General form rather slender and lengthened; bill short, curved, rather
wide at base; aperture of the nostril large; wings short, rounded;
fourth, fifth, and sixth quills longest; tail long; tarsi moderate,
rather robust; colors usually plain. A genus of American birds,
containing about fifteen species.
Ortalida poliocephala. (Wagler.)
Penelope poliocephala. Wagler, Isis, 1830, p. 1112.
Form. Bill short, curved; wing short, rounded; first quill short, sixth
slightly longest; secondaries long and broad; tail long, graduated;
external feathers nearly three inches shorter than those in the middle;
tarsi moderate, rather robust, and having in front about ten wide
transverse scales; a bare space on each side of the throat from the
corners of the lower mandible; feathers of the middle of the throat
stiff and bristle-like; plumage of the head above somewhat elongated and
erectile, and with the shafts of the feathers slightly rigid and
hair-like, especially in front.
Dimensions. Male.—Total length of skin, about 21 inches; wing, 8; tail,
10; tarsus, 2½ inches.
Colors. Head above and neck dark greenish cinereous, the shafts of the
feathers in front black; back, rump, wing-coverts, and exposed portions
of quills, dark olive, slightly tinged with ashy; quills brownish black,
widely edged on their outer web with olive; tail dark glossy bluish
green, widely tipped with white; plumage of the middle of the throat
black, bare spaces on each side reddish orange; breast, sides, flanks,
and tibiae, dull yellowish green, very pale, and in some specimens
nearly white on the middle of the abdomen, and frequently tinged with
rufous on the flanks and tibia; under tail-coverts dark rufous,
frequently tinged with green; bill dark, light at the tip, especially of
the under mandible; tarsi light.
Hab. Texas. Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philad., and Nat. Mus.,
Washington.
Obs. There is a general resemblance of several species of this genus to
each other, almost impossible to be pointed out in the limits of our
present article. The bird now before us may be recognised, however,
without difficulty, by its comparatively large size and the dark
cinereous color of its head and neck.
Specimens of this bird in adult plumage are yet rarely brought in
collections, and we suspect is only attained in several years.
BERNICLA LEUCOPAREIA.—(Brandt.)
The White-necked Goose.
PLATE XLV. Adult Male.
On the western coast of North America, this is one of the most abundant
of the species of Geese. In California it appears regularly in the
course of its migrations in the spring and autumn, and at both seasons
is brought to the market in San Francisco, in large numbers.
This bird is a near relative of Hutchins’ Goose, a well known species,
though not of common occurrence on the Atlantic coast. It is more
frequently met with in the larger rivers of the interior. From that
species our present bird may be easily distinguished by the white ring
around the neck, a character not mentioned in the descriptions given by
authors, nor represented in the plate in Mr. Audubon’s Birds of America,
of Hutchins’ Goose. The plate alluded to is the only one of the species
which has come under our notice, and is given with that eminent
naturalist’s usual great accuracy, but may not, we suspect, represent a
bird in mature plumage. This suspicion we have been induced to entertain
from an examination of the specimen figured by Mr. Audubon, for an
opportunity to make which we are indebted to the kindness of our friend,
Mr. J. P. Giraud, of New York, to whose fine collection it belongs.
We are not, however, sufficiently familiar with Hutchins’ Goose, to feel
qualified to decide respecting the identity of the present species.
This bird was first described by Prof. Brandt, a distinguished Russian
naturalist, who ascertained it be an inhabitant of the coasts of Russian
America. This author, and various others of Russia, have done much
towards elucidating the Natural History of Northwestern America, and in
some instances names given by them will be found to anticipate those of
Americans, especially in ornithology.
As a species occurring on the coast of California, our present bird was
first observed by Mr. John G. Bell, of New York, whose collection made
in that country contained numerous specimens. Since that period, it has
been noticed by nearly all our naturalists, though nothing is recorded
of its habits or history. In fact, the water-birds of Western America
have by no means received sufficient attention, and contributions to
their history would be important additions to American ornithology.
[Illustration: Plate 45
The White-necked Goose
Bernicla leucopareius (_Brandt_)]