Bill short, conical, wide at base, wings long, pointed, second and third
quills longest, tail moderate or rather short, tarsi and feet strong,
colors in males usually purple, size small.
Carpodacus familiaris. M‘Call, Proc. Acad. Philada. VI. p. 61. (April
1852.)
Form. Generally similar to that of _Carpodacus purpureus_ (Gm.), but
smaller than either that species or _Carpodacus frontalis_. (Say.) Bill
short, strong; shorter, more curved above and more turgid than that of
_C. purpureus_. Wing rather long, with the first, second and third
quills longest and nearly equal, secondaries truncate and emarginate,
tail slightly emarginate only, not forked as in _C. purpureus_, legs,
feet and claws moderate.
Dimensions of a skin from California: Total length from tip of bill to
end of tail about 5½ inches, wing 3¼, tail 2¾ inches. Col. M‘Call gives
the total length of the recent bird as 6 inches, 1 line and alar extent
10 inches.
Colors. Male. Head entirely, back, rump, superior tail-coverts, neck
before and breast, brownish red, inclining to crimson, most clear and
distinct on the rump, superior tail-coverts and front immediately at the
base of the bill, and most obscure on the back.
Wings and tail, blackish brown, every feather having paler edgings.
Abdomen and inferior tail-coverts, white, every feather having a
longitudinal stripe of brown.
Bill, pale yellowish brown, lighter on the lower mandible.
Female. Without red on any part of the plumage. Body above, dark
brownish, every feather having a longitudinal central stripe of a darker
shade of the same color, and edged with lighter inclining to cinereous.
Body beneath, sordid white, longitudinally dashed with brown.
Young Male. Much resembling the female, but with the red color appearing
on the front at the base of the bill, on the neck and rump.
Hab. New Mexico and California. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada., and Nat.
Coll. Washington.
Obs. This bird bears considerable resemblance to _Carpodacus purpureus_,
but is smaller, and has occasionally been mistaken for _Carpodacus
frontalis_. The latter is a distinct and very handsome Western American
species, the young of which only has been figured, but of which adult
specimens have been brought home by Mr. Bell and others.
It is possible that the present is the bird alluded to by Swainson as
_Fringilla purpurea?_ in Fauna Boreali Americana, II. p. 264, and by Sir
William Jardine in his edition of Wilson’s American Ornithology, I. p.
121, (London and Edinburgh, 1832, 3 vols. octavo). The _Fringilla
hæmorrhoa_, Wagler Isis, XXIV. p. 525, appears to be too large for this
bird and more like the common _C. purpureus_.
PARUS SEPTENTRIONALIS.—Harris.
The Long-tailed Chickadee.
PLATE XIV.—Male Adult.
The form and general appearance of this little bird resemble those of
its congeners, the Black-capped Chickadee (_P. atricapillus_) and the
Carolina Chickadee (_P. carolinensis_). It is, however, larger than
either of those species, and presents other characters which not only
fully demonstrate it to be entitled to specific distinction, but, very
probably, to possess features in its history different in some respects
from any of its relatives.
Its bill is longer and more strongly developed, indicating perhaps a
different race of insects as its food. Its tail is unusually long, and
its entire organization stronger and larger than either of the species
above mentioned, with the larger of which (_P. atricapillus_), it has
erroneously been considered identical by some European authors.
This little bird is strictly a western species, and for its discovery
and the first description of it, we are indebted to Edward Harris, Esq.,
of New Jersey, well known as one of the most eminent cultivators of
Zoological science in America. It was discovered by Mr. Harris during a
visit to the Upper Missouri and Yellow Stone rivers, in company with the
late Mr. Audubon, and which was the last journey ever performed by the
latter distinguished gentleman. The description, with some valuable
observations on other species of the genus _Parus_, was first published
in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, Vol. II. p. 300, (Dec.
1845,) from which we make the following extract:
“A single specimen of this bird was procured on the 26th of July on the
Yellow Stone river, about thirty miles above its junction with the
Missouri. It is evidently a bird of the season, with immature plumage,
to which may be attributed the dullness of the black on the head and
throat. On comparison of this bird with _P. carolinensis_ and _P.
atricapillus_, it will be perceived that, beginning with the smallest
bird, the parts which are black, decrease, and the white parts increase
in size and intensity, in ascending. In _septentrionalis_ the outer web
of the lateral tail-feather is entirely white, except a small portion at
the base, where there is a slight tinge of grey next the shaft; and the
quills, secondaries and all the tail-feathers are margined more broadly
and with a purer white than in the other species.
[Illustration: Plate 14
The Northern Chickadee
Parus septentrionalis (_Harris_)]
“The note of this bird is similar to that of _P. atricapillus_, but its
voice more liquid and less harsh and querulous in the utterance. Bill
longer and stouter.”
This bird has been received at the Philadelphia Academy in a collection
made by Mr. Edward M. Kern, while attached as Artist to the exploring
party commanded by Col. Frémont in 1846. A very fine specimen is in the
collection made by the surveying party under the command of Capt.
Stansbury in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, and is noticed
in Prof. Baird’s Zoological appendix to Capt. Stansbury’s Report, p.
316. (June 1852.)
Our figure is of the size of life, and the plant represented is
_Microsperma Bartonioides_, a native of Western America.