A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1. Robert Ridgway

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СКАЧАТЬ found among the Opuntia than elsewhere. It is a quiet bird, rather shy, and keeps closely within the clumps of the chaparral. For a bird of its size it makes an unusual noise in flying. At Ringgold Barracks Mr. Clark’s tent was pitched under a como-tree in which there was a nest of these birds. They were at first shy and seemed quite disposed to abandon their nest, but, however, soon became accustomed to their new neighbor, and went on with their parental duties. The position of their nest had been very judiciously selected, for it was during the season of the black fruit of the como, which is somewhat in the shape and size of a thimble, with a pleasant milky pulp. These constituted their principal food. The eggs in this nest were five in number. Lieutenant Couch met with it from Brownsville to Durango, where it had already paired as early as February. He describes it as exceedingly tame and gentle in its habits, and with a song remarkably melodious and attractive. Perched on the topmost bough of a flowering mimosa, in the presence of his consort, the male will pour forth a volume of most enchanting music. Their nest is generally very nearly flat, measuring nearly six inches in circumference, and scarcely more than an inch in its greatest thickness. It has hardly any distinct cavity, and hollows but very slightly from the rim to the centre, its greatest depression having barely the depth of half an inch. The nests are composed of long coarse fibrous roots, rudely, but somewhat compactly interwoven. The inner framework is constructed of the same materials intermixed with the finer stems of grasses.

      Mr. H. E. Dresser states that in the vicinity of Matamoras these birds are fond of frequenting small villages, and that he frequently found their nests within the gardens and court-yards of the houses, and near the road.

      The eggs of this Thrush vary considerably in size, ranging from 1.20 to 1.03 inches in length, and from .84 to .77 of an inch in breadth. Their mean length is 1.12 inches, and their average breadth .80. They have a light green ground-color, generally, though not thickly, covered with fine brown spots.

Harporhynchus curvirostris, var. palmeri, RidgwayPALMER’S THRASHER

      Harporhynchus curvirostris, var. palmeri, Ridgway, Report King’s Expedition, V, 1872.

      Sp. Char. Bill slender, moderately curved; fifth quill longest; fourth and sixth just perceptibly shorter, and equal; second equal to ninth; first 1.55 shorter than longest. General plumage uniform grayish-umber, paler below, becoming almost dirty whitish on the throat and abdomen; lower part of the breast and abdomen with a very few just discernible irregular specks of a darker tint; lower tail-coverts dilute isabella-brown, more ochraceous at their margins; anal region and lower part of abdomen light ochraceous. No bands on wings, and tail-feathers only diluted at the tips. Maxillary stripe whitish with transverse bars of dusky. “Iris orange.”

      ♂ (No. 8,128, “New Mexico” = Arizona, Dr. Heermann): wing, 4.30; tail, 5.00; bill (from nostril), 1.00; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe (without claw), 1.00. ♀(49,723, Camp Grant, Tucson, Arizona, March 12, 1867; Dr. E. Palmer; with eggs): wing, 4.15; tail, 4.85; bill, .95; tarsus, 1.25; middle toe, .90.

      Hab. Eastern Arizona (Tucson).

      This very curious race seems to unite the characters of curvirostris and lecontei; in fact, it is so exactly intermediate between the two, that we are almost in doubt as to which it is most nearly related. Having the stout form and larger size, as well as the spots on the abdomen, of the former, it has also the uniform colors and general appearance of lecontei. Were it not that the nest and eggs, with the parent accompanying, had been received from Dr. Palmer, we might be tempted to consider it a hybrid between these two species, its habitat being exactly between them, too. We have great pleasure in dedicating this curious form to Dr. Edward Palmer, who has added very much to our knowledge of the Natural History of the interesting region where the present bird is found.

      Description of nest and eggs.—(13,311, Camp Grant, Arizona; Dr. E. Palmer). Nest very bulky,—9 inches in height by 6 in width. Very elaborately constructed. The true nest, of symmetrical form, and composed of thin grass-stalks and flax-like fibres, is enclosed in an outer case of thorny sticks, thinly but strongly put together. This inner nest has a deep cavity measuring 4 inches in diameter by 3 in depth.

      Eggs (two in number) measure 1.16 by .85; in shape exactly like those of C. curvirostris; pale blue (deeper than in curvirostris), rather thinly sprinkled with minute, but distinct dots of pale sepia-brown. Markings more distinct than those of curvirostris. R. R.

      The nest was situated in a cactus-bush, four and a half feet above the ground.

      Dr. Palmer remembers nothing special concerning its habits, except that the bird was very shy, and kept much on the ground, where it was seen running beneath the bushes.

Harporhynchus redivivus, var. lecontei, BonapLECONTE’S THRASHER

      Toxostoma lecontei, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, Sept. 1851, 109 (Fort Yuma). Harporhynchus lecontei, Bonap. C. R. XXVIII, 1854, 57.—Ib. Notes Delattre, 39.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 350, pl. 1; Ib. Review, 47.—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 17.

      Sp. Char. Bill much curved. Second quill about equal to the tenth; exposed portion of the first more than half the longest; outer tail-feather an inch shortest. General color above light grayish-ash, beneath much paler; the chin and throat above almost white; the sides behind brownish-yellow or pale rusty-yellow ash, of which color is the crissum and anal region. Tail-feathers rather dark brown on the under surface, lighter above; the outer edges and tips of exterior ones obscurely paler. Quills nearly like the back.

      Hab. Gila River; Fort Yuma; Fort Mojave.

      Since the description of the type, a second specimen (40,718 ♂, Fort Mojave, 20 miles from Colorado River, Sept. 30, 1865) has been obtained by Dr. Coues. This skin differs slightly from the type in size, being somewhat larger, measuring, wing 3.90, tail 5.30, bill (from nostril) 1.05; while the other measures, wing 3.70, tail 4.70, bill .98. This difference in size very probably represents that between the sexes, the type most likely being a female, though the sex is not stated. Owing to the different seasons in which the two specimens were obtained, they differ somewhat in plumage also. Dr. Coues’s specimen is somewhat the darker, and the plumage has a softer, more blended aspect, and a more ashy tinge of color; the ochraceous of the crissal region is also slightly deeper. No other differences are appreciable.

      Habits. Leconte’s Thrasher is a new and comparatively little known species. A single specimen was obtained by Dr. Leconte near Fort Yuma, and described by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, and remained unique for many years. In 1861 Dr. Cooper presented a paper to the California Academy of Sciences, in which this bird is given among a list of those new to that State. He then mentions that he found it common about the Mojave River, and that he procured two specimens.

      Dr. Coues, in his valuable paper on the birds of Arizona, speaks of obtaining, in 1865, a specimen of this rare species on a dry plain covered thickly with mesquite and cactus, near Fort Mojave. This bird was very shy and restless, fluttered hurriedly from one cactus to another, until he at last shot it where it seemed to fancy itself hidden among the thick fronds of a large yucca. Its large stout feet admirably adapt it for its partially terrestrial life, and it apparently spends much of its life upon the ground, where it runs rapidly and easily. Its flight he describes as swift but desultory, and accompanied by a constant flirting of the tail. He considers this species as inhabiting the whole valley of the Colorado and Gila, and thinks that it does not leave the vicinity of these streams for the mountains.

      Dr. Cooper found a nest of this species, but without eggs, built in a yucca, and similar to that of H. redivivus. In his Report on the Birds of California, Dr. Cooper speaks of finding this bird common on the deserts, along the route between the Colorado Valley, wherever there was a thicket of low bushes surrounded by sand-hills. Its notes, habits, and general appearance were like those of H. redivivus.

Harporhynchus redivivus, CabanCALIFORNIA СКАЧАТЬ