Genus Callipepla. Wagler in Isis, 1832, p. 277.
Head, with a crest of long feathers, either pendent or erectile, and
recurved; bill, short, with the upper mandible curved gradually from the
base, under mandible straight, and near the tip having generally two
dentations, nostrils rather large, basal, covered with a membrane.
Wings, rather ample, concave, quills rigid; tail, rather lengthened,
strong; tarsi rather long and moderately robust. About six species
known, all of which inhabit Mexico, and the adjoining parts of the
United States and California, and are birds of beautiful plumage.
“Lophortyx Gambelii. Nutt.” Gambel. Proc. Acad. Philada., I. p. 260,
(1843.)
Form. With an upright recurved crest of about six feathers, general form
robust, rather lengthened; wings, with the third, fourth and fifth
quills nearly equal and longest; tail, long; feet and legs robust.
Feathers in front, at the base of the bill very narrow and probably
erectile.
Dimensions of skins, total length from tip of bill to end of tail, from
9¾ to 10½ inches; wing, 4½; tail, 4 to 4½ inches; of living or recent
bird, according to Col. McCall, as above, total length of male, 10½ to
11⅜ inches; of female, 10⅜ to 10⅝ inches.
Colours. Male. Frontal feathers white, each having a narrow longitudinal
line of black, succeeding those a transverse band of white. Top of the
head, fine reddish chestnut, crest, brownish black. Throat, black, which
colour is completely enclosed by an edging of white.
Entire plumage of the upper parts of the body, neck, wings, and tail,
light bluish cinereous; feathers of the neck above, slightly marked in
the middle with dark chestnut; flanks and sides, dark chestnut, every
feather with a longitudinal strip of white; middle of the breast and
abdomen white, with a large black spot on the latter. Bill, dark.
Female. Throat, ashy white, with no vestige of black, as in the male.
Head, above, plain cinereous, or with the colours of the male very
faintly indicated; other parts of the plumage similar, but more obscure
and paler. Crest, less fully developed.
Hab. Texas. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada., and Nat. Coll. Washington
city.
Obs. Nearly related to, and, at first sight, bearing considerable
resemblance to, the California Partridge, (_C. Californica_.) From this,
however, it is easily distinguished by the entirely different colour of
the inferior parts of the body, and other characters easily discovered
on the most superficial examination.
According to the rule which has become part of the code of zoological
jurisprudence, which has gradually formed itself, and is now almost
universally adopted, the name properly to be cited as the authority for
this species ought not to be “Nuttall.” It was first described in a
paper written by Dr. Gambel himself, without allusion to his learned
friend and patron, Mr. Nuttall, as joint author, editor, or otherwise.
Nevertheless, as we happen to know that that distinguished gentleman did
furnish the specific name in question, and others in the paper alluded
to, we, for the present, acquiesce in the citation of his name. But
under no circumstances can this method be allowed as a general
principle. No person is the authority for a species unless he is the
first to publish a description of it, and the citing of a name as the
authority for a species ought always to be based on that fact, the
neglect of which has caused much difficulty and confusion in zoological
nomenclature.
BERNICLA NIGRICANS.—(Lawrence.)
The Black Brant.
PLATE X.—Adult Male.
This is a very remarkable and distinct species of Brant, first noticed
by our esteemed friend Mr. George N. Lawrence, an Ornithologist of great
ability and accuracy, of the city of New York. It was described by him
in a paper read before the Lyceum of Natural History of that city, and
published in its Annals, IV. p. 171, (1846.)
Mr. Lawrence states in the paper alluded to: “I have taken the above
description and figure from an adult female, procured at Egg Harbour, N.
J., in January. Since then two others have been obtained at the same
place, one of which I have in my possession. On dissection it proved to
be a male. It agrees in markings with the female, but is evidently a
younger bird, being somewhat lighter in the colour of its plumage. From
this, I infer, they become darker by age. It is a little larger than the
female, the bill being also stouter, measuring seven-eighths of an inch
high at the base.
“When on a shooting excursion some years since at Egg Harbour, I noticed
a bird flying at some distance from us, which our gunner said was a
Black Brant. This was the first intimation I had of such a bird. Upon
further inquiry, he informed me that he had seen them occasionally, but
that they were not common. I have learned from Mr. P. Brasier, who has
passed much time at that place, that, speaking to the gunners about
them, they said they were well known by the name of Black Brant, and one
of them mentioned having once seen a flock of five or six together.
“From these facts it appears to be known to gunners, but has heretofore
escaped the notice of Ornithologists. With all my inquiries I have not
been able to procure a specimen before this winter. I think it a good
and well marked species.”
We have had the pleasure of seeing the specimen described by Mr.
Lawrence, and entirely coincide with him in his conclusion. It is
precisely similar to others that have come under our notice, and all
presenting the same peculiar specific characters.
[Illustration: Plate 10
The Black Brant
Bernicla migricans (_Lawrence_)]
To the gunners of Philadelphia this bird is known by the same name, and
we have seen several specimens which have been shot in Delaware Bay, and
at various points on the sea-coast. Our friend Mr. John Krider,
Gunsmith, whose establishment is a favourite place of resort of the
Ornithologists and gunners of this city, and who is well acquainted with
American birds, and very successful in obtaining specimens of rare
species, has had several specimens of this Brant brought to him within
the last two or three years. It must, however, be considered as a
species of rather unusual occurrence on the Atlantic coast, but perhaps
not more so than the Snow Goose, and others which are well known. As is
the case with the birds just mentioned, it is probable, too, that the
migration of this Brant does not commonly reach so far southward as the
latitude of either of the large cities on the Atlantic.
Several species of Geese, which appear to be unknown to Naturalists,
have been noticed by travellers in various parts of North America, but
especially in the northern and Arctic regions. Of these we shall give an
account, somewhat in detail in a succeeding article; at present, we are
acquainted with one allusion only, which we think it not improbable has
reference to the species now before us. It is in Sir John Richardson’s
“Arctic Searching Expedition,” a journal of a Boat voyage through
Rupert’s land and the Arctic Sea, in search of the discovery ships under
command of Sir John Franklin, London, 1851, New York, 1852. In citing an
account of the valley of the Yukon river, in about lat. 66° north, long.
147° west, contained in a letter to him from Mr. Murray, a resident in
that country, the following statements occur (American edition, p. 305):
“White Geese (Snow Geese, _Chen hyperboreus_) are also passengers here;
and there are likewise _Black Geese_, which I presume you have never
seen. A few of them pass down Peel’s River, but they are more abundant
on the Yukon. They are very handsome birds, considerably smaller than
the White Geese, and have a dark brown or brownish black colour, with _a
white ring round the neck_, the head and bill having the shape of that
of the Bustard (the Canada Goose, _Anser Canadensis_). The Black Geese
are the least numerous, and the latest that arrive here. They fly in
large flocks with remarkable velocity, and generally pass on without
remaining as the others do, some days to feed. When they alight, it is
always in the water; and if they wish to land, they swim ashore. They
are very fat, and their flesh has an oily and rather disagreeable taste.
“Bustards, Laughing Geese, Ducks, and large Gulls, make their appearance
here from the 27th to the 29th of April; Snow Geese and Black Geese
about the 15th or 16th of May, when the other kinds become plentiful.
They have mostly passed by the end of the month, though some, especially
the Bustards, are seen in June. The White Geese and Black Geese breed
only on the shores of the Arctic Sea. They return in September, and
early in October, flying high, and seldom halting.”
Sir John Richardson seems inclined to the opinion that the common Brant
is here alluded to; which, however, we cannot consider so probable as
that it is our present bird. So well acquainted with the water birds of
Europe and America as he is, it could scarcely have been supposed by Mr.
Murray that he had never seen so abundant a species as the common Brant.
Besides, the white ring round the neck, as described, is exactly
applicable to the Black Brant now before us, and its uniting on the
front of the neck forms a peculiar character sufficient to distinguish
it from any other species.