A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1. Robert Ridgway
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Название: A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1
Автор: Robert Ridgway
Издательство: Public Domain
Жанр: Биология
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The characters of the subfamily will be found sufficiently detailed above. The genera are as follows:—
Head with a long pointed crest. Wings and tail rounded.
Body full and large. Tail about equal to wings … Lophophanes.
Head with feathers full, but not crested. Wings and tail rounded.
Body full. Tail about equal to wings; rounded … Parus.
Body slender. Tail much longer than wings; much graduated … Psaltriparus.
Head with compact feathers. Wings pointed.
Body slender. Tail rather shorter than the wings; nearly even … Auriparus.
PLATE VI.
1. Lophophanes bicolor, Bon. Ill., 29679.
2. Lophophanes atricristatus, Cass. Tex., 12107.
3. Lophophanes inornatus, Cass. Cal., 37051.
4. Lophophanes wollweberi, Bon. Ariz., 40742.
5. Polioptila cærulea, Scl. Ill., 10213.
6. Polioptila plumbea, Baird. Ariz., 11541.
7. Polioptila melanura, Lawr. Cal., 7191.
8. Chamæa fasciata, Gamb. Cal., 5924.
Lophophanes, Kaup, Entw. Gesch. Europ. Thierwelt, 1829. (Type, Parus cristatus.)
Bæolophus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 91. (Type, Parus bicolor, L.)
Gen. Char. Crown with a conspicuous crest. Bill conical; both upper and lower outlines convex. Wings graduated; first quill very short. Tail moderately long and rounded. Nests in hollow trees; eggs white with fine red dottings.
Lophophanes bicolor.
823 ♂
Of this genus there are several North American species, all agreeing in general characters. One of these, the L. wollweberi, is given by Cabanis as typical, while he separates the L. bicolor generically under the name of Bæolophus, as having a rather different form of crest, stouter bill and feet, and longer wings. All of our species, however, vary in these characters, each one showing a different combination, so that we prefer to consider all as belonging to the same genus with P. cristatus.
The species, all of which have the under parts uniform whitish, may be arranged as follows:—
L. bicolor. Above plumbeous; forehead black; crown much like the back. Hab. Eastern Province United States.
L. atricristatus. Above plumbeous; forehead whitish; crown black. Hab. East Mexico, north to Rio Grande.
L. inornatus. Above olivaceous; forehead and crown like the back. Hab. South of Middle and Western Provinces of United States.
L. wollweberi. Sides of head banded black and white; crown ash; throat black. Hab. S. Rocky Mountains of United States; Mexico to Oaxaca.
Parus bicolor, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. I, 1766, 340 (based on Parus cristatus, Catesby, I, pl. lvii).—Pr. Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 118. Lophophanes bicolor, Bon. List Birds Europe, 1842.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 384; Review, 78.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 14, No. 87. Bæolophus bicolor, Cab. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 91 (type of genus). Lophophanes missouriensis, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 384 (var. from Missouri River).
Figures: Wilson, Am. Orn. I, pl. viii, fig. 5.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pl. ccci; Ib. Birds Am. II, pl. cxxv.
Sp. Char. Above ashy; a black frontal band. Beneath dull whitish; sides brownish-chestnut, of more or less intensity. Length, 6.25 inches; wing, 3.17.
Hab. United States, from Missouri Valley eastward.
Lophophanes inornatus.
Feathers of the crown elongated into a flattened crest, which extends back as far as the occiput. Bill conical; lower edge of upper mandible nearly straight at the base. Fourth and fifth quills equal; third a little shorter than seventh; second rather shorter than the secondaries. Tail nearly even, the outer about .20 of an inch shorter than the longest. Upper parts ash-color, with a tinge of olivaceous. Forehead dark sooty-brown. The feathers of the upper part of the head and crest obscurely streaked with lighter brown. Under parts of head and body, sides of head, including auriculars, and a narrow space above the eye, dirty yellowish-white, tinged with brown; purest on the side of head, the white very distinct in the loral region, and including the tuft of bristly feathers over the nostrils, excepting the tips of those in contact with the bill, which are blackish. The sides of the body and the under tail-coverts are tinged with yellowish-brown. The quills and tail-feathers are edged with the color of the back, without any whitish. Bill black. Feet lead-color.
Specimens from the West are larger, the colors all more strongly marked.
Habits. The Tufted Titmouse is a common and well-known species in the Southern States, from the seaboard to the Rocky Mountains. Its northern limits are in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Kansas. Farther north than this its occurrence appears to be only occasional and accidental. The statement of Mr. Audubon that they are found in the Northern States, even to Nova Scotia, was evidently a mistake. They do not occur in Massachusetts, nor, so far as I am aware, have they been met with in any part of New England.
They are abundant in Northern Georgia, where, according to the observations of Dr. Gerhardt, they are among the first birds to breed, having fledglings fully grown as early as the first of May. Dr. Woodhouse found them very common in the Indian Territory, but none of the other exploring parties met with it farther west, where it is replaced by its kindred species.
It is perhaps the most abundant bird in Southern Illinois, where it is resident, being excessively numerous in winter, and in that season often a positive nuisance from their impertinent vehement scolding as they appear to follow the hunter in troops through the woods. In winter it is a constant inhabitant of the door-yards and shrubbery, particularly fruit-trees in the towns, where it СКАЧАТЬ