Genus Melanerpes. Swainson, in Fauna Boreali Americana, Birds, p. 316,
and Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopedia, Birds, Vol. II. p. 310.
London, 1837.
Bill straight, rather wide at the base and somewhat cylindrical, ridge
of the upper mandible arched, and with a slightly developed lateral
ridge on each side, nostrils basal, nearly concealed by projecting
plumes. Wings long, first primary spurious, fourth and fifth usually
longest, tail moderate, composed of broad and strong feathers. Tarsi and
feet moderate or rather strong; two external toes before and behind,
nearly equal. General form short and robust; color black, varied with
red and white. Type _M. erythrocephalus_. (Linn.)
Melanerpes formicivorus. (Swainson.)
Picus formicivorus. Swainson in Taylor’s Phil. Mag., 1827, (p. 439,)
London.
Picus melanopogon. Temminck, Pl. col. Vol. IV., pl. 451. Leyden, about
1829.
Melampicos flavigula. Malherbe in Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1849, p. 542?
(Paris.)
Form. Compact and rather robust; wing long, with the second and third
quills longest, and nearly equal; tail rather broad, and with the
feathers but moderately rigid at their ends, unless worn; feet
moderately robust; toes long; claws much curved. Rather larger than
_Melanerpes erythrocephalus_. (Linn.)
Dimensions. (Of a skin from California.) Total length from tip of bill
to end of tail, about 9½ inches; wing, 5¾; tail, 3½ inches.
Colors. Male. Short feathers immediately around the base of the bill,
black. Broad subfrontal band, pure white, which unites with a wide,
somewhat crescent-shaped mark of the same color, tinged with pale yellow
on the throat and neck in front. Large coronal and occipital space
immediately succeeding the white subfrontal band, fine light crimson, of
which color there is also a small, irregular spot or two in the centre
of a black band on the upper part of the breast.
Cheeks, back, wings, and tail fine deep black, with a greenish gloss.
Band of black across the breast, succeeded by another, in which the
feathers are longitudinally marked with black and white; feathers of the
flanks, and under tail coverts, white, with black longitudinal stripes;
middle of the abdomen, rump, and spot at the base of the primaries, pure
white. The latter most readily observed on the inferior surface of the
wing. Secondary quills rather widely bordered with white on their
internal edges. Bill nearly black; legs and feet lighter. Female similar
to the male, but with a wide band of black on the top of the head.
Hab. California and Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.
Observations. The bird described by Temminck as _Picus melanopogon_ is
stated by him to have been received from Mexico, and his figure is
certainly the bird which is the subject of our present article. His
description and figure are in Livraison 76 of the Planches Colorices,
which was published about 1828 or 1829, but bears no date, and was
anticipated by Swainson’s publication in the Philos. Magazine.
In the Revue et Magazin de Zoologie, for 1849, p. 542, M. Alfred
Malherbe, who has devoted much attention to the study of the
woodpeckers, has named a species _Melampicos flavigula_, and has very
carefully pointed out differences which he considers sufficient to
establish it as distinct from _Picus melanopogon_. He relies almost
entirely on the greater or lesser extent and relative widths of the
white, black and red spaces on their heads. Notwithstanding the
extensive knowledge which M. Malherbe undoubtedly possesses from his
great attention to this family of birds, I cannot see that there are any
characters given which may not be very properly attributed to
differences in age or sex, and I have accordingly felt myself justified
in suspecting it to be the same as the present species, having before me
specimens which I understand to represent both of them.
No dependence can be placed in the extent of the red color on the head,
as a character, so far as I have observed, in the woodpeckers of the
United States. In _Picus pubescens_, a common species in Pennsylvania,
the young male has the head above entirely crimson, which color in the
adult is restricted to a narrow occipital band. I do not know that the
change in others of our species is so decided, but the width of the
occipital stripe is much varied in different specimens of the same
species, and my impression is, that as a specific character this very
ornamental portion of the plumage of woodpeckers ought to be estimated
with great caution.
[Illustration: Plate 3
The Black-crested Chickadee
Lophophanes atricristatus (_Cassin_)]
LOPHOPHANES ATRICRISTATUS.—(Cassin.)
The Black-crested Chickadee.
PLATE III.—Male and Female.
The pleasant little birds of the same family as those known in Great
Britain as Tits or Tit-mice, have received in America, from the
characteristic notes of several of the species, the name of Chickadees.
Popular names being entirely of a local character and of little
scientific value, we invariably prefer to give those by which species
are known in this country instead of the names of birds allied to or
resembling them which inhabit Europe, though the latter are generally
adopted by American writers.
The species of this family, which are permanent residents in the middle
and northern States, and especially the tufted or crested Chickadee (_L.
bicolor_,) are among the very first of the feathered inhabitants of our
woodlands to welcome the advent of spring, and to hail with their clear
and melodious notes the earliest tokens of the decline of winter. Even
on fine days in February or early in March, the crested Chickadee may
often be heard, apparently indulging himself in gratifying anticipations
of the approaching spring-time; or it may be, that not being
instinctively weather-wise like the beaver, and not at all versed in
wise saws or modern instances, he thinks that it has already come. Which
conclusion, though sometimes adopted quite as summarily by tidy
house-keepers, is very apt to be demonstrated by the storms of St.
Patrick’s day to be entirely illusory.
The tits or chickadees are abundant birds in the temperate and northern
regions of both hemispheres, most so perhaps in Europe, though the
researches of ornithologists have added numerous species to those
formerly known to inhabit Asia and America. Several very handsome birds
of this family have been discovered, within a few years, inhabiting the
Himalaya mountains, and other parts of India, and in Japan. In North
America the species have increased from two only, which were figured by
the celebrated Wilson, to twelve, the additions having been principally
from the Western States, and from Texas and Mexico, and there can be no
doubt that in the almost unexplored countries of North-Western America
as well as in those which have received a greater degree of the
attention of zoological travellers, such as Texas, California and
Mexico, others yet remain to be discovered.
There are about fourteen European species of this group of birds, and
about twenty which are exclusively Asiatic. A few species of allied
genera inhabit Africa and New Zealand, but none of near relationship
have yet been found in Australia nor in South America.
The species of all countries appear to be very similar in their habits,
and live almost entirely in the forests, subsisting exclusively on
insects in the summer, and in the winter partially substituting seeds
and berries for their more grateful food.
The black-crested chickadee is a native of Texas and probably also of
Mexico. It was discovered in the former country by Mr. John Woodhouse
Audubon, a son of the distinguished ornithologist, and was first
described by us in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia. It is very similar to the crested chickadee in form and
general appearance, but exhibits a striking difference in having the
crest entirely black, by which character it is distinguished from all
others of the genus to which it belongs.
The only information that we have obtained relative to its history has
been communicated to us by Samuel W. Woodhouse, M. D., who was attached,
as surgeon and naturalist, to a party under the command of Captain
Sitgreaves of the Topographical Engineers of the Army of the United
States, which surveyed the rivers Zunia and the Colorado of the west, by
order of the Government.
Dr. Woodhouse has had the kindness to allow us to copy the following
memoranda from his Journal, which will be published at an early period,
with the Report made by Captain Sitgreaves to the Topographical
Department, and will be an important contribution to the natural history
of Texas and New Mexico:
“While our party was encamped on the Rio Salado in Texas, near San
Antonio, in March, 1851, I observed this handsome little chickadee for
the first time. It was busily engaged in capturing insects among the
trees on the bank of the stream, and like the other species of its
family, was incessantly in motion and very noisy. At our camp at Quihi,
on the eighth of May, I again found it very abundant among the oaks. The
young males, which were then fully grown, much resembled the adult
females, both wanting the black crest which characterizes the male.
Afterwards I noticed this species, occurring sparingly, along our route,
as far as the head waters of the San Francisco river in New Mexico.
“I observed it almost entirely in trees bordering streams of water, the
females and young males invariably having the crest of the same
cinereous color as their general plumage, but in the latter slightly
tinged with brown. It occurred in small parties, appeared to be very
sociable and lively in its habits, and in general appearance and in
nearly all its notes which I heard, it so very much resembled the common
crested chickadee of the Northern States as scarcely to be recognized as
a distinct species at a short distance.”
The collection made by Dr. Woodhouse contains fine specimens of this
bird, from a male and female of which, and from Mr. Audubon’s specimens,
our plate has been prepared. We have represented both sexes about
three-fourths of the natural size.
The plant figured is the _Phlox Drummondii_, a beautiful species which
is a native of New Mexico and California.