Genus Buteo. Cuvier, Regne Animal, I., p. 323. (1817.)
Buteo insignatus. Cassin, Birds of California and Texas, I., p. 102.
(1854.)
Form. Short and robust; wing long; third quill longest, secondaries
emarginate at their tips; quills wide; tail moderate or rather short,
somewhat rounded; under coverts of the tail long; tarsi rather short,
feathered in front below the joints, with the tibiæ naked behind, and
having in front about ten transverse scales; claws rather long,
moderately curved; bill short; upper mandible slightly festooned.
Dimensions. _Adult male._—Total length of skin, 17 inches; wing, 14½;
tail, 7½ inches.
Colors. Under coverts of the wing and tail white, the former striped
longitudinally with pale ferruginous, each feather having a central dark
line, and the latter transversely with reddish-brown; edges of wings at
the shoulders nearly pure white; plumage of the tibiæ rufous, mixed with
brown; throat and a few feathers of the forehead white, each feather
having a line of dark brown, nearly black; entire other plumage above
and below dark brown, nearly every feather having a darker or nearly
black central line; quills above brown, with a slight purple lustre,
beneath pale cinerous, with their shafts white, and with irregular and
indistinct transverse bands of white; tail above dark brown, with an
ashy or hoary tinge, and having about ten transverse bands of a darker
shade of the same color; beneath nearly white, with conspicuous
transverse bands of brown, the widest of which is subterminal; tip
paler; bill dark; cere, tarsi, and feet yellow. _Adult male._
Young. Entire upper plumage dark brown; on the back of the head and neck
white at base, and edged with reddish; scapulars and greater coverts of
the wing with large partially-concealed rufous spots; under parts
reddish-white, every feather with a large terminal oblong spot of dark
brown, and on the abdomen and tibiæ with numerous transverse bands of
the same color; under tail coverts very pale reddish-white, with a few
transverse spots and lines; inferior coverts of the wing pale
reddish-white, with large brown spots.
Hab. Canada and California. Spec. in Nat. Mus., Washington city.
Obs. There is no other North American Buzzard with which there is any
probability of the present bird being confounded by the student, on
account of the peculiarity of its colors. In this character it bears a
resemblance to some stages of plumage of _Circus hudsonius_, or to the
European _Circus æruginosus_. It also is somewhat similar in colors,
especially those of the young bird, to _Buteo pennsylvanicus_, but is
much larger, and readily distinguished.
[Illustration: Plate 32
The Black-breasted Woodpecker
Melanerpes thyroideus (_Cassin_)]
MELANERPES THYROIDEUS.—(Cassin.)
The Black-breasted Woodpecker.
PLATE XXXII.—Male.
The species of Woodpeckers are more abundant in the regions on the
Pacific Ocean or west of the Rocky mountains than in any other part of
North America. Several of them inhabiting those countries are, too,
amongst the handsomest birds of this family, as, for instance, Lewis’s
Woodpecker (_Melanerpes torquatus_), a species now brought in almost
every collection from California; the Red-breasted Woodpecker
(_Melanerpes ruber_), a beautiful little species, with the head, neck
and breast brilliant carmine; the Californian Woodpecker (_Melanerpes
formicivorus_), figured in plate 2 of the present volume; and various
others, attractive on account of either the beauty or the singularity of
their colors.
The extensive and but partially-explored forests of Northern California
and Oregon are peculiarly well adapted to the habits of this group of
birds. This is, however, not solely the reason that they are found
there; but there are principles involved which are at present beyond the
deepest reasoning of zoologists, and are as yet subjects of theory only.
All that we can positively advance is, that of the Woodpeckers of North
America, the greatest number of species, and of more handsome plumaged
forms, than elsewhere in our portion of the continent, are inhabitants
of California and Oregon; and that whatever causes have tended to the
development of this family of birds, they have been more efficient in
the regions alluded to, than elsewhere in North America.
Philosophic zoology is yet in its infancy. Extreme conservatism in
science fondly rests satisfied with present knowledge, and visionary
speculators raise mountains of opinionative systems and theories, which
must be cleared away to allow real progress. Between the two classes of
operators, the true man of science may have a difficult time of it. Of
sawing the air there is abundance, but much as elsewhere very little is
done in zoology with due emphasis and discretion.
In addition to the species alluded to above, there is found in the
forests of Oregon and the Rocky Mountains, the largest of all the
Woodpeckers, a magnificent species related to the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker of the Southern States, but much larger, and which has up to
this period escaped the observation of any American naturalist, except
Dr. Townsend, who saw it, but did not procure specimens. It is the
_Dryocopus imperialis_, first described by Mr. Gould, a distinguished
English ornithologist. This fine bird will be figured in a subsequent
part of the present volume.
The bird now before the reader was discovered in California by Mr. John
G. Bell, of New York, deservedly well known as a naturalist, and beyond
comparison the most skilful preparer of birds and quadrupeds and general
taxidermist in the United States. Mr. Bell was the first naturalist who
visited California after it became a portion of the United States; and
during his stay in that country, made a large and highly interesting
collection, in which was the present and other new species. He observes
in his notes now before us, that he found this bird in one locality
only, and observed but two specimens, both of which he obtained.
Subsequently this Woodpecker has been found in California by Dr.
Heermann, and in New Mexico by Dr. Henry; but is stated by both to be of
rare occurrence. The former of these gentlemen observes:—
“I procured this bird three years since in the southern mines of
California, where it frequents more especially the pine trees. I never
saw it alight on the oaks, although abundant in that locality. It is one
of the most rare of the Woodpeckers of that country.”
Dr. Henry states: “Of this bird I know nothing farther than that I
procured a single specimen in the mountains near Fort Webster, in the
winter of 1852-3. I shot it from near the summit of a tall pine tree,
and was not aware until I obtained it, that it was different from any
other species that I had ever seen. My efforts to find it again have
been unremitting, but without success; and I regard it as a rare bird in
this district. The specimen in my collection is an adult male.”
The figure in our plate is two-thirds of the size of life.
The plant represented is _Habrothamnus fasciculatus_, a native of
Mexico.