which, one is so like that of the English rook, that the sealers always
call it by this name. It is a curious circumstance, as shewing how, in
allied species, small details of habit accompany similar structure, that
these hawks throw their heads upwards and backwards, in the same strange
manner, as the Carranchas (the Tharu of Molina) have been described to
do. The _M. leucurus_, builds on the rocky cliffs of the sea-coast, but
(as I was informed) only on the small outlying islets, and never on the
two main islands: this is an odd precaution for so fearless a bird.
4. MILVAGO ALBOGULARIS.
PLATE I.
Polyborus, (Phalcobænus) albogularis, _Gould_, Proceedings of Zoolog.
Soc. Part V. (Jan. 1837.) p. 9.
_M. Fæm. fuscescenti-niger, marginibus plumarum inter scapulas fulvis;
primariis secundariisque albo ad apicem notatis; gulá, pectore,
corporeque subtùs albis; lateribus fusco sparsis; rostro livido,
lineis nigris ornato; cerâ tarsisque flavis._
Long. tot. 20 unc. ½ rostri, 1⅝; alæ, 15¾; caudæ, 9; tarsi, 3.
_Description of female specimen, believed to be applicable to both
sexes._
COLOUR.—Head, back, upper wing coverts pitch black, passing into liver
brown; feathers on back of neck and shoulders terminating in a
yellowish brown tip, of which tint the external portion of the
primaries, and nearly the whole of the tertiaries partake. Tail
liver brown, with a terminal white band nearly one inch broad; base
of the tectrices white, irregularly marked with brown: upper tail
coverts white. All the feathers of the wing tipped with white, their
bases irregularly barred with transverse marks of brown and white.
_Under surface._—Chin, throat, breast, belly, thighs, under
tail-coverts, under lining of wings, and edge of shoulders perfectly
white. On the flanks, however, there are some brown feathers
irregularly interspersed; and on the lower part of the breast, most
of the feathers show a most obscure margin of pale brown. Bill horn
colour. Cere and tarsi yellow.
[Illustration:
_Birds. Pl. 1._
_Milvago albogularis_
]
FORM.—Cere and nostril as in the _M. Leucurus_, but the bill not quite
so strong. Feathers on the sides and back of head narrow and rather
stiff; those on the shoulders obtusely pointed,—which character of
plumage is very general in this sub-family. Wing: fourth primary
very little longer than the third or the fifth, which are equal to
each other. First primary three inches shorter than the fourth or
longest, and more nearly equal to the sixth than to the seventh.
Extremity of wing reaching to within about an inch and a half of the
tail. Tarsi reticulated, with four large scales at the base: upper
part covered with plumose feathers for about three quarters of an
inch below the knee; but these feathers hang down and cover nearly
half of the leg. Middle toe with fifteen scales, outer ones with
about nine. Claws of nearly the same degree of strength, curvature
and breadth as in _Polyborus Brasiliensis_, or in _M. leucurus_, but
sharper than those of the latter.
Inch.
Total length 20½
Tail 9
Wings when folded 15¾
From tip of beak to anterior edge of eye ⁹⁄₁₀
Tarsus from soles of feet to knee joint 3½
Hind claw measured in straight line from tip to root ⁸⁄₁₀
Claw of middle toe, a twentieth less than that of the hind one.
Habitat, Santa Cruz, 50° S. Patagonia. (_April._)
Mr. Gould, at the time of describing this species, entertained some
doubts whether it might not eventually prove to be the _Phalcobænus
montanus_ of D’Orbigny, in a state of change. I have carefully compared
it with the description of the _P. montanus_, and certainly, with the
exception of the one great difference of _M. albogularis_ having a white
breast, whilst that part in the _P. montanus_ is black, the points of
resemblance are numerous and exceedingly close. The _M. albogularis_,
appears to be rather larger, and the proportional length of the wing
feathers are slightly different; the cere and tarsi are not of so bright
a colour; the middle toe has fifteen scales on it instead of having
sixteen or seventeen. The black shades of the upper surface are pitchy,
instead of having an obscure metallic gloss, and the feathers of the
shoulders are terminated with brown, so as to form a collar, which is
not represented in the figure of _P. montanus_, given by M. D’Orbigny.
Although the main difference between the two birds, is the colour of
their breasts, yet it must be observed, that in the _M. albogularis_
there is some indication of an incipient change from white to brown in
the plumage of that part. But as M. D’Orbigny, who was acquainted with
the young birds of the _P. montanus_, (of which he has given a figure),
does not mention so remarkable a modification in its plumage, as must
take place on the supposition of _M. albogularis_ being an immature bird
of that species; and as the geographical range of the two is so very
different, I am induced to consider them distinct. Moreover, on the
plains of Santa Cruz, I saw several birds, and they appeared to me
similar in their colouring. The _M. albogularis_ is remarkable from the
confined locality which it appears to frequent. A few pair were seen
during the ascent of the river Santa Cruz, (Lat. 50° S.) to the
Cordillera; but not one individual was observed in any other part of
Patagonia. They appeared to me to resemble, in their gait and manner of
flight, the _P. Brasiliensis_; but they were rather wilder. They lived
in pairs, and generally were near the river. One day I observed a couple
standing with the Carranchas and _M. pezoporus_, at a short distance
from the carcass of a guanaco, on which the condors had commenced an
attack. These peculiarities of habit are described by M. D’Orbigny in
almost the same words, as occurring with the _P. montanus_; both birds
frequent desert countries; the _P. montanus_, however, haunts the great
mountains of Bolivia, and this species, the open plains of Patagonia.
In the valleys north of 30° in Chile, I saw several pair, either of this
species, or of the _P. montanus_ of D’Orbigny, (if, as is probable, they
are different) or of some third kind. From the circumstance of its not
extending (as I believe) so far south even as the valley of Coquimbo, it
is extremely improbable that it should be the _M. albogularis_,—an
inhabitant of a plain country twenty degrees further south. On the other
hand, the _P. montanus_ lives at a great elevation on the mountains of
Upper Peru; and therefore it is probable that it might be found in a
higher latitude, but at a less elevation. M. D’Orbigny says, “Elle aime
les terrains secs et dépourvus de grands végétaux, qui lui seraient
inutiles; car il nous est prouvé qu’elle ne se perche pas sur les
branches.” In another part he adds, “Elle descend cependant quelquefois
jusque près de la mer, sur la côte du Pérou, mais ce n’est que pour peu
de temps, et peut-être afin d’y chercher momentanément une nourriture
qui lui manque dans son séjour habituel; peut-être aussi la nature du
sol l’y attire-t-elle; car elle y trouve les terrains arides qui lui
sont propres.”[9] This is so entirely the character of the northern
parts of Chile, that, it appears to me extremely probable, that the _P.
montanus_, which inhabits the great mountains of Bolivia, descends, in
Northern Chile, to near the shores of the Pacific; but that further
south, and on the opposite side of the Cordillera, it is replaced by an
allied species,—the _M. albogularis_ of Santa Cruz.
5. MILVAGO MEGALOPTERUS.
Aquila megaloptera, _Meyen_, Nov. Act. Acad. Cæs. Suppl. 1834, p. 64.
Pl. VIII.
When ascending the Despoblado, a branch of the valley of Copiapó in
Northern Chile, I saw several brown coloured hawks, which at the time
appeared new to me, but of which I did not procure a specimen. These I
have no doubt were the _A. megaloptera_ of Meyen. In the British Museum
there is a specimen, brought from Chile by Mr. Crawley. Mr. G. R. Gray
suspects that this bird may eventually prove to be the young of the
_Phalcobænus montanus_ of D’Orbigny, and as I saw that bird (or another
species having a close general resemblance with it) in the valleys of
Northern Chile, although not in the immediate vicinity, this supposition
is by no means improbable. Meyen’s figure at first sight appears very
different from that of the young of the _P. montanus_, given by M.
D’Orbigny, for in the latter the feathers over nearly the whole body are
more distinctly bordered with a pale rufous shade, the thighs barred
with the same, and the general tint is of a much redder brown. But with
the exception of these differences, which are only in degree, I can find
in M. D’Orbigny’s description no other distinguishing character, whilst
on the other hand, there are numerous points of close resemblance
between the two birds in the shadings, and even trifling marks of their
plumage. Meyen, moreover, in describing the habits of his species, says,
it frequents a region just below the limit of perpetual snow, and that
it sometimes soars at a great height like a condor. Those which I saw
had the general manners of a _Polyborus_ or _Milvago_, and were flying
from rock to rock amongst the mountains at a considerable elevation, but
far below the snow-line. In these several respects, there is a close
agreement with the habits of the _P. montanus_, as described by M.
D’Orbigny. I will only add that the specimen in the British Museum
appeared, independently of differences of plumage, distinct from the _M.
albogularis_ of Patagonia, from the thinness and greater prolongation of
its beak, and the slenderness of its tarsi.
SUB-FAM.—BUTEONINÆ.
CRAXIREX. _Gould._
_Rostrum Buteonis sed longius; mandibulæ superioris margo rectus;
versus apicem subitò incurvus. Alæ elongatæ. Cera lata. Nares ferè
rotundæ, apertæ. Tarsi mediocres, anticè squamis tecti. Digiti
magni, fortes; ungues obtusæ._
Mr. Gould was partly led to institute this genus from the facts
communicated to him by me regarding the habits of the following species,
which is found in the Galapagos Archipelago, and there supplies the
place of the Polybori and Milvagines of the neighbouring continent of
America. If a principle of classification founded on habits alone, were
admissible, this bird, as will presently be shown, undoubtedly would be
ranked with more propriety in the sub-family of Polyborinæ, than amongst
the Buzzards. To the latter it is closely related in the form of its
nostrils; in the kind of plumage which covers the head, breast, and
shoulders; in the reticulation of the scales on its feet and tarsi, and
less closely in the form of its beak. To the Polyborinæ it manifests an
affinity in the great strength and length of its toes and claws, and in
the bluntness of the latter; in the nakedness of the cere, in the
perfectly uncovered nostrils, in the prolongation and bulk of the bill,
in the straightness of the line of commissure, and in the narrow shape
of the head. In these several respects, taken conjointly with its
habits, this bird supplies a most interesting link in the chain of
affinities, by which the true buzzards pass into the great American
sub-family of carrion-feeding hawks. I am, indeed, unable to decide,
whether I have judged rightly in placing this genus, as first of the
Buteoninæ, instead of last of the Polyborinæ.
[Illustration:
_Birds. Pl. 2._
_Craxirex Galapagoensis_
]
CRAXIREX GALAPAGOENSIS. _Gould._
PLATE II.
Polyborus Galapagoensis. Proceedings of the Zoological Society for
January, 1837, p. 9.
_C. Mas. adult, Intensè fuscus; primariis nigris; secundariarum
pogoniis internis transversim albo et fusco striatis; caudâ
cinerascenti-fuscâ, transversim lineis angustis et numerosis intensè
fuscis notatâ; rostro obscure corneo; pedibus olivaceo-flavis._
Long. tot. 20½ unc.; _rostri_, 1½; _alæ_, 15; _caudæ_, 8½; _tarsi_,
3¼.
_Fæm. adult, fæminæ juniori ferè similis, pectore tamen fusco._
_Fæm. juv. Capite corporeque intensè stramineis, fusco-variegatis;
illo in pectore et abdomine prævalente; primariis fusco-nigris;
rectricum pogoniis externè cinerascenti-fuscis, internè pallide
rosaceis; utrisque lineis angustis et frequentibus fuscis
transversim striatis, apicibus sordide albis; rostro
nigrescenti-fusco; pedibus olivaceo-flavis._
Long. tot. 24 unc.; _rostri_, 1¾; _alæ_, 17¼; _caudæ_, 10½; _tarsi_,
3½.
_Description of adult male._
COLOUR.—Entire dorsal aspect umber brown: base of feathers on hind
part of neck, white; base of those on back, irregularly banded with
pale fulvous, and the scapulars with a distinct band of it. The
inferior feathers of upper tail coverts banded in like manner to
their extremities. Tail dusky clove brown, obscurely marked with
darkened transverse narrow bands. Primaries perfectly black towards
their extremities, but with the outer edge of their base, gray:
inner web banded and freckled with gray, brown, and white, which in
the secondaries takes the form of regular bars. _Under surface_,
entirely umber brown, but rather paler than the upper. Lining of
wings gray, with irregular transverse brown bars: under-side of tail
the same, but paler. Thighs of a rather yellower brown. Bill and
cere horn colour, mottled with pale gray: tarsi yellow.
FORM.—Beak, with apex much arched, both longer and more pointed than
it is in the group of the Polyborinæ. Cere naked, with few bristles;
nostrils large, quite uncovered, irregularly triangular, with the
angles much rounded, and situated rather above a central line
between the culmen and commissure. Fourth primary longest, but third
and fifth nearly equal to it; first, four inches and a half shorter
than fourth, and equal to the eighth; second shorter than fifth.
Extremities of wing reaching within half an inch of end of tail.
Tarsi strong, feathered for nearly a third of their length beneath
the joint. Scales in narrow, undivided (with the exception in some
instances of one) bands, covering the front of tarsus. Toes very
strong and rather long, like those of the species of _Milvago_, and
much more so than in the genus _Buteo_. Hind-toe equal in length to
the inner one; but not placed quite so high on the Tarsus as in
_Polyborus_. Basal joints of middle toe covered with small scales,
with five large ones towards the extremity. Claws very strong, thick
and long, and rather more arched, and broader than in _Polyborus
Brasiliensis_; their extremities obtuse, but not in so great a
degree as in some species of _Milvago_.
Inches.
Total length from tip of bill to end of tail following
curvature of body 20½
Tail 8½
Wing, from elbow-joint to extremity of longest primary 15
Bill, from tip to anterior edge of eye measured in a straight
line ⁷⁄₁₀
Tarsus, from soles of feet to centre of joint 3½
Hind claw from tip to root, measured in straight line 1⅒
Claw of middle toe ⁹⁵⁄₁₀₀
_Old female._
COLOUR.—Nearly as in young female, but with the breast dark brown.
_Young female._
COLOUR.—Head, back of neck, back, wing coverts and tertiaries barred
and mottled, both with pale umber brown (of the same tint as in the
male bird) and with pale fulvous orange. On head and back of neck,
each feather is of the latter colour, with a mere patch of the brown
on its tip; but in the longer feathers, as in the scapulars, upper
tail coverts, inner web and part of outer of the tertiaries, each is
distinctly barred with the dark brown. Tail as in the old male.
Primaries black as in male, with the inner webs nearly white, and
marked with short transverse bars. Under surface and thighs of the
same fulvous orange, but some of the feathers, especially those on
the breast, are marked with small spots of umber brown on their
tips. Some of the longer feathers on the flanks, on the under tail
coverts, and on the linings of the wing, have irregular bars of the
same.
FORM and SIZE.—Larger and more robust than the male. Total length 24
inches. Tail ten and a half inches long, and therefore longer in
proportion to the wings than in the other sex. Wings from joint to
end of primaries, 17¼.
Habitat, Galapagos Archipelago, (_October_).
This bird is, I believe, confined to the Galapagos Archipelago, where on
all the islands, it is excessively numerous. It inhabits, indifferently,
either the dry sterile region near the coast, which, perhaps, is its
most general resort, or the damp and wooded summits of the volcanic
hills. This bird, in most of its habits and disposition, resembles the
_Milvago leucurus_, or the _Falco Novæ Zelandiæ_ of older authors. It is
extremely tame, and frequents the neighbourhood of any building
inhabited by man. When a tortoise is killed even in the midst of the
woods, these birds immediately congregate in great numbers, and remain
either seated on the ground, or on the branches of the stunted trees,
patiently waiting to devour the intestines, and to pick the carapace
clean, after the meat has been cut away. These birds will eat all kinds
of offal thrown from the houses, and dead fish and marine productions
cast up by the sea. They are said to kill young doves, and even
chickens; and are very destructive to the little tortoises, as soon as
they break through the shell. In these respects this bird shows its
alliance with the buzzards. Its flight is neither elegant nor swift. On
the ground it is able, like the _M. leucurus_ and _Phalcobænus montanus_
of D’Orbigny, to run very quickly. This habit which, as before observed,
is so anomalous in the Falcons, manifests in a very striking manner the
relation of this new genus with the _Polyborinæ_. It is, also, a noisy
bird, and utters many different cries, one of which was so very like the
shrill gentle scream of the _M. chimango_, that the officers of the
“Beagle” generally called it either by this name, or from its larger
size by that of _Carrancha_,—both names, however, plainly indicating its
close and evident relationship with the birds of that family. The craw
is feathered; and does not, I believe, protrude like that of the _P.
Brasiliensis_ or _M. leucurus_. It builds in trees, and the female was
just beginning to lay in October. The bird of which the full figure has
been given, is a young female, but of, at least, one year old. The old
male bird is of a uniform dusky plumage, and is seen behind. The adult
female resembles the young of the same sex, but the breast is dark brown
like that of the male. In precisely the same manner as was remarked in
the case of the _M. leucurus_, these old females are present in
singularly few proportional numbers. One day at James’ Island, out of
thirty birds, which I counted standing within a hundred yards of the
tents, under which we were bivouacked, there was not a single one with
the dark brown breast. From this circumstance I am led to conclude that
the females of this species (as with the _M. leucurus_) acquire their
full plumage late in life.
1. BUTEO ERYTHRONOTUS.
Haliaëtus erythronotus, _King_, in Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 424.
Buteo tricolor, _D’Orbigny_.
I obtained specimens of this bird from Chiloe and the Falkland Islands,
and Captain King who first described it, procured his specimens from
Port Famine, Lat. 53° 38′ in Tierra del Fuego. M. D’Orbigny states that
it has a wide range over the provinces of La Plata, central Chile, and
even Bolivia; but in this latter country, it occurs only on the
mountains, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet above the sea. The same
author states, that it usually frequents open and dry countries; but as
we now see that it is found in the dense and humid forests of Chiloe and
Tierra del Fuego, this remark is not applicable. At the Falkland
Islands, it preys chiefly on the rabbits, which have run wild and abound
over certain parts of the island. This bird was considered by Captain
King as a _Haliaëtus_; but Mr. Gould thinks it is more properly placed
with the Buzzards. Captain King gave it the appropriate specific name of
_erythronotus_, and, therefore, as Mr. Gould observes, the more recent
one of _tricolor_, given by M. D’Orbigny, must be passed over.
2. BUTEO VARIUS. _Gould._
Buteo varius, _Gould_, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Part v.
1837, p. 10.
_B. vertice corporeque supra intensè fuscis, plumis fulvo marginatis
vel guttatis; primariis secundariisque cinereis, lineis numerosis
fuscis transversim striatis; caudâ cinerea, lineis angustis
numerosis fuscis transversim notatâ; singulis plumis
flavescenti-albo ad apicem notatis; gulâ fuliginosâ; pectore fulvo,
lineâ interruptâ nigrescente a gulâ tendente circumdato; abdomine
imo lateribusque stramineo et rufescenti-fusco variegatis; femoribus
crissoque stramineis lineis transversalibus anfractis
rufescenti-fuscis ornatis; rostro nigro; cerâ tarsisque olivaceis._
Long. tot. 21½; _alæ_, 16½; _caudæ_, 10; _tarsi_, 3¾.
COLOUR.—Head and back of neck umber brown, with edges of the feathers
fringed with fulvous, (or buff orange with some reddish orange) and
their bases white. Shoulders brown, with the feathers more broadly
edged. Back the same, with the basal part of the feathers fulvous,
with transverse bars of the dark brown. Tail blueish gray, with
numerous, narrow, transverse, faint black bars. Tail-coverts pale
fulvous, with irregular bars of dark fulvous and brown. Wings:
primaries blackish gray, obscurely barred; secondaries and
tertiaries more plainly barred, and tipped with fulvous. Wing
coverts, dark umber brown, largely tipped, and marked with large
spots, almost forming bars, of pale fulvous. _Under surface._—Chin
black; throat and breast ochre yellow, with a narrow dark brown line
on the shafts of the feathers, which, in those on the sides of the
throat and breast expands into a large oval spot. Feathers on belly
reddish brown, fringed and marked at base with the ochre yellow.
Lining of wings ochre yellow, with numerous transverse bars of dark
brown. Under-side of tail, inner webs almost white, outer pale gray,
with very obscure transverse bars. Thighs, ochre yellow, with
numerous zigzag transverse bars of pale reddish brown. Bill pale
blackish; iris brown; tarsi gamboge yellow.
FORM.—Fourth primary very little longer than third, and about half an
inch longer than fifth. First rather shorter than seventh, and
longer than eighth. Wings when folded reaching within two inches of
the extremity of the tail.
Inches.
Total length 21½
Length of tail 10
Wings when folded 16½
From tip of beak to within anterior edge of nostril,
measured in straight line ⁸⁵⁄₁₀₀
Tarsi from soles of feet to middle of knee joint 3¾
Middle toe, measured from basal joint to tip of claw 2½
Habitat, Strait of Magellan, (_February_,) and Port St. Julian in
Southern Patagonia, (_January._)
3. BUTEO VENTRALIS. _Gould._
Buteo ventralis, _Gould_, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Part v.
1837, p. 10.
_B. vertice corporeque intensè nitide fuscis, plumis dorsalibus
purpurascentibus; primariis nigris; caudâ fuscâ, lineis
obscurioribus cancellatâ numerosis, ad apicem sordidè albâ; gulâ
abdomine medio crissoque stramineo-albis; pectoris corporisque
lateribus fasciâ abdominali femoribusque flavescenti-albis fusco
notatis, notis in femoribus rufescentibus; tarsis per mediam partem
anticè plumosis, rostro nigro; cerâ tarsisque flavis._
Long. tot. 23 unc.; _alæ_, 15½; _caudæ_, 9½; _tarsi_, 3½.