead, dorsal region, lesser wing-coverts, neck and breast, deep chocolate-purple; forepart of the back with a violet reflection. Other portions mainly ashy. Wing, 7.50; tail, 5.00; culmen, .68; tarsus, .97; middle toe, 1.13; outer, .89; inner, .78. _Hab._ Brazil, north to Guatemala.

=B.= Tail of a uniform shade throughout.

_a._ A metallic “cape” on the nape, each feather bordered with black, producing a conspicuously squamate appearance; above this, a broad, transverse, crescentic patch of dark maroon color. No vinaceous tints on the body.

5. =C. leucocephala.= Hood white; metallic cape brassy-green; throat, cheeks, etc., dark plumbeous-slate, like the rest of the plumage. Bill yellow only at the tip. Wing, 7.70; tail, 5.50; culmen, .66; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, 1.25; outer, .85; inner, .83. _Hab._ Cuba, and south Florida.

6. =C. corensis.=[103] Hood, with remaining portions of head and neck, purplish-vinaceous; metallic cape vinaceous-purple. Bill wholly yellow. Wing, 8.00; tail, 5.70; culmen, .63; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe, 1.25; outer, .86; inner, .83. _Hab._ Porto Rico; St. Thomas; Santo Domingo; Santa Cruz.

_b._ No metallic reflections on the nape.

Head and neck, all round, lower parts to the anal region, and a patch on the lesser wing-coverts, reddish chocolate-purple. Rest of plumage slaty-blue, darker on tail and primaries, and more olivaceous on the dorsal region.

7. =C. flavirostris.= Feathers of the forehead reaching forward to the anterior end of the nasal lobe, and wholly covering the cere on top. Culmen much arched. Bill and claws yellow. Wing, 7.80; tail, 5.40; culmen, .52; tarsus, 1.03; middle toe, 1.15; outer, .82; inner, .75. _Hab._ Middle America, and southern borders of Middle Province of United States, from Arizona and the Rio Grande; south to Costa Rica.

8. =C. inornata.=[104] Feathers of the forehead reaching forward to only about the middle of the nasal lobe, leaving the top of the cere naked; culmen only moderately arched. Bill and claws black. Wing, 9.20; tail, 6.60; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.16; middle toe, 1.47; outer, 1.18; inner, .97. _Hab._ Jamaica.

[Plate: PLATE LVII.

1. Ortalida maccalli. _Ad._, Texas. 2. Columba fasciata. ♂ Cal., 33661. 3. Columba leucocephala. ♂ Fla., 8662. 4. Ectopistes migratoria. ♂ 7115. 5. Columba flavirostris. ♂ Mazatlan, 30893.]

Columba fasciata, SAY.

BAND-TAILED PIGEON.

_Columba fasciata_, SAY, Long’s Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 10.—BON. Amer. Orn. I, 1825, 77, pl. viii.—WAGLER, Syst. Av. 1827, _Columba_, No. 47.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 624.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 479, pl. ccclxvii.—IB. Syn. 1839, 191.—IB. Birds Amer. IV, 1842, 312, pl. cclxxix.—TSCHUDI, Fauna Peruana, 1844–46, No. 261.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 92.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 597.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 506. _Chlorœnas fasciata_, BONAP. Consp. II, 1854, 51. _Columba monilis_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 26, pl. x. _Chlorœnas monilis_, REICH. Icones Av. ccxxvii, fig. 2481.

SP. CHAR. Above ash, inclining to olivaceous on the back, and with a fine bluish cast on the rump, under surface of wings, and sides. The primaries and basal portion of the tail dusky. Larger wing-coverts and secondaries, with primaries, distinctly edged with white; terminal third of tail of nearly the same tint as the wing-coverts, but the basal portion much darker, with a rather indistinct, narrow dusky band between the two shades, a little beyond the tips of the upper coverts. Whole head, lateral and front part of neck, and lower parts to the anal region, ashy vinaceous-purple, lighter, and more pinkish on the abdomen; chin considerably lighter; anal region and crissum white. A narrow half-collar of white across the upper portion of the nape; feathers beneath this dull metallic golden-green, with an occasional bronzy reflection, the feathers somewhat squamate. Bill and feet yellow, the former black at the end; iris red. Length, about 15.00; wing, 8.80; tail, 6.10. _Female_ smaller, and less deeply colored, the purplish tint more ashy; sometimes with the nuchal white band obsolete or wanting; the abdomen whitish, etc.

HAB. Pacific Province of United States, and table-lands of Mexico, to Guatemala. Oaxaca (SCL. 1858, 304); Xalapa, 1859, 369 (CORDOVA, 1856, 359); Guatemala (SALVIN, Ibis, II, 276); Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 93); Vera Cruz, alpine region (SUM. M. Bost. Soc. I, 562).

Specimens—even those from the same locality—vary a great deal in size, particularly as to the bill, and there is also considerable variation in the shade and depth as well as the extent of the purplish tint; this varies from a purplish-chocolate tint to nearly violaceous, and sometimes tinges the ends of the lower tail-coverts; sometimes the back has faint bronzy reflections. Guatemalan skins have the white edgings to the wing-coverts less conspicuous than in northern ones, showing an approximation to the features of var. _albilinea_ of Costa Rica; they also have a shorter bill than California specimens. Oregon birds, on the other hand, have longer bills than the California, and are considerably darker in color.

HABITS. The Band-tailed Pigeon was first met with in Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and described by Say in 1823. It is found from the northern Rocky Mountains westward to the Pacific, and from Central America northward along the whole of the Pacific Coast as far to the north as Washington Territory, and probably portions of British Columbia.

Mr. Townsend, quoted by Audubon, noticed this Pigeon from the eastern spurs of the Rocky Mountains across to the Columbia River, where it was very abundant. He noticed their arrival in very great numbers on the 17th of April, and they continued in large flocks even while breeding. Their breeding-places were on the banks of the river, the eggs were placed on the ground, under small bushes without any nest, where numbers congregated together. The eggs were two in number, and are described as of a yellowish-white color, some inclining to a bluish-white with minute white dots at the larger end.

These birds feed on the berries of the black-elder and the buds of the balsam poplar. When sitting on the trees, they huddle close together in the manner of the Carolina Parrot, and many may be killed at a single discharge. Their flesh is said to be tender, juicy, and fine eating.

Mr. Nuttall states that this Pigeon is always in flocks, and in Oregon keeps only in the thick forests of the Columbia and the Wahlamet, and during the summer is more particularly abundant in the alluvial groves of the latter river, where he constantly heard its cooing, and saw it in large flocks, feeding on the berries of the elder, the _Cornus nuttalli_, and the seed-germs and young pods of the balsam poplar. Its call is somewhat similar to that of the Carolina Dove, but is readily distinguishable, is uttered at the usual intervals, and is repeated an hour or two at a time, chiefly in the morning and evening. It remains on the lower part of the Columbia nearly the whole year, feeding on the berries of the tree cornel, moving south only in the severity of winter.

Mr. Salvin found this Pigeon at Volcan de Fuego, in Guatemala, at an elevation of six thousand feet, and at Coban. It was quite common in the high forests of the Volcano.

Dr. Woodhouse met with small flocks of these Pigeons in different parts of New Mexico, and especially in the San Francisco Mountains, now included within the limits of Arizona.

This species was found at Los Nogales, in Mexico, July, 1855, by Dr. Kennerly, and at New Leon by Lieutenant Couch. Dr. Kennerly states that these beautiful birds were often observed in the valleys of the Santa Cruz and Los Nogales Rivers, as well as among the oaks on the adjacent hills. In the month of June they were found in small flocks of four or five, rarely more. When flying, the wings often caused a flapping noise, similar to that made by the domestic Pigeon.

Dr. Newberry, in his Report on the zoölogy of Colonel Williamson’s route, states that he met with this Pigeon at several points of his journey. He speaks of it as an attractive bird, about the size and with many of the habits of the domestic Pigeon. At McCumbers, northeast of Fort Reading, the first individual was seen and killed by one of his party. In that region they were not rare, and during the season of acorns they subsist on those of the scrub-oak, which abounds in that vicinity. On the Columbia they were seen in pairs, and near the Dalles might readily be mistaken for domestic doves.