General form compact and rather heavy; bill depressed, wide at base,
rather long, acute, with an indentation near the tip of the upper
mandible, and with several pairs of bristles at its base; wing long, the
second and third quills longest, and nearly equal; tail ample, wide;
tarsi rather long, slender; toes moderate or short. The species
generally have the feathers of the head above lengthened and crest-like,
and with other parts of the plumage of a fine scarlet color. An American
genus of Flycatchers inhabiting the southern portion of the northern and
nearly the whole of the southern division of this continent.
Pyrocephalus rubineus. (Boddaert.)
Muscicapa rubineus. Bodd., Tab. dez Pl. Enl. Buff., p. 42. (1783.)
Muscicapa coronata. Gm., Syst. Nat., II. p. 932. (1788.)
Form. Head above, from the base of the bill to the occiput, with long
crest-like feathers. General form rather broad and robust; wings and
tail long; legs slender.
Dimensions. Male. Total length (of skin), about 5½ inches; wing, 3¼;
tail, 2½ inches.
Colors. Adult Male. Long feathers of the head above, and entire under
parts, fine scarlet; brightest on the top of the head, palest on the
under tail-coverts. Upper parts of the body, line from behind the eye,
wings and tail, sepia brown; bill and feet dark. Under wing-coverts
frequently edged and tipped with pale red.
Female. Entire upper parts plain sepia brown; under parts
yellowish-white, with a few longitudinal lines of brown.
Young Male. Similar to the female, but with the flanks tinged with pale
red.
Hab. Texas and New Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. On comparison of our specimens from Texas with others from various
parts of South America, we cannot at present find differences sufficient
to induce us to regard them in any other light than as one species. The
present is the first bird of its genus which has been observed within
the limits of the United States.
The sexes of this species are quite unlike each other, the female having
none of the brilliant color of her companion.
The figures in our plate represent the adult and young males about
two-thirds of the natural size.
[Illustration: Plate 19
The Blue Partridge
Callipepla squamata (_Vigors_)]
CALLIPEPLA SQUAMATA.—(Vigors.)
The Blue Partridge. The Scaly Partridge.
PLATE XIX.—Male and Female.
This is another of the fine game birds that inhabit the countries on the
southwestern frontier of the United States, and the adjoining regions of
Mexico. Though not presenting such gay colors in its plumage as the two
other Partridges which we have previously figured in the present work,
it is by no means destitute of claim to respect in personal appearance,
and in gracefulness and delicacy of form is not at all their inferior.
We have always particularly admired its ample and curious crest, which
is possessed by both male and female, and, though admitting of being
flattened so as to lie close on the head, is usually to be seen erect,
and gives it an air unusually spirited and striking. It is remarkable
for great swiftness in running, and is more of an insect-eater than is
usual in this family of birds. It is abundant in Texas and New Mexico.
Specimens of this bird had reached Europe as early as 1830, in which
year it was first brought to the notice of naturalists by Mr. Vigors,
one of the founders of the Zoological Society of London, and one of the
most profound naturalists of the only school of systematic Zoology, the
Circularian and Quinarian, which Anglo-Saxon mind has yet produced, a
consideration one would think not slightly to be regarded. His
description is in the Zoological Journal, V. p. 275. It has, however,
always, until within a few years, been of great rarity in collections,
and nothing was known of its history or habits until the publication of
the valuable contributions to Natural History which have been made by
officers of the Army of the United States.
The Blue Partridge was first noticed within the territory of the United
States, by Lieut. J. W. Abert, a son of the distinguished officer who
presides over the Topographical Department of the Army. In Lieut.
Abert’s very able and valuable “Report of an examination of New Mexico
in the years 1846-7,” made as an officer of Topographical Engineers, and
which, besides its great military and geographical usefulness, contains
much information relating to the natural history of that country, we
find several notices of this bird, one of which, occurring under date of
twelfth of November, 1846 (p. 497), we take the liberty of transferring
to our pages:—
“After passing through the little town of Las Canas, we encountered
another hill of sand, very difficult of ascent, and after we reached the
top, we commenced the descent through a crooked ravine that was strewed
with fragments of rocks. On the way, we saw several flocks of crested
quails, which were running along with great rapidity among the clumps of
the Kreosote plant (_Larrea mexicana_). We procured one of them; at the
report of the gun, only three or four rose up; they seemed to depend
more on their fleetness of foot than swiftness of wing. This bird proved
to be the _Ortyx squamata_. The size, contour, and general character,
greatly resemble the common quail (_O. virginiana_); the plumage is of
soft, silvery gray, the iris hazel, and the crest fringed with white. On
opening the stomach, I found it filled with grass seeds and insects of
the order Hemiptera.” This is the earliest record of this bird having
been observed within the limits of the United States; subsequently, it
has been noticed by others.
Capt. S. G. French, of the United States Army, to whom we are indebted
for fine specimens of this and other birds of Western America, has also
favored us with the following note:—
“It was in 1846 that I first met with this bird near Camargo, on the Rio
Grande. At Monterey, none were to be found; but on the plains at Agua
Nueva, a few miles south of Saltillo, I observed them in considerable
numbers.
“Since then, I have met with them occasionally on the Upper Rio Grande,
in the vicinity of El Paso, and some seventy miles down the river from
that place. They inhabit the same section of country with Gambel’s
Partridge, though I have never seen them associated together in the same
covey. Their favorite resorts are the sandy chaparral and mesquite
bushes, through which they run with great swiftness, resorting to the
wing only when suddenly alarmed by finding themselves too nearly
approached.
“They appear to be very shy, and but seldom are found near habitations,
though I once saw a large covey run through my camp in the suburbs of El
Paso.
“The bird that I sent you was killed on the Rio Grande, below El Paso,
in July last (1852).”
Col. McCall, in his “Remarks on the habits, &c., of birds met with in
Western Texas,” in Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, V. p. 222,
thus alludes to the Blue Partridge:—
“This species I have met with, at different times, throughout a more
extended region than either of the former (the Massena Partridge and
Gambel’s Partridge), viz.: from Camargo on the lower Rio Grande, to
Santa Fé. On the present occasion, they were more numerous between the
latter point and Don Ana than elsewhere. They seem to prefer the
vicinity of the greater water-courses to interior tracts. They are much
more wild than either of the preceding, and being extremely watchful and
swift of foot, they elude pursuit with surprising skill, scarcely
resorting to flight even in comparatively open, sandy ground. They do
not approach the settlements as much as the last.
“For the table, all these species, however, possess in a high degree the
requisites of plump muscle and delicate flavour. Massena is, perhaps,
the best.”
The following more extended and beautiful sketch, referring to this
Partridge, has been very kindly furnished by the same gentleman (Col.
McCall), for our present article:—
“The _habitat_ of this species, as I have remarked elsewhere, embraces
an extensive region, the limits of which, though not yet positively
defined with any degree of accuracy, may, at least with reference to our
own territory, be asserted to lie principally within the valley of the
Rio Grande or Rio del Norte of Mexico. This valley, although
comparatively narrow, contains a country of great extent from north to
south; and embraces, in its stretch between the Rocky Mountains and the
Gulf of Mexico,—every variety of climate, from the extreme of cold to
that of tropical heat. This entire region, not even excepting the narrow
mountain-valleys, covered in winter with deep snows, is inhabited by the
species under consideration. I have met with it on the Rio Grande and
its affluents, from the 25th to the 38th degree of north latitude—that
is to say, from below Monterey, in Mexico, along the borders of the San
Juan river to its junction with the Rio Grande; and at different points
on the latter as high up as the Taos and other northern branches, which
gush from the mountain sides. I have also found it, though less
frequently, near the head of the Riado creek, which likewise rises in
the Rocky Mountains and flows eastwardly to the Canadian; further north
than this my examinations did not extend.
“Now, as the Partridge, wherever found, is always _resident_, there is
in the extensive distribution above noted, good proof of a hardiness of
constitution possessed by no other species of American Partridge, except
the common or Virginia Partridge; for no other species has been found in
regions as cold and inhospitable as those I have named. Again, arguing
from analogy, if the plainer plumage is always found in birds inhabiting
more northern latitudes, my opinion is strengthened when I look upon the
plain and sober hues of the _Blue_ Partridge as contrasted with the
bright and more decided colors of the _Massena_, _California_, and
_Gambel’s_ Partridges, all of which prefer the milder regions, and shun
those of snow.
“The habits, moreover, of this species are more like those of the common
Partridge than either of the others. I have shot these birds over a
pointer dog, and at times found them to lie sufficiently close to afford
good sport; this, however, it must be admitted, was not often the case,
and never, unless the cover was remarkably good; for, in general, they
are vigilant and wild, making their escape by running on the first
approach of danger. In swiftness of foot none of the family can compete
with them. When running, they keep the body erect and hold the head
high; and in this attitude they seem fairly to skim over the surface of
the ground. On such occasions the white plume is erected and spread out
like a fan, or rather like an old fashioned _chapeau de bras_, worn fore
and aft: this gives them a trim, jaunty air, that is peculiarly pleasing
and attractive. I remember once being particularly struck with the
beautiful appearance thus presented by a large covey that I came upon
suddenly in open sandy ground. It was in the month of February, just at
sunrise; I was half asleep on my horse, and thoroughly benumbed with
cold (having been in the saddle since two hours before daybreak, in
order to reach Eagle Spring by breakfast time), when a sudden start of
my horse roused me into wakefulness. On looking up, I beheld about
twenty of these birds in the trail a few yards in advance. Contrary to
their usual manner, they were strutting along, or rather slowly walking
away; and with their white _chapeaux_ spread out to the full extent,
they glanced over their shoulders and clucked to each other as if
uncertain whether danger threatened or not. I drew up my horse and
looked on with delight, until the little fellows finally took to their
heels and swiftly glided away to the nearest cover. This little incident
having restored me to full consciousness, I cast my eyes around, and
never shall I forget the sublime prospect that then burst upon my
enchanted gaze.
“A more glorious, a more heavenly dawn of day than this, it is
impossible to conceive! The heavy dew of the preceding night has been
congealed, and the whole country is white with frost. The rising sun
casts his broad beams over the vast plain, and in an instant its surface
is brilliant with sparkling crystals.
“The abrupt and isolated peaks, whose soft parts the frosts and storms
of past ages have loosened and swept away, seem in the distance to rear
still higher their lofty summits, now crowned with glittering diadems.
On all sides, to the farthest extent of my powers of vision, the varied
prospect is open to my view—hereaway, strongly defined, I behold the
bold outline of the Apache mountains; yonder, I regard, with admiration
growing as I gaze, the countless undulations of the prairie, each as it
succeeds the other diminishing in the distance until the last faint wave
is blended with the blue horizon. Still admiring as I turn, I find my
horse at last fairly faced about; and now another view, the grandest,
the strangest of all, is presented to my almost bewildered senses. It is
the _mirage_! Wonderful illusion, cruel mockery—how often hast thou
deceived the famished wanderer of the plains with the semblance of
water; leading him on farther and farther, and leaving him at last
sinking and exhausted in the midst of the desert!
“Behold! I clearly see a broad lake of bright water, with noble trees
growing on either hand; and nothing but the positive knowledge that this
counterfeit lake lies directly across the road over which I have just
passed, and the perfect certainty under which I rest, from actual
examination, that neither wood nor water is to be found in that
direction within thirty miles, can persuade me that what I now look upon
is not real! But I will return from this digression—yet, if this page
ever meets the eyes of my two companions on that expedition (Lieutenants
B—— and M——, of the 3d), they will remember the glorious sunrise, the
mirage, and finally, the covey of Partridges to which I have here
alluded.
“This species is found farther to the south on the Mexican side of the
Rio Grande than on our own, owing probably to the rugged character of
the country there, for I never met with it anywhere in low grounds. The
first appearance it makes in Texas is a little above Rhinosa, on the
first highlands on this side encountered in ascending the river from its
mouth. Thence up to the Rocky Mountains, the birds of this species may
be considered denizens of the United States, being about equally
distributed on both sides of the great river.”
In a paper in the “Registro Trimestre,” I. p. 144 (Mexico, 1832), Don
Pablo de la Llave, an able Mexican naturalist, gives a description of
this bird, and names it _Tetrao cristata_. He had kept it, with other
species, in captivity, and of his notice of it we give the following
translation: “The second species is considerably smaller than the
preceding,” (_Tetrao marmorata_, Llave, which is _Ortyx macroura_,
Jardine and Selby). “It has on its head a crest of feathers very erect
and soft, bill black, the neck moderate, body elongated, much
compressed, feet robust, gray or blackish, small, and have, more than in
_Tetrao_, the appearance of the Larks or Buntings. It is almost entirely
of a lead color, with the feathers of the breast speckled with black,
and those of the sides with many longitudinal bands of white. Its voice
is very much varied, and that of the male is loud, sounding like a
castanet, at the same time raising and depressing its head.
“I have not observed in this bird any courage;—it is very timid; all its
movements are rapid, and notwithstanding that I have fed my specimens
for a long time, every day they become more wild and intractable.
“It inhabits the _Mezquite_ regions in Northern Mexico.”
The contents of the stomachs of Capt. French’s specimens were
hemipterous insects, some of which were very minute, with a few seeds
and pods.
Our plate represents the male and female, which are nearly alike in
plumage, about two-thirds of the size of life.