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

In Mexico and thence southward to Brazil and Patagonia, and, in fact, throughout South America, many species of Jays are to be met with in abundance, and of such beautiful pluma...

“Often in my wanderings through the _chapparel_ on the Rio Grande, I observed piles of broken snail shells, and always near some hard substance, such as a bone, or hard piece of...

Our friend, Lieut. D. N. Couch, one of the several officers of the Army who have greatly contributed to the knowledge of the Natural History of little-explored portions of this...

One of the most remarkable of these mysterious birds is the White Eagle, represented by Du Pratz as inhabiting Louisiana, of whose description of which the following is a transl...

The bird now before the reader is one of the most admired songsters of the western countries of North America. By competent judges, as we shall see in the course of the present...

Female. Entire upper parts, olive green, tinged with yellow on the head and rump. Wings, pale brown; coverts, tipped with white, and quills narrowly edged with white; tail, abov...

“Europeans who have seen only the stuffed remains of these little feathered gems in museums, have been charmed with their beautiful appearance; but those who have examined them...

The present bird was originally described in the Zoology of the Voyage of the Blossom, from specimens obtained on the western coast of North America; but apparently the naturali...

Colors. A narrow line of black running downward on each side of the neck, from the base of the lower mandible; head above ashy-olive; other upper parts olive-green, tinged with...

“Length 23 inches, 6 lines; alar stretch, 26 inches; tail, 11 inches; tarsus, 2 inches, 7 lines. The bill similar to that of the common fowl, but longer on the ridge and more cu...

Several species of Geese, which appear to be unknown to Naturalists, have been noticed by travellers in various parts of North America, but especially in the northern and Arctic...

“In California, it is also an extremely abundant and familiar resident, and is called by the inhabitants _Buriones_. During winter they assemble in flocks, frequenting the bushy...

Colors. Head above chestnut-brown, which is also the prevailing color of the back and rump, the feathers of both the latter edged with pale cinereous, tinged with olive. Spot in...

Throat, sides of the neck and upper part of the breast white, with a tinge of buff without spots, other under parts same color, with a deeper shade, and with cordate or rounded...

Head moderate, without ear-tufts; wings rather long, wide; tail rather long, ample; tarsi strong, and with the toes densely covered with hair-like feathers; claws strong, sharp;...

In the higher order of legends—in those which record facts or dim histories of exceeding antiquity, or in which are embalmed the deeds of the remote hero, though even more faded...

No dependence can be placed in the extent of the red color on the head, as a character, so far as I have observed, in the woodpeckers of the United States. In _Picus pubescens_,...

This ability is of incomparable value to the collector. Whether in the tangled forest, the deep recesses of the swamp, on the sea-coast or in the clear woodlands, on the mountai...

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 espe...

Col. McCall’s observations on the habits of this bird confirm an opinion expressed by Mr. Gould in his Monograph of American Partridges: “No account whatever has yet reached us...

Upper part of the head, nape, neck, and mantle, black; eyebrow white, bordered by a black line from the eye; space between the bill and eye and cere blue, the former with scatte...

Several instances of South American birds having been captured in the United States have come to our knowledge. We ought to have said, though, previously, that many more South A...

Ear-tufts very short and inconspicuous; bill short, curved, nearly concealed by projecting feathers; wings rather long, second quill longest; tail moderate; tarsi and toes dense...

Many instances tending to demonstrate this extensive and remarkable migration might be produced, but we have unfortunately to acknowledge ourselves unable to offer a theory or e...

Large, “bill shortish, very deep, compressed; feet rather short, with the leg long; the tarsus short, rounded, anteriorly covered with transversely-narrow sentella, posteriorly...

This is one of the most abundant of the birds of the United States, and known to all classes and ages of the population. It is nearly related to the European House Swallow (_Hir...

Form robust; wings rather long, third quill longest, secondaries emarginate at their tips; quills unusually broad; tail rather short, slightly rounded; tarsi feathered in front...

“It was not at all shy, showing no concern when approached within a few rods. The procuring of a specimen was, however, a matter of some difficulty, as its constantly hopping or...

Bill small, weak, generally furnished at the base with projecting bristles; gape very wide; feet usually slender and weak; wings generally long, adapted to long-continued flight...

1. Accipiter fuscus. (Gmelin.) The Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Chicken Hawk. Falco fuscus, and dubius. Gm., Syst. Nat. I. p. 280, 281. (1788.) Accipiter striatus. Vieill, Ois. Am. S...

General form short and heavy, with the head apparently disproportionately large, and frequently furnished with ear-like tufts of feathers. Cavity of the ear, large; eyes, usuall...

BY JOHN CASSIN, MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA; OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY; OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA; OF THE NATIONAL I...

This Albatross is the adult of the bird represented in plate 35, (the Black-footed Albatross, _Diomedea nigripes_, Aud.) of the present volume. At the time of the publication of...