Part 75

Though originally described by Mr. Gould as from California, and subsequently supposed by Dr. Townsend and Mr. Audubon to have been seen by the former in the Rocky Mountains, it has escaped the attention of all recent American travellers and naturalists. The specimens in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy are labelled as having been collected in Mexico. It is probable that this fine bird is an inhabitant of the dense forests, the trees of which attain such enormous dimensions in the western regions of North America, a supposition coinciding with Dr. Townsend’s observations on the species seen by him, from which we shall present an extract in the course of the present article.

In the immense forests which skirt the slopes of the Rocky Mountains in the possessions of the United States, and of the Sierra Madre in Mexico, we find a congenial locality for this giant of his tribe. In those regions the trees are not less gigantic, travellers of unquestioned veracity having given two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty feet as a heighth frequently to be observed.

The first notice of this bird by an American naturalist is in Mr. Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, V., p. 313, who merely publishes a note from Dr. Townsend, which was his only information respecting it, except Mr. Gould’s description. It will be seen that Dr. Townsend did not succeed in obtaining specimens, though it is in all respects probable that the species now before us is alluded to by him in the following, which we take the liberty of copying from Mr. Audubon, as above:

“On the 14th of August, 1834, I saw several specimens of a large black Woodpecker, about the size of Picus principalis. A broad band of white appeared to extend transversely across the wings and back. It inhabited the tall pine trees, and was very shy. The note was almost exactly that of the Red-headed Woodpecker; so nearly, that at first Mr. Nuttall and myself were both deceived by it.

“I lingered behind the party, which at that time was travelling rapidly, and at last got a shot at one of them with slugs, my large shot having been entirely expended. The bird fell wounded in a thicket at a considerable distance. I searched for an hour without finding it, and was at last compelled to relinquish it and follow the party, which had been leaving me at a rapid trot, to find my way as I best could, and keep out of the reach of Indians, who were dogging us continually.”

On reference to Dr. Townsend’s Narrative, (p. 123,) it will be seen that this incident occurred on the Mallade River, in the Rocky Mountains. Though he states that the bird mentioned by him was “about the size of Picus principalis,” which is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the Southern States, it must be borne in mind that he saw it at a distance only, and was therefore readily mistaken. The present bird is very considerably larger than that species.

In Dr. Pickering’s notes we find one allusion which is very probably to this bird:—“A very large Ivory-billed species of Picus was spoken of by Dr. Marsh as having been occasionally seen by him. It is larger, he says, than any other Woodpecker of the United States, and is very difficult to approach. It is probably the new California species described by Mr. Gould a few years since.”

This memorandum occurs in that portion of Dr. Pickering’s journal kept in California, and we have no doubt relates to the bird now before us. To the gentleman mentioned, Dr. Marsh of San Joaquim, California, Dr. Pickering frequently acknowledges his obligations for information, which is often of high value, and is of evident reliability.

We have now given the only two instances, mere glimpses as it were, in which this large Woodpecker has come under the notice of American travellers or naturalists in its native localities. It is to be regretted that such is the case, and perhaps somewhat extraordinary, on account of its conspicuous size and colors; but it is expressly stated to be of a shy disposition, and difficult to obtain. Its well known existence in California, and the fact that so few of our naturalists have observed or heard of it, is additional evidence of the yet partial character of our knowledge of the ornithology of that country.

Mr. Gould’s description of this bird is in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1832, p. 140; and, with the statement accompanying it, is the only notice of this species that has yet appeared in Europe. The latter is as follows:—

“Specimens were exhibited of a species of Woodpecker hitherto undescribed, which has recently been obtained by Mr. Gould, from that little explored district of California which borders the territory of Mexico. The exhibition was accompanied by a communication from Mr. Gould, in which, after some general remarks on the Picidæ and their geographical distribution, he referred to the species before the Committee as possessing the characters of the genus Picus in their most marked development, together with the greatest size hitherto observed in that group. In this respect it as far exceeds the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the United States Picus principalis, as the latter does the Picus martius of Europe.

“This species is readily distinguishable from the P. principalis, by its much larger size, by the length of its occipital crest, the pendent silky feathers of which measure nearly four inches, by the absence of the white stripe which ornaments the neck of that bird, and by the bristles which cover its nostrils being black, whereas those of the Picus principalis are white.”

These notices comprise, at present, all that is known of the largest and one of the handsomest of Woodpeckers. Its history, yet to be written, will be a highly interesting contribution to the ornithology of the United States.

Several specimens of this bird, in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy, are stated on their labels to be from Mexico, without other note or indication. All of them were obtained in Europe by our distinguished patrons, Messrs. Thomas B. and Edward Wilson.

The adult male is represented in the present plate. The female differs essentially only in having the crest black instead of scarlet.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Dryotomus. Swainson. Lardner’s Cyclopedia, Birds, II., p. 308. (1837.)

Size large; bill straight, long, wide at base, very strong; wings long, third and fourth quills usually longest; tail long, graduated, rigid; legs short; tarsi distinctly scaled; toes rather long, outer hind toe longest, claws strong, compressed; feathers of the head behind elongated and crest-like; colors generally black, white, and scarlet; contains species of both the old and new world, amongst which are the largest of the Picidæ.

Dryotomus imperialis. (Gould.) Picus imperialis. Gould. Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 1832, p. 140.

Form. The largest of Woodpeckers; bill long, wide at base, three distinct ridges on the upper mandible; wing long, primaries narrow, third and fourth longest; tail rather long, graduated, middle feathers longest; all the feathers of the tail narrow, rigid; tarsi moderate, strong, scales in front very distinct; toes long, claws strong, curved, compressed; general organization very strong; crest-like feathers long.

Dimensions. Male. Total length (of skin) about 23 inches; wing 12½; tail 9½; bill to the corner of the mouth 4; tarsus 2 inches.

Colors. Male. Elongated feathers of the head or crest, bright scarlet; interscapular feathers, outer two-thirds of secondaries, and inner edges of shorter primaries, white; under wing coverts white; all other parts of the plumage deep black, with a greenish lustre; bill yellowish-white; tarsi and toes dark; secondaries at their bases black; bristle-like feathers at the base of upper mandible black. Female similar to the male, but rather smaller, and with the crest black.

Hab. Oregon. California. Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

This gigantic Woodpecker is strictly of the same generic group as the well known Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the forests of the Southern States of this Union, and in some measure resembles it, but not in such degree as to be readily confounded. The present bird is considerably the larger, and is without the white stripes on the neck which are to be found in the Ivory-billed. In both species, the females have the elongated or crest-like feathers black.

It is quite remarkable that this fine species has not been brought by any of the naturalists or travellers who have visited, or at least passed through its native forests. This fact tends to demonstrate the truth of our views, occasionally expressed in the present volume, that we have much yet to learn of the Ornithology of Western America.

DIOMEDEA BRACHYURA.—Temminck. The Short-tailed Albatross. PLATE L. Adult Male.

This Albatross is the adult of the bird represented in plate 35, (the Black-footed Albatross, Diomedea nigripes, Aud.) of the present volume. At the time of the publication of the plate alluded to, and our article accompanying it, we were not aware of this identity; but having had our attention called to it by a distinguished European ornithologist, we have, on careful re-examination and comparison, fully confirmed its truth. So great a change taking place, however, in this bird, from early age to maturity, the two figures only fairly represent the species, of which that formerly given, as above, is the young bird.

The common occurrence of this species on the coasts of California and Oregon, was ascertained by the naturalists of the Exploring Expedition in the Vincennes and Peacock, under command of Captain Charles Wilkes, of the United States’ Navy; and its addition to the ornithology of North America is one of many services to Zoology performed by that celebrated and most important Expedition. In fact, of the many similar undertakings of governments for the purposes of exploration and scientific research within the present century, the expedition alluded to stands pre-eminent in its contributions to Geographical and Zoological Science, a result to be attributed to the enlightened and judicious exertions of its distinguished Commander, and to the fact that it numbered amongst its naturalists several of the most accomplished Zoologists of America.