Part 79

“The female bird is smaller than the male. To the measurements given by Dr RICHARDSON, which are very accurate, we may add that its extent of wings is fifty inches, and that it averages about four pounds and a half of weight. Its flesh is of a most exquisite flavour.”

ANSER HUTCHINSII, HUTCHINS’S BARNACLE GOOSE, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 470.

Adult. Plate CCLXXVII.

Bill shorter than the head, higher than broad at the base, somewhat conical, depressed towards the end, rounded at the tip. Upper mandible with the dorsal line sloping, the ridge slightly flattened at the base, convex in the rest of its extent, the sides sloping, the edges soft, the oblique internal lamellæ about thirty; the unguis roundish, convex. Nasal groove oblong, parallel to the ridge, filled by the soft membrane of the bill; nostrils medial, lateral, longitudinal, narrow-elliptical, open, pervious. Lower mandible straight, with the angle very long, narrow and rounded, the edges with about forty oblique lamellæ.

Head small, oblong, compressed. Neck long and very slender. Body full. Feet short, stout, placed behind the centre of the body; legs bare a little above the joint; tarsus short, a little compressed, covered all round with angular scales, those behind smaller; hind toe very small, with a narrow membrane, third the longest, fourth considerably shorter, but longer than second; all reticulated above at the base, but with narrow transverse scutella towards the end; the three anterior connected by reticulated webs, the outer with a thick margin, the inner with the edge more dilated. Claws small, arched, rather compressed, except that of the middle toe, which is bent obliquely inwards and depressed, with a curved edge.

Plumage close, blended on the neck and lower parts of the body, compact on the upper. The feathers of the head and neck very narrow, of the back very broad and abrupt, of the breast and belly broadly rounded. Wings long; primaries strong, curved, the second longest, but the first and third almost as long, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries long, rather narrow, rounded. Tail short, slightly rounded, of sixteen rounded feathers.

Bill, feet, and claws black. Iris brown. Head and two upper thirds of the neck glossy black. A large subtriangular patch of white on each side of the head and neck. The general colour of the upper parts is brownish-grey, the feathers margined with paler; of the lower parts pale greyish-brown, margined with yellowish-grey; the abdomen and lower tail-coverts white; the hind part of the back brownish-black. The primary quills and tail-feathers are deep brown.

Length to end of tail 25 inches, extent of wings 50; wing from flexure 16-3/4; tail 5-3/4; bill along the back 1-1/2, along the edge of lower mandible 1-1/2; tarsus 2-1/2; middle toe 2, its claw 4/12. Weight 4-1/2 lb.

In the Fauna Boreali-Americana, the tail-feathers are stated to be fourteen. In my specimen they are sixteen, and it is probable that the full number is eighteen, as the two middle ones seem to be wanting.

SCHINZ’S SANDPIPER.

TRINGA SCHINZII, BREHM.

PLATE CCLXXVIII. MALE AND FEMALE.

Although I have met with this species at different times in Kentucky, and along our extensive shores, from the Floridas to Maine, as well as on the coast of Labrador, I never found it breeding. Indeed, I have not met with it in the United States excepting in the latter part of autumn and in winter. Those procured in Labrador were shot in the beginning of August, and were all young birds, apparently about to take their departure. My drawing of the two individuals represented in the plate was made at St Augustine in East Florida, where I procured them on the 2d December 1831. I have always found these birds gentle and less shy than any other species of the genus. They fly at a considerable height with rapidity, deviating alternately to either side, and plunge toward the ground in a manner somewhat resembling that of the Solitary Sandpiper. When accidentally surprised, they start with a repeated weet, less sonorous than that of the bird just mentioned. They search for food along the margins of pools, creeks and rivers, or by the edges of sand-bars, and mix with other species.

TRINGA SCHINZII, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 249.—Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 69. pl. 24. fig. 2. Winter.—Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 384.

SCHINZ’S SANDPIPER, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 109.

Adult Male in winter. Plate CCLXXVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill about the length of the head, slender, subcylindrical, straight, compressed at the base, the point slightly enlarged and rather obtuse. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, excepting at the tip, the ridge narrow and convex, broader and flattened towards the end, the sides sloping, the edges rather obtuse. Nasal groove extending to near the tip; nostrils basal, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides sloping outwards, the tip a little broader than that of the upper.

Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Neck of moderate length. Body rather slender. Feet rather long, slender; tibia bare a third part of its length; tarsus compressed behind, covered anteriorly and posteriorly with numerous scutella, which scarcely leave any intermediate space; hind toe extremely small; the rest of moderate length, slender, the fourth slightly longer than the second, the third longest; all free, there being only a very slight rudimentary web between the third and fourth, flat beneath, slightly marginate with rather pointed scales. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, rather acute, that of the third toe much larger, with the inner edge dilated.

Plumage very soft, blended on the lower parts, the feathers distinct above. Wings very long, pointed; primaries tapering, obtuse, the first longest, the second almost equal, the rest rapidly graduated; outer secondaries incurved, narrow, obliquely sinuate at the end of the outer web, the inner rounded and extending beyond the outer; inner secondaries very narrow, tapering to a point, reaching, when the wing is closed, to about half an inch from its tip. Tail of moderate length, nearly even, but with the two middle feathers exceeding the rest, the number of feathers twelve.

Bill and feet dusky. Iris brown. The general colour of the upper parts is brownish-black, each feather edged with yellowish-grey, the scapulars with light red. Wing-coverts greyish-brown, the shaft black; primary and secondary coverts tipped with white; quills brownish-grey, darker towards the tips, the inner primaries and outer secondaries more or less edged and tipped with white; the tail-coverts white with a dusky spot, excepting the two central, which are blackish, with a few greyish-white markings. Tail-feathers light grey, the two middle brownish-black towards the end. Sides of the head, fore neck, anterior part of breast and sides greyish-white, with small lanceolate central brownish-black spots; the rest of the lower parts white.

Length to end of tail 7-1/12 inches, to end of wings 7-7/12, to end of claws 7-9/12; extent of wings 14-3/4, bill along the back (10-1/2)/12, along the edge of lower mandible 11/12; wing from flexure 4-(10-1/2)/12; tail 2-2/12; tarsus 11/12; middle toe (9-1/2)/12, its claw 2/12.

Adult Female in winter. Plate CCLXXVIII. Fig. 2.

The Female is similar to the male, but a little smaller.

In some individuals, about six of the middle tail-coverts are black, the lateral barred with white and dusky.

THE SANDWICH TERN.

STERNA CANTIACA, GMEL.

PLATE CCLXXIX. ADULT AND YOUNG.

On the 26th of May 1832, while sailing along the Florida Keys in Mr THRUSTON’s barge, accompanied by his worthy pilot and my assistant, I observed a large flock of Terns, which, from their size and other circumstances, I would have pronounced to be Marsh Terns, had not the difference in their manner of flight convinced me that they were of a species hitherto unknown to me. The pleasure which one feels on such an occasion cannot easily be described, and all that it is necessary for me to say on the subject at present is, that I begged to be rowed to them as quickly as possible. A nod and a wink from the pilot satisfied me that no time should be lost, and in a few minutes all the guns on board were in requisition. The birds fell around us; but as those that had not been injured remained hovering over their dead and dying companions, we continued to shoot until we procured a very considerable number. On examining the first individual picked up from the water, I perceived from the yellow point of its bill that it was different from any that I had previously seen, and accordingly shouted “A prize! a prize! a new bird to the American Fauna!” And so it was, good Reader, for no person before had found the Sandwich Tern on any part of our coast. A large basket was filled with them, and we pursued our course. On opening several individuals, I found in the females eggs nearly ready for being laid. The males, too, manifested the usual symptoms of increased action in the organs distinctive of the sex. I felt a great desire to discover their breeding grounds, which I had the pleasure of doing in a few days after.