figure, is 8 inches long, gradually contracts from a diameter of 1
inch to 4 twelfths, then enlarges until opposite the liver, where its
greatest diameter is 1-4/12. Its external transverse fibres are very
distinct, as are the internal longitudinal. The proventriculus, _b_, is
9 twelfths long, its glandules extremely small and numerous, roundish,
scarcely a quarter of a twelfth in length. The stomach, _c_, _d_, _e_,
is rather small, oblong, 1 inch 4 twelfths long, 11 twelfths broad,
muscular, with the lateral muscles moderate. The cuticular lining of
the stomach is disposed in nine broad longitudinal rugae of a light
red colour, as in the smaller Gulls and Terns. Its lateral muscles
are about 4 twelfths thick, the tendons, _e_, 6 twelfths in diameter.
The intestine is 2 feet 4 inches long, its average diameter 2-1/2
twelfths. The rectum is 2 inches long. One of the cœca is 4, the other
3 twelfths, their diameter 1-1/4 twelfths.
In another individual, the intestine is 22-1/2 inches long; the cœca 5
twelfths long, 1 twelfth in diameter; the rectum 1-3/4 inch long; the
cloaca 9 twelfths in diameter.
[Illustration]
The trachea is 5-3/4 inches long, round, but not ossified, its diameter
at the top 5 twelfths, contracting gradually to 2-1/2 twelfths. The
lateral or contractor muscles are small; the sterno-tracheal slender;
there is a pair of inferior laryngeals, going to the last ring of the
trachea. The number of rings is 90, and a large inferior ring. The
bronchi are of moderate length, but wider, their diameter being 3-1/2
twelfths at the upper part; the number of their half-rings about 18.
The digestive organs of this bird are precisely similar to those of
the Terns and smaller Gulls, to which it is also allied by many of its
habits.
BONAPARTIAN GULL.
_LARUS BONAPARTII_, SWAINS.
PLATE CCCXXIV. MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.
My first acquaintance with this species took place whilst I was at
Cincinnati, in the beginning of August 1819. I was crossing the Ohio,
along with Mr ROBERT BEST, then curator of the Cincinnati Museum,
for the purpose of visiting the Cliff Swallows which had taken up
their abode on the walls of the garrison on the Kentucky side, when
we observed two Gulls sweeping gracefully over the tranquil waters.
Now they would alight side by side, as if intent on holding a close
conversation; then they would rise on wing and range about, looking
downwards with sidelong glances, searching for small fishes, or perhaps
eyeing the bits of garbage that floated on the surface. We watched
them for nearly half an hour, and having learned something of their
manners, shot one, which happened to be a female. On her dropping, her
mate almost immediately alighted beside her, and was shot. There, side
by side, as in life, so in death, floated the lovely birds. One, having
a dark bluish nearly black head, was found to be the male; the other,
with a brown head, was a female. On the 12th of November 1820, I shot
one a few miles below the mouth of the Arkansas, on the Mississippi,
which corresponded in all respects with the male just mentioned.
No sooner do the shads and old-wives enter the bays and rivers of our
Middle Districts, than this Gull begins to shew itself on the coast,
following these fishes as if dependent upon them for their support,
which however is not the case, for at the time when these inhabitants
of the deep deposit their spawn in our waters, the Gull has advanced
beyond the eastern limits of the United States. However, after the
first of April, thousands of Bonapartian Gulls are seen gambling over
the waters of Chesapeake Bay, and proceeding eastward, keeping pace
with the shoals of fishes.
During my stay at Eastport in Maine, in May 1833, these Gulls were to
be seen in vast numbers in the harbour of Passamaquody at high water,
and in equal quantities at low water on all the sand and mud-bars in
the neighbourhood. They were extremely gentle, scarcely heeded us,
and flew around our boats so close that any number might have been
procured. My son JOHN shot seventeen of them at a single discharge
of his double-barrelled gun, but all of them proved to be young
birds of the preceding year. On examining these specimens, we found
no development of the ovaries in several, which, from their smaller
size, we supposed to be females, nor any enlargement of the testes in
the males; and as these young birds kept apart from those which had
brown and black hoods, I concluded that they would not breed until
the following spring. Their stomachs were filled with _coleopterous
insects_, which they caught on the wing, or picked up from the water,
into which they fell in great numbers when overtaken by a cold fog,
while attempting to cross the bay. On the 24th of August 1831, when at
Eastport with my family, I shot ten of these Gulls. The adult birds had
already lost their dark hood, and the young were in fine plumage. In
the stomach of all were shrimps, very small fishes, and fat substances.
The old birds were still in pairs.
When exploring the Bay of Fundy, in May 1833, I was assured by the
captain and sailors, as well as the intelligent pilot of the Revenue
Tender, the Nancy, that this Gull bred in great abundance on the
islands off Grand Manan; but unfortunately I was unable to certify
the fact, as I set out for Labrador previous to the time at which
they breed in that part of the country. None of them were observed
on any part of the Gulf of St Lawrence, or on the coast of Labrador
or Newfoundland. In winter this species is common in the harbour of
Charleston, but none are seen at that season near the mouths of the
Mississippi.
The flight of this Gull is light, elevated, and rapid, resembling
in buoyancy that of some of our Terns more than that of most of our
Gulls, which move their wings more sedately. I found the adult birds
in moult in August. Although their notes are different from those of
all our other species, being shriller and more frequent, I am unable to
represent them intelligibly by words.
Since I began to study the habits of Gulls, and observe their changes
of plumage, whether at the approach of the love season, or in autumn,
I have thought that the dark tint of their hoods was in the first
instance caused by the extremities of the feathers then gradually
changing from white to black or brown, without the actual renewal of
the feathers themselves, as happens in some species of land-birds. At
Eastport, I had frequent opportunities of seeing the black-hooded males
copulating with the brown-hooded females, so that the colour of the
head in the summer season is really distinctive of the sexes. I found
in London a pair of these birds, of which the sexes were distinguished
by the colour of the head, and which had been brought from Greenland.
They were forwarded by me to the EARL of DERBY, in whose aviaries they
are probably still to be seen.
This is certainly the species described in the Fauna Boreali-Americana
under the same name; but it is there stated that the females agree
precisely with the males, their hood being therefore “greyish-black;”
which I have never found to be the case. As to the _Larus capistratus_
of Bonaparte’s Synopsis, I have nowhere met with a Brown-headed Gull
having the tail “sub-emarginate;” and I infer that the bird described
by him under that name is merely the female of the present species.
LARUS BONAPARTII, BONAPARTIAN GULL, _Richards. and Swains._
Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 425.
BROWN-MASKED GULL, LARUS CAPISTRATUS, _Bonap._ Amer. Ornith.,
vol. iv. Female.
LARUS CAPISTRATUS, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of
United States, p. 358.
BONAPARTIAN GULL, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 294.
Adult Male in Spring Plumage. Plate CCCXXIV. Fig. 1.
Bill shorter than the head, nearly straight, slender, compressed.
Upper mandible with its dorsal line straight to the middle, then curved
and declinate, the ridge narrow, the sides slightly convex, the edges
sharp and a little inflected, the tips narrow but rather obtuse, with
a slight notch on each side. Nasal groove rather long and narrow;
nostrils in its fore part, longitudinal, submedial, linear, pervious.
Lower mandible with a slight prominence at the end of the angle,
which is long and narrow, the dorsal line then ascending and slightly
concave, the ridge convex, the sides nearly erect and flattened.
Head of moderate size, ovate, narrowed anteriorly, convex above. Eyes
of moderate size. Neck rather short. Body rather slender. Wings very
long. Feet of moderate length, rather strong; tibia bare below for a
short space, covered behind with narrow scutella; tarsus compressed,
anteriorly covered with numerous scutella and three inferior series
of transverse scales, laterally with oblong scales, posteriorly with
oblique scutella. Toes slender, with numerous scutella; first extremely
small, second considerably shorter than fourth, third longest; anterior
toes connected by reticulated webs, of which the anterior margins are
deeply concave, the outer and inner slightly marginate. Claws small,
compressed, moderately arched, rather obtuse, that of middle toe with
an expanded inner edge.
Plumage full, close, soft, blended. Wings very long and pointed;
primaries tapering and rounded, first longest, second very little
shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries obliquely pointed,
the rounded extremity extending beyond the tip of the shaft, which is
exterior to it, the inner feathers more elongated. Tail of moderate
length, almost even, the middle feathers slightly longer.
Bill black, inside of mouth vermilion. Iris reddish hazel. Feet orange,
slightly tinged with vermilion; claws dusky brown. Head and upper part
of neck all round, greyish-black, that colour extending half an inch
lower on the throat than on the occiput. A white band divided by a
narrow black line margining the eye behind; the remaining part of the
neck white; back, scapulars and wings, light greyish-blue. The anterior
ridge of the wing, alula, smaller coverts on the carpal margin, four
outer primary coverts, shaft and inner web of the outer primary, both
webs of second, inner webs of third and fourth white; of which colour
also are the rump, tail, and all the lower parts. Outer web of first
quill, excepting a small portion towards the end, its tip to the length
of half an inch, black, as are the ends of the next six, which however
have a small tip of white, the black on some of them about an inch
long, and running along the inner edge to a considerable extent.
Length to end of tail 14-1/8 inches, to end of wings 15-5/8, to end of
claws 13-1/8; extent of wings 32-1/4; wing from flexure 10-3/4; tail
4-2/12; bill along the ridge 1-4/12, along the edge of lower mandible
1-10/12; tarsus 1-3/12; hind toe and claw (3-1/4)/12; middle toe
1-3/12; its claw (3-1/4)/12, outer toe 1-(1/3)/12, its claw (2-1/4)/12;
inner toe 11/12, its claw (2-1/2)/12. Weight 6-1/2 oz.
Adult Female. Plate CCCXXIV. Fig. 2.
The female is somewhat smaller, and resembles the male, but has the
head and upper part of the neck umber brown.
Young in December. Plate CCCXXIV. Fig. 3.
Bill greyish-black, iris dark brown; feet flesh-coloured, claws
dusky. Head and neck greyish-white; a small black patch about an inch
behind the eye on each side. Upper parts dull bluish-grey, many of the
wing-coverts greyish brown, edged with paler; quills as in the adult;
rump and tail white, the latter with a broad band of black at the end,
the tips narrowly edged with whitish.
Length to end of tail 13-3/8, to end of wings 15-5/8, to end of claws
13; extent of wings 32-1/2 inches. Weight 6 oz.
The white spots on the tips of the wings vary greatly in size, and are
frequently obliterated when the feathers become worn.
Palate with five series of small distant papillæ. Tongue 1 inch 1-1/2
twelfths long, slender, tapering to a slit point, emarginate and
papillate at the base, horny towards the end. Aperture of posterior
nares linear, 9 twelfths long. Heart 1 inch long, 9 twelfths broad.
Right lobe of liver 1 inch 11 twelfths long, the other lobe 1 inch 7
twelfths.
The œsophagus is 6-1/2 inches long, very wide with rather thin
parietes, its average diameter when dilated 10 twelfths, within the
thorax enlarged to 1 inch 2 twelfths. The transverse muscular fibres
are distinct, the internal longitudinal less so; the mucous coat
longitudinally plicate. The proventriculus is 1/2 inch long, with very
numerous small glandules. The stomach is a small oblong gizzard, 10
twelfths long, 8 twelfths broad; its lateral muscles rather large, as
are its tendons. The inner coat or epithelium is of moderate thickness,
dense, with nine longitudinal broad rugæ, and of a brownish-red colour.
The intestine is 24-1/2 inches long, its diameter 2 twelfths. The
rectum is 1-1/2 inch long. The cœca are 2 twelfths long, 1 twelfth in
diameter, cylindrical and obtuse.
The intestine of another individual, a male, is 20-1/2 inches long, 3
twelfths in diameter.
The trachea is 3 inches 10 twelfths long, its diameter at the top 3
twelfths, at the lower part 2-1/4 twelfths, the rings very feeble,
unossified, about 130 in number. The sterno-tracheal muscles are very
slender, as are the contractors; and there is a pair of inferior
laryngeals. The bronchi are of moderate length, with about 18 half
rings.
BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK.
_FULIGULA ALBEOLA_, BONAP.
PLATE CCCXXV. MALE AND FEMALE.
There are no portions of the Union on the waters of which this
beautiful miniature of the Golden-eye Duck is not to be found,
either during the autumnal months or in winter; and, therefore, to
point out any particular district as more or less favoured by its
transient visits would be useless. The miller’s dam is ornamented by
its presence; the secluded creeks of the Middle States are equally
favoured by it as the stagnant bayous and lakes of Lower Louisiana; in
the Carolinas and on the Ohio, it is not less frequent; it being known
in these different districts by the names of Spirit Duck, Butter-box,
Marrionette, Dipper, and Die-dipper. It generally returns from the far
north, where it is said to breed, about the beginning of September, and
many reach the neighbourhood of New Orleans by the middle of October,
at which period I have also observed them in the Floridas. Their
departure from these different portions of our country varies from
the beginning of March to the end of May. On the 11th of that month in
1833, I shot some of them near Eastport in Maine. None of them have, I
believe, been found breeding within the limits of the Union. During the
period of their movements towards the north, I found them exceedingly
abundant on the waters of the Bay of Fundy, the males in flocks, and
in full dress, preceding the females about a fortnight, as is the case
with many other birds.
The Marrionette—and I think the name a pretty one—is a very hardy bird,
for it remains at times during extremely cold weather on the Ohio,
when it is thickly covered with floating ice, among which it is seen
diving almost constantly in search of food. When the river is frozen
over, they seek the head waters of the rapid streams, in the turbulent
eddies of which they find abundance of food. Possessed of a feeling
of security arising from the rapidity with which they can dive, they
often allow you to go quite near them, though they will then watch
every motion, and at the snap of your gun, or on its being discharged,
disappear with the swiftness of thought, and perhaps as quickly rise
again, within a few yards as if to ascertain the cause of their alarm.
I have sometimes been much amused to see the apparent glee with which
these little Dippers would thus dive at the repeated snappings of
a miserable flint lock, patiently tried by some vagrant boys, who
becoming fatigued with the ill luck of their piece, would lay it aside,
and throw stones at the birds, which would appear quite pleased.
Their flight is as rapid as that of our Hooded Merganser, for they
pass through the air by regularly repeated beats of their wings, with
surprising speed; and yet this is the best time for the experienced
sportsman to shoot them, as they usually fly low. Their note is a mere
croak, much resembling that of the Golden-eye, but feebler. At the
approach of spring, the males often swell their throats and expand the
feathers of the head, whilst they utter these sounds, and whilst moving
with great pomposity over the waters. Often too, they charge against
each other, as if about to engage in combat, but I have never seen them
actually fighting.
When these birds return to us from the north, the number of the young
so very much exceeds that of the old, that to find males in full
plumage is much more uncommon than toward the time of their departure,
when I have thought the males as numerous as the females. Although at
times they are very fat, their flesh is fishy and disagreeable. Many
of them, however, are offered for sale in our markets. I have often
found some of them on inland ponds, which they seemed loth to leave,
for, although repeatedly shot at, they would return. Their food is much
varied according to situation. On the sea-coast, or in estuaries, they
dive after shrimps, small fry, and bivalve shells; and in fresh-water,
they feed on small crayfish, leeches, and snails, and even grasses.
Not having found any of these birds in Labrador or Newfoundland, I am
unable to say anything as to their nests. Dr RICHARDSON states, that
they frequent the rivers and fresh-water lakes throughout the Fur
Countries in great numbers, but does not mention having observed them
breeding. As in almost all other species of this family, the young of
both sexes in autumn resemble the adult female. Dr TOWNSEND has found
this species on the streams of the Rocky Mountains, and it has been
observed as far westward as Monterey in New California.
ANAS ALBEOLA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 199.—_Lath._ Ind.
Ornith. vol. ii. p. 867.
ANAS BUCEPHALA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 200; ANAS
RUSTICA, p. 201.
BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK, ANAS ALBEOLA, _Wilson_, American Ornith.
vol. viii. p. 51, pl. 67, fig. 2, 3.
FULIGULA ALBEOLA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of United
States, p. 394.
CLANGULA ALBEOLA, SPIRIT DUCK, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna
Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 458.
SPIRIT DUCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 445.
Adult Male. Plate CCCXXV. Fig. 1.
Bill much shorter than the head, comparatively narrow, deeper than
broad at the base, gradually depressed towards the end, which is
rounded. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight and sloping to
the middle, then nearly straight, at the end decurved; the ridge broad
and flat at the base, narrowed between the nostrils, convex towards
the end, the sides convex, the edges soft, with about thirty-five
lamellæ, the unguis oblong. Nostrils submedial, linear, pervious,
nearer the ridge than the margin. Lower mandible flat, ascending,
curved at the base, the angle long, rather narrow, the dorsal line very
slightly convex, the edges with about forty lamellæ, the unguis broadly
elliptical.
Head rather large, compressed. Eyes of moderate size. Neck short and
thick. Body compact, depressed. Feet very short, placed far back;
tarsus very short, compressed, having anteriorly in its whole length a
series of small scutella, and above the outer toe a few broad scales,
the rest covered with reticular angular scales. Hind toe very small,
with a free membrane beneath; anterior toes longer than the tarsus,
connected by reticulated membranes, having a sinus on their free
margins, the inner with a narrow lobed marginal membrane, the outer
with a thickened edge, the third and fourth about equal and longest,
all covered above with numerous narrow scutella. Claws small, slightly
arched, obtuse, that of first toe very small, of third largest, and
with an inner thin edge.
Plumage dense, soft and blended. Feathers on the fore part of the
head very small and rounded, on the upper and hind parts linear and
elongated, as they also are on the lateral and hind parts of the upper
neck, so that when raised, they give the head an extremely tumid
appearance, which is the more marked that the feathers of the neck
immediately beneath are short. Wings very small, decurved, pointed; the
outer primaries pointed, the first longest, the rest rapidly graduated;
the secondaries incurved, obliquely rounded, the inner much elongated
and acuminate. Tail short, graduated, of sixteen feathers.
Bill light greyish-blue. Iris hazel. Feet very pale flesh-colour, claws
brownish-black. Fore part of the head of a deep rich green, upper part
rich bluish-purple, of which colour also are the elongated feathers on
the fore part and sides of the neck, the hind part of the latter deep
green; a broad band of pure white from one cheek to the other over
the occiput. The coloured parts of the head and neck are splendent and
changeable. The rest of the neck, the lower parts, the outer scapulars,
and a large patch on the wing, including the greater part of the
smaller coverts and some of the secondary coverts and quills, pure
white, the scapulars narrowly margined with black, as are the inner
lateral feathers. Axillary feathers brownish-black, some of them white
on the margins and towards the end; lower wing-coverts brownish-black,
the smaller tipped with white. The back, inner scapulars, and inner
secondary quills, velvet-black. The feathers on the anterior edge of
the wing are black, narrowly edged with white; alula, primary coverts,
and primary quills deep black. The feathers on the rump gradually fade
into greyish-white, and those of the tail are brownish-grey, with the
edges paler, and the shafts dusky.
Length to end of tail 14-1/2 inches, to end of wings 13-3/4, to end
of claws 15-3/4; extent of wings 23; wing from flexure 6-3/4; tail
3-1/4; bill along the ridge 1-2/12, along the edge of lower mandible
1-(5-1/2)/12; tarsus 1-3/12 hind toe and claw 8/12; outer toe 2-1/12,
its claw 2-1/2/12; middle toe 2, its claw (3-1/2)/12; inner toe and
claw 1-9/12. Weight 1 lb.
Adult Female. Plate CCCXXV. Fig. 2.
The female is much smaller. The plumage of the head is not elongated as
in the male, but there is a ridge of longish feathers down the occiput
and nape. Bill darker than that of the male; feet greyish-blue, with
the webs dusky. Head, upper part of neck, hind neck, back and wings,
greyish-brown; a short transverse white band from beneath the eye, and
a slight speck of the same on the lower eyelid. Six of the secondary
quills white on the outer web. Lower parts white, shaded into light
greyish-brown on the sides; tail dull greyish-brown.
Length to end of tail 13 inches, to end of claws 13-1/2, to end of
wings 11-1/2; extent of wings 22-1/4. Weight 8 oz.
Individuals of both sexes differ much in size, and in the tints of
their plumage.
In an adult male, the tongue is 1 inch and 2 twelfths long, fleshy,
and of the same general form as in the other ducks already described.
The œsophagus is 6-3/4 inches long, passes along the right side, has
a diameter at the top of 4-1/2 twelfths, enlarges about the middle to
9 twelfths, and contracts to 1/2 inch as it enters the thorax. The
proventriculus is 1 inch long, 8 twelfths in its greatest diameter,
its glandules, which are of moderate size, forming a complete belt,
as in all other ducks. The stomach is a muscular gizzard of a roundish
form, 1 inch 5 twelfths long, 1 inch 4 twelfths in breadth; its lateral
muscles 5 twelfths in thickness; its epithelium tough, hard, and
slightly rugous. The intestine is 3 feet 11 inches long; its average
diameter 3 twelfths, its walls thick, and its inner surface villous.
The rectum is 3 inches long; the cœca 2-1/4 inches in length, their
diameter at the commencement 1 twelfth, towards the end 2 twelfths.
The trachea is 5 inches long, much flattened, its rings unossified, its
diameter at the top 2-3/4 twelfths, towards the lower part 3 twelfths,
having scarcely any appearance of dilatation at the part which is so
excessively enlarged in the Golden-eyed Duck, which in form and habits
is yet very closely allied. The lateral muscles are strong, and there
are cleido-tracheal and sterno-tracheal muscles, as in other ducks.
COMMON GANNET.
_SULA BASSANA_, LACEP.
PLATE CCCXXVI. ADULT MALE AND YOUNG.