_Judy._—_Mountain Dick._
_Tityra leuconotus._
_Tityra leuconotus_, +G. R. Gray.+—Gen. pl. 63.
[53] Length 7¹⁄₂ to 8 inches, expanse 13, tail 3¹⁄₅, flexure 4,
rictus 1¹⁄₁₀, breadth of beak at base ⁶⁄₁₀, tarsus 1, middle toe
³⁄₁₀.
Male. Irides, very dark hazel; beak black; feet blue-grey. Whole
plumage black, save that the bases of the scapulars are pure white,
forming a white band on each shoulder, generally concealed by the
plumage of the back. The throat and breast are of a paler hue, and
the upper parts are glossed with blue and green reflections. Female.
Head rich umber, softening into bay on the throat and breast; throat
whitish; back brownish grey; wing-feathers umber externally, blackish
medially, paler on the inner webs: tail blackish umber, paler beneath;
belly pale grey. Head large; crown feathers erectile. Intestine 9¹⁄₂
inches. Two cæca, rudimentary; like minute pimples.
This species, hitherto undescribed, is named and figured by Mr. G. R.
Gray, in his “Genera of Birds,” from specimens procured by myself. It
is not uncommon in the mountain districts of Jamaica, where, from the
remarkable diversity in the appearance of the male and female, they
are distinguished by separate local names. The black male is known by
the feminine appellation of Judy, while the chestnut-headed female
receives the masculine soubriquet of Mountain Dick. Mr. Gray, from
his acquaintance with the genus, I presume, was able to identify the
sexes by an examination of dried skins, while I was long in coming to
the same conclusion, from observation of the living birds. Yet I early
suspected it; their form and size were the same; their manners were
the same; their singular call was the same; they were almost always
found either actually in company, or else the one calling, and the
other answering, at a short distance from each other. It remained,
however, to prove the fact; and I accordingly dissected every specimen
that fell in my way, for many months; the result of which was that
every “Judy,” was a male; and that almost every “Mountain Dick” was
a female; to this latter there were but two exceptions; two in the
umber plumage were indubitably males, but in one of them, shot in
February, the dark brown hue of the head was almost obliterated, and
replaced by black, the tips and edges only of the feathers being brown.
Probably, the male of the first year bears the colours of the female, a
supposition afterwards confirmed.
Though more frequently seen at a considerable elevation from the sea,
we occasionally meet with these birds in the lowlands; they are,
however, rather recluse, affecting woods and lonely places. Here as
they hop from one twig to another, or sit hid in the foliage of a thick
tree, they utter a rapid, and not unmusical succession of notes, as if
attempting to compress them all into one. Some idea may be formed of
it, by playing _with one hand_ the following notes on a pianoforte.
[Music]
The notes are occasionally poured forth in the air as the bird
flits from tree to tree. But very commonly it is heard, without any
variation, from the male and female alternately, seated on two trees,
perhaps on the opposite sides of a road; thus:—The Mountain Dick calls,
and the Judy immediately answers; then a little pause;—another call
from the Mountain Dick, and an instant answer from Judy;—until, after
a few successions, the Judy gallantly yields the point, and flies over
to the other tree to join his friend. In February, I have heard it
repeating a note somewhat like _che-w_.
This species is bold and fierce in self-defence, the female no less
than the male. On several occasions, when I have shot, and but slightly
wounded, one, it would make vigorous efforts to escape by running;
but on being taken in the hand and held by the legs, it would elevate
the crown feathers, turn the head up and bite fiercely at my fingers,
seizing and pinching the flesh with all its force; striving at the
same time to clutch with its claws, and screaming vociferously. I
have never seen it pursue other birds in the aggressive manner of
the true Tyrants; nor, as far as I am aware, does it capture insects
in the air, notwithstanding that the rictus is defended by stiff
bristles. Stationary insects are usually the contents of the stomach,
particularly large bugs, (_Pentatoma_) and caterpillars, and sometimes
the eggs of insects. In the winter the berries of the _Bursera_ or
Tropic Birch, constitute a large portion of its food.
In April the Judy begins to arrange the domestic economy of the season;
and if the cradle of his young is not so elaborate a structure as
some others, it makes up in quantity what it lacks in quality. In
the latter part of this month, my negro lads, being on a shooting
excursion, observed on Bluefields Mountain, a domed nest, made
apparently of dried leaves, about as large as a child’s head, suspended
from the under side of a pendent branch of a tall tree. They watched
awhile to discover the owner, and presently saw the female of the
present species enter, and re-emerge, while the male was hopping
about the tree. A day or two after, I myself observed a similar nest,
similarly situated, beneath one of the pendent branches of a tall
cotton-tree, at Cave, on the road to Savanna-le-Mar. It appeared to
be composed of loose trash, rather a ragged structure, but evidently
domed, with the entrance near the bottom. Both the male and female
were playing and calling around it, and the latter at length went
in. On the 11th of May, passing that way again, I observed this nest
to be considerably larger, not less than a foot in diameter, as well
as I could judge from the great elevation; its outline, however, was
still ragged. I estimated the height of the nest to be between seventy
and eighty feet, though on the lowest branch of the tree, and that
pendent. Yet this Ceiba had not attained the giant dimensions common
to the species. A few days after this, Sam saw a third nest, formed
and placed exactly as in the former cases, so that I concluded this
to be the usual economy. A fourth example, however, showed me, that
the lofty elevation is not indispensable, as also that I had not yet
seen the largest specimens of the nests. On a branch of a small cedar
(_Cedrela_) that overhangs the high-road at Cave, I had noticed early
in June what appeared to be a heap of straw, tossed up by a fork and
lodged there, which the action of the weather had in some degree
smoothed at the top, the ends trailing downwards. One day, however,
as I was looking up at it, I saw the brown female of this species
emerge from the bottom, and presently return, entering at a narrow
hole beneath. As it was not more than twelve or fifteen feet from the
ground, I immediately sent my lads to climb the tree, and cut the
branch, which they accordingly brought me, with the huge nest attached.
The boys reported that it was empty, and that it had four entrances;
but on examination, I found that every one of these was merely a hollow
in the immense walls, produced by the receding of one part of the loose
materials from another. While they held it up in the position it had
occupied on the tree, I searched beneath for the true entrance; which,
when I had found it, I had much difficulty to find again, so concealed
was it by the long draggling ends of the mass. On inserting my finger,
however, I felt the soft and warm plumage of young birds, and pulled
out three, almost fully fledged. All three had the plumage of the
female, but one was manifestly darker than the others: if this was,
as I presume, a cock, the conclusion above, that the young male bears
the livery of the female, is confirmed. As I did not want the young,
I placed them on a lower limb of a large tree in the yard; and as, on
the next day, I saw two of them about the tree lively and active, and
as one flew a distance of, perhaps, thirty feet, I trust that they did
well, and survived their premature exposure to the world. To return to
the nest, however: I found it a loose, oblong mass, flattened on two
sides, measuring in height about two and a half feet, (though the ends
hung down to the length of four feet,) in width more than two feet,
and in thickness about one foot. It was composed almost entirely of
the stems and tendrils of passion flowers, mixed, however, and that
all through the structure, with bright-yellow, silky spiders’ nests,
and the downy filaments of some cottony herbs. The cavity was not
larger than a man’s two fists, and was not, in any measure, lined: it
descended within the entrance, though the latter faced the ground.