NATURAL HISTORY, GENERAL AND PARTICULAR, BY THE COUNT DE BUFFON. VOL. VIII. HISTORY OF BIRDS. London z—B'. womn LY HALLIS :xxt, Printers, Duke-st. Adelphi. NATURAL HISTORY, GENERAL AND PARTICULAR, BY THE COUNT DE BUFFON, ILLUSTRATED WVITI—I ABOVE SIX HUNDRED COPPER-PLATES. THE HISTORY OF MAN AND QUADRUPEDS TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, BY \VILLIAM SMELLIE, MEMBER OF THE ANTIQUARIAN AND ROYAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. .———+———- A NEW EDITION, CAREFULLY CORRECTED AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED, BY MANY ADDITIONAL ARTICLES, NOTES, AND PLATES, AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF M. DE BUFFON, . BY WILLIAM WOOD, F. L. s. IN TWENTY VOLUMES. VOL. XVIII. \ LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, STRAND; 1?. c. AND J. RIVINGTON; WILKIE AND ROBINSON; F. WINGRAVE; .7. WALKER; SCATCHERD AND LETTERMAN; R. LEA: J. CUTHELL; CLARKE AND SONs; LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND 00.; c. LAW; WHITE AND COCHRANE; LONCMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN; JOHN RICHARDSON; J. M.- RICHARDSON; J. BOOKER; B. CROSBY AND 00.; E. JEFFERY; BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY; J. HARDING; J. MAWMAN; J. BOOTH ; J. ASPERNE; J. IIARRIS; P. AND w. WYNNE; R. SCHOLEY; R. BALDWIN ; J. BLACKLOCK ; '1'. HAMILTON; J. FAULDER; SHERWOOD, NEELEY, AND JONEs; J'.JOHNSON AND CO.; I. UNDERWOOD; R.SAUNDERS; AND WILSON AND SON, AT YORK. 1812. CONTENTS. PAGE The Woodpeckers . . . . . . 1 Green Woodpecker . . . . . 6 Foreign Birds of the Ancient Continent which are related to the Green Woodpecker. 1 Palalaca, or Great Green lVoodpecker of the Philippines . l7 2 Another Palalaca, or the Spotted Green Woodpecker (f the Philippines . . 18 3 Green Woodpecker of Goa . . . 19 4 Green Woodpecker of Bengal . . 21 5 Goertan, or Green Woodpecker of Sene- gal. . . 23 6 Little Striped Woodpecker of Senegal . 24 '7 Grey-headed Woodpecker of the Cape of Good Hope . . 25 Birds of the New Continent which are related to the Green Woodpecker. ' 1 Striped kVoodpecker of St; Domingo . 26 2 Little Olive Woodpecker of St. Domingo 28 3 Great Striped Woodpecker of Cayenne 30 ii CONTENTS. 4 Little Striped Woodpecker of Cayenne 5 Yellow lVoodpec/cer of Cayenne 6 Ferraginous l’Voodpec/{er . . . 7 Black—breasted lVoodpee/cer . 8 Rafous Woodpecker . . 9 Little Yellow-throated Woodpecker 10 Least Woodpecker of C11/e1111e . . 11 Gold-winged Woodpecker . . 12 Black Woodpecker . . . Birds oft/16 New Continent Zi'ltit‘lt are related to (/21: Black lVoodpeeker. 1 l'll'l1ite—l1illed lVoodpec/cer 2 Pileated H’oodpee/cer . . 3 Lineated l {foot/pecker 4- Red-necked Wooaperker 5 Leos‘er Blacl; H'oodpeelcer 6 Red-headed lVoodpeekcr 7 Greater Spotted Hoot/peels” 8 Lesser Spotted libodpeelwr . Birds 13f t/1e J’lneient Continent Ii'lliClt are related to the Spotted ”’1111dpeelcer. l Nubian ”11111/[1e1ler Q. G1eat luliwated ll’oodpeelter of the Isle (1/ Lawn 3 Little [Loan-spotted li oodpe1ker 11/ the ”11/111603 . . . . . Birds (2/. the New Continent which are related to tile Spotted li'11111.’/1eel:er. Spotted ll'oodpeelcer of Canada . Varied ”'1111dpe1‘l1'er H Variegated .lamaiea l l '11odpeeker . Striped lVoodpeeker of Louisiana . UttPCfllO l'"11rieg11t1’1l H’oodpeelcer of Eneenada i Hairy Woodpecker as 60 71) 7] OJKI‘JKDKIKI CCQCUrF-OO CONTENTi m PAGE . 7 Little Variegated W oodpeckerof V irg-inz'a \ 82 8 Variegated Woodpecker of Carolina . 83 9 Valz'egated Undated Woodpecker . . 85 10 Woodpecker Creepers . a, . . 87 The F'Vryneck . . . . . . . 89 The Barbets . . . . . ' . . 97 The Tamatza . . 98 Tamatza with the Head and Th2 oat Red . 101 Collared Tamatm . . , . . 103 Beautiful Tamatza . _. _ . , . . 104 Blaclc- and-white Tamatias . I; . . . 105 The Barbets . . . . , . 107 Yellow-throated Barbet . . . . 108 Black-throated Barbet . . . , 109 Black-breasted Barbet ‘.‘ _. . . 1 1 1 Little Barbet . . ", . . . 112 Great Barbet . ‘ . . . . . 113 Green Barbet . . " . 2 . . 115 The Toucans . . . . . I . . 116 - i T oco ' . . '. . . , . 124 Yellow-throated Toucan . 2 , . 125 Red-’hellied Toucan .' . . . . 128 The Cochicat . . . 2 . . . 130 The Hotchzcat . . . . . . . 131 The Aracaris . . . . . ‘2 . 132 The Grigrz’ . . '. . . . . 2'1). The Koulick . . . ‘ . . . . 134 The BlacIc-bzlled Aracan L 2 . . . 136 Blue Aracan .' h . . . . . 137 The Balbzcan . . . '. . . 138 The Casszcan . ' . . _ . 140 The Calaos, or hanoceros-bzrds _ . . . 142 Took. . . . . . ._ . 146 Manzlla Calao . . '. ‘. . 149 Calao of the Island of Panay . .' . 151 iv CONTENTS. T he Malacca Calao . . . . Malabar Ca/ao . . . . Brae, or zlfrican Calao . . .Abyssinian ('a/ao . . . Philippine Ca/an . . . Romul-he/meled Calao . . Rhinoceros Calao . . . T he K [72}; fls/zer . . . . . I‘Lreig/z A' ingjis/rers . . . . Great King/is/u'rs 0f the Old Continent. 1 Greatest Kingfisher . . Blue-aIII/éy'af‘aus King/[slim . ('rr-II Killrr/Nzer . . . [MM-MUM! hingfls/tel . Pied nglzrller . . Crestul [hag/[Sher . . HI: c/c-cappul ang /i THE YELLOW 'WOODPECKER ofCAYBNNE*. Fg'ftlz Species. THOSE birds, which are enamoured of the solitude of the desert, have multiplied in the vast forests of the new world, and the more so, as there man has yet encroached little On the ancient domains of nature. We have received ten species of woodpeckers from Guiana, and the Yellow Woodpeckers seem peculiar to that country. Most of these are scarcely known to naturalists, and Barrere has only noticed a few. The first species is described by Brisson under the name of I/V/zzte Woodpeckerf: its plumage IS , of a soft yellow, the tail black; the great quills of the wing brown, and the middle ones rufous; the coverts of the wings are browns grey, fringed with yellowish-white. It has a * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS FLAVICANS P. flavicans, occipitc cristato, remi‘ gibus fuscis, rectricibus nigris.-—Latlz.1nd.0m i. p. 240. No.44. ——~- EXALBIDUS.—Gmel. Syst. i. p. 428.. --~- CAYANENSIS. A1.BUs.——Bg-z's. iv. p. 81. 31. LE PIC JAUNE de CAYENNEr—Bqfi: Pl. Enl. 509.-—-—Bzgfi". par Swm. lv. p. 288. pl. 173. f. 2. LE CHARPEN'EIER JAUNE.-—Fcrm. Surin. ii. p. 171. YELLOW WOODPECKER.—-Latlz. Syn. ii. -p. 591. 41. HA B I TA T in Cayana: v‘lridi minor.—9—13 pollices longus. W. + Picus Cayanensis Albusr—Brz's. _ Thus described: “ it is dirty-white ; a red longitudinal bar on each side upon the lower jaw ;_ its tail-quills blackish}? Y0 L. VII I.~ D 34 THE YELLOW WOODPECKER. crest which reaches to its neck, and which, as well as the whole of the head, being pale yel- low, is strongly contrasted with its red mus- tachoes; its appearance is thus remarkable, and the soft uncommon colour of its plumage distinguishes it from the rest ofits genus. The creoles of Cayenne call it the Yellow Caipelzter. It is smaller than the green woodpecker, and much more slender; its length nine inches. It forms its nest in large trees, rotten at the core; after it has bored horizontally to the decayed part, it descends, and continues the excavation to the depth of a foot and a half. The female lays three eggs, which are white, and almost round; and the young are hatched in the beginning of April. The male shares the female’s solicitude, and, during her ab- sence, he plants himself in the entrance. llis cry is a whistle composed ofsix notes, the first of which are monotonous, and the last two or three flatter. The female has not the bright red bar which appears in the male on each side of the head. There is some variety in this species, certain individuals having all the small coverts of the wings of a fine yellow, and the great ones edged with that colour; in others, such as that probably which irisson described, the whole plumage is discoloured and bleached, so as to appear only a dirty white or yellowish‘fl " Sonnini observes. that this species is not very common in Guiana: it feeds principally on terms, insects which are very abundant in that part of America. W. THE FERRUGINOUS WOOD; PECKER *. Sixth Species. A FINE bright red, which is brilliant, and golden, forms the superb attire of this bird.- It is almost as large as the green Woodpecker, but notso stout. A long yellow crest in pen; dulous filaments covers the head, and falls backwards ; from the corners of the bill rise two mustachoes of a fine light red, traced nicely between the eye and the throat; some white and citron spots embellish and variegate the rufous ground of the middle of the upper Sur face; the rump is yellow, and the tail black. The female, both of this species, and of the" yellow woodpecker which comes from the same country, has no red on the cheeks. =1" CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS CINNAMOMEUS. P. ferr'ugineo-cinnamome'us, ma- culis sparsis flavicantibus, capitis crista dorsoque infimo flavis, cauda nigra.——Latle. Ind. Om. i. p. 240. No. 45. —'—* 1 . Gmel. Syst. i. p. 428. LE PIC JAUNE TACHETE’ de CAYEdNa.-Pl. Ed. 524. (7720:.) V —--*-——- MORDORE’.——Bqfl pu’r Sonn. lv. p. 292. FERRUGINOUS ‘NOODPECKERw—Arct. Zool. ii. No. 159.“ Lafiz. Syn. ii. p. 592. 42. ‘1- HABITAT in Cayana, Guiana, Caroliu’a‘australi.—~1l poll‘ices longus. _ “,3... D 2 (35) THE BLACK~BREASTED WOOD- PECKER *. Seventh Species. THIS is also one of the Yellow Carpenters of Cayenne. It has a fine black horse shoe, which meets the neck behind, covers all the fore-part like a cravat, and falls on the breast; the rest of the under side of the body is rusty~fulvous, and also the throat and the whole head, whose crest extends to the neck; the back is of a bright rufous; the wing is of the same colour, but the quills crossed with a few black streaks pretty much asunder, and some of these extend to the tail, which has a black tip. This Cay- enne bird is as large as the yellow woodpecker, or even the ferruginous woodpecker: all the three are alike slender, and similarly crested. The natives of Guiana give them the common name of toucoumm‘i. It appears that the Black- * CHARACTER SPECIFICL’S. PICUS MULTICOLOR. P. cristatus rufus, capite gula cer- vicequc supremo fulvis, intimojugulo pectore alarumqne macnlis nigris.—La!/z. 1nd. Orn. i. p. 240. No. 46. f . mecl. 8315!. i. p. 429. LB. Pro a CRAVATE Nome—8111i“. Pl. En]. 863—81117“. par Sonn. lv. p. 294. BLACK-BREASTED \Voonpecxam—IAM. Syn. ii. p. 593. 43. HA BITAT in Cayuna, Guiana. W. THE BLACK-BREASTED WVOODPECKER. 37 breasted Woodpeckers lead a life as laborious as the others, and that they inhabit St. Do mingo also; for Father Charlevoix assures us, that the wood employed for building in that island is often found bored so much by these Wild carpenters, as tobe unfit for use *2 ' Histoire de l’Isle de Saint Dominique, par le P. Char- levoix .-—.Parz's, 1730,t. 1. p. 29. (38) THE RUFOUS “TODD-PECKER 5‘. Eighth Species. THE plumage of this little woodpecker has a singular prOperty, viz. the under side of its body is of a deeper hue than the upper, con- trary to what is observed in all other birds. The ground-colour is rufous, of various inten- sity; deep on the wings; more dilute on the rump and back, more charged on the breast and belly, and mingled, on all the body, with black waves, which are very crowded, and which have the efl'ect of the most beautiful enamel: the head is rufous, embellished and crossed by small black waves. This woodpecker, which is found in Cayenne, is scarcely larger than the wryneck, but it is rather thicker: its plum- age, though it consists of only two dull tints, is one of the most beautiful and most agreeably variegated. * CHARACTER smacrrrccs. PICl‘S RUFUS. P. rufus nigro-undulatus, alis canda corpo- rcque, subtus saturatioribus.——La.‘/’z. 1nd. 0m. i. p. 211. No. 48. —. (hurl. Sysf. i. p. 43:2. La Pic Rottx.—.’;qfi‘. l’l. 1-.‘nl. (39-1. 1‘. l. Rtrrous \Voomwzcxum—Lum. Syn. ii. p. 594. HABITAT in Cayman—6 polliccs longus. W. ( =39 ) THE LITTLE YELLOW-THROATED WOODPECKER is. N int/c «Species. THIS woodpecker is not larger than the wryneck. The ground colour of its plumage is brown tinged with olive, and having White spots or scales on the fore-part of the body, and under the neck, which is spread with a fine yellow that stretches under the eye, and on the top of the neck ; a red hood covers the crown of the head, and a mustachoe of that colour diluted rises from the corners of the hill. _ This woodpecker is, as well as the precedinglfound in Cayenne. * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS ICTEROCEPHALUS. P. subcristatus olivaceo-fuscus, subtus albo maculatus, capite colloque flavis, pileo rubro. -——Lat/z. Ind. .01'12. i. p. 241. No. 49. ——————— CHLOROCEPHALUs.——Gmel. Syst. i. p. 432. LE PETIT Plc 5. GORGE JAUNEr—Blfi Pl. Enl. 784.— Bzgfi'. par Sonn. 1v. p. 298. YELLOW-BEADED WOODPECKER.—-Latfi. Syn. ii. p. 595. 46. HABITAT in Guiana. W. (40) THE LEAST WOODPECKER of CAYBNNE*. Tent/z Species. THIS bird, as small as the gold-crested wren, is the dwarf of the large family of woodpeckers. It is not a creeper, and its straight square bill shows it to be a real woodpecker. Its neck and breast are waved distinctly with black and white zones; its back is brown, spotted with white drops, and shaded with black ; the same spots, only Closer and finer marked, appear on the beautiful black that covers the arch of the neck; and lastly, a little gold head makes it look as handsome, as it is delicate. This little bird, at least if wejudge from the stuffed specimen, must be more sprightly and agile * CHARACTER SPECIFICL’S. PICUS MINUTUS. P. griseo-rufus, suhtus albidus fuseo undulatus, vertiee rubro, oeeipite nigro, luterihus eapitis albo maculatis.—Lal}a. Ind. ()rn. i. p. 243. No. 55). ---— CAYANENSIS MINOR—Ibis. iv. 11.83.82. YUNX MINUTISSIMl'S.—-Gmc/. .S'yst. i. p. 423. LE TRES-PliTlT Pie de CA\'E‘..\'.‘~'E.—Bufl; 1’1.L‘nl.786. 1, 4315/]. par Sunn. I\'. p. 299 pl. 174. f. 1. MINUTE Woom’aex XML—141M. Syn. ii. p. 596. 48, “A BITAT in Cayman-35 polliees longa, W i THE LEAST WOODPECKEI! OF CAYENNE. 41 than .any of the other woodpeckers; and nature would seem to have thus compensated for its smallness. It is often found in com- pany with the creepers, and like them it Clambers on the trunks of trees, and hangs by the branches. (42) THE GOLD - WINGED WOOD- P ECKER *. Eleventh Species. THOUGH I place this beautiful bird in the close of the family of the green woodpecker, I must remark, that it seems to emerge from even the genus of the woodpeckers, both by its ha~ bits and some of its features. Catesby, who observed it in Carolina, tells us, that it is oftenest on the ground, and does not creep upon the trunks of trees, but perches on their branches like other birds. Yet its toes are dis- posed two before, and two behind, like the * an menu specrrrcus. PICl's AIIRATlis. P griseo nigroque transversim striatus, lzrteribus guln: pectoreque nigris, nucha rubm, uropygio albo.—LI:!/1. Iml. ()m. i. p. 242. N0. 52. . Gmcl. Syst. i. p. 430.—P/zil. Trans. lxii. p. 387. ~————— CANADENSIS STRI.~\TlTS.-—Bri:. iv. p. 72. 28. ~--—---— Mum: ALIS Al'REIS.—Kallll. It. iii. p. 42. LE PIC RAY 13’ du C.-\.\'.-\n..\.—I’1. 1'3”]. 693. ~—--—--— M'x AILr-zs Dour;’es.-Bzgfl par 5012):. IV. p. 301. pl. 174. f 2. GOLD-WINGEI) “'UODPFI‘KEI’..——Cuf. ('ur. i. t. 18.—— Tia/m. Tr. ii. p. 86. ——.'1I'(". Zuo.’. N0. 158.—Cuu/r's lust 1,031. ii. p. 297.—La!/z. .5512. ii. p. 597. 4().-—Iu'. Sup. p. 111. HABITAT in America septentrionzdi.—ll pollices longus.—-—In sinu lludsouis migratorius, ctiaur in Nootka. W. THE GOLD-WINGED WOODPECKER. 4B woodpeckers; and, like them too, the feathers of its tail are stiff and hard; and, what is 133.. culiar to itself, the side of each is terminated by two small filaments. Its bill is, however, dissimilar to that of the woodpeckers ; it is not squared, but rounded, and somewhat curved, pointed, and not formed into an edge. If this bird resembles then the woodpeckers in the structure of its feet and tail, it differs in the shape of the'bill, and in its habitudes, which necessarily. result from the conformation of that principal organ in birds.‘ It seems to form an intermediate species between the woodpeckers and the cuckoos, with which some naturalists have ranged it; and it furnishes another ex— ample of those shades by which Nature con— nects her various productions. It is about the size of the green woodpecker, and is remark- able for its beautiful form, and the elegant dis- position of its rich colours; black spots, like crescents and hearts, are scattered on the stomach and-belly on a white ground ofa dingy cast; the fore‘part of the neck is vinous-cinere- ous or lilac, and, on the middle of the breast, there is a broad black zone, shaped like a cres- cent; the rump is white; the tail black above, and lined below with a fine yellow resembling dead leaves; the upper side of the head, and the top of the neck, are of a lead-grey, and the - back of the head is marked with a fine scarlet spot; from the corners of the bill two large black mustachoes take their origin, and descend 44 THE conn-wmczn woonpzcxu. on the sides of the neck, and they are wanting in the female; the back is of a brown ground, with black streaks; the great quills of the wing are of the same cast; but what decorates it, and suffices alone to discriminate the bird, the shafts of all these quills are of a gold colour. It is found in Canada and Virginia, as well as in Carolina". " It also inhabits Louisiana, Hudson’s Bay, and Nooth. Sound. It is a bird of passage ; many nestle in Pennsylvania in the Spring, and return in the autumn to the southward. They feed on insects and worms: for want of they, 08 berries and seeds. W. 1) l U Plato l KER THE GIiEAT BLACK VVOODPEC (45) THE BLACK WOODPECKER‘T. THIS second species of European wood- pecker appears to be confined to some particular countries, and especially to Germany. How- ever, the Greeks, as well as we, were ac- quaiilted with three species of woodpeckers, and Aristotle mentions them alli: The first, says he, is smaller than the blackbird, and is- 4‘ CHARACFER SPECIFICUS. " PICUS MARTIUS. P. niger, pileo coccineo.-—-Lat/1. Ind. 0m. i. p. 224. No. 1. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 424.—-Pfizl. Tiwans xxix. No. 350.p. 509. t. i. (anat.) —- NIGER—Eris. iv. p. 21. 6. --——--—-—— MAXIMUS.——Raz'z' Syn. p. 42. 1.—-W'ill. p. 92. t. 21. LE PIC NOIR.———qul Pl. En]. 596.—-—Bzgfl‘. par Sonn. liv. p. 307. pl. 175. f. 1. GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER. ——Wz'll. (Angl.) p. 135. -—- Arct. Zool. ii. p. 276. A.——Lat}2... Syn. ii. p. 552. 1..—-—Id. Sup. p. 104. HABITAT in Europae, ’Sibirize, regni Chilensis, et Surinami populis; in Anglia etiam, .quamvis rarissime invenitur; in Russia maxime frequens’.——Longitudo 17-18 pollicum. ' W. 1‘ In Italian: Pz'cclzz'o ng'az'a : in German, Hollz K rifle, or woodcrow, and Krii/zc—Specfit, G ross—Spcclzt, Sc/zwartz-Spec/zt, or the crow, the large, the black spight or woodpecker: in Swedish, Spill-Kiaolra: in Nonvegian, Sort Spat, Trwpz'lr/rc, .Lie Has: : in Polish, Dzzeczol Na Jute/182' J IHist. Anim. lib. ix. 9 46 THE BLACK woonprzcxzn. our variegated woodpecker; the second is larger than the blackbird, and is the KoAzog, or our green woodpe‘cker"; and the third, he re- presents as equal in size to a hen, which must be understood of its length, and not of its thickness; and it is therefore our Black Wood- pecker, the largest of all the woodpeckers of the ancient continent. It is sixteen inches long, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail; the bill measures two inches and a half, and is of a horn colour; a bright red hood covers the crown of the head; the plumage of the whole body is deep black. The German names Ki'ii/zc-spec/zt and Hates-kra/ze, crow- spight and woodcrow, mark both its colour and its size. It is found in the tall forests on the moun- tains of Germany, in Switzerland, and in the Vosges: it is unknown in most of the pro- vinces of France 1', and seldom descends into the low country. Willughby assures us, that it never occm's in England; and indeed that country is too open for a bird of such a nature, and for the same reason, it has deserted Ilol- landl: and this is evidently not on aceountof the cold of those regions, since it inhabits the " llist. Anim. lib. \‘iii. 3. 1' “ The Black Woodpecker is not found in Normandy, nor in the vicinity of Paris, nor in the Orleanois.”—-Sul’rrne. It is much rarer in the \‘osges than the green woodpecker. It appears only in some particular districts. W. 1 Aldrovandus. THE BLACK WOODPECKER; 47 thrests of Sweden *. But it is difficult toima- gine why it is not found in Italy, as Aldro- vandus asserts. Even in the same country, these birds pre- fer particular districts that are solitary and wild; Frisch mentions a forest in 'Franconia T, noted for the multitude of Black .Wood peckers which it contains. In general," the Species is not numerous; and, in the extent of half a league, we can seldom find more than a single pair. They settle in a certain Spot, which they scarcely ever leave} This bird strikes the trees with such force, that, according to Frisch, it may be heard as far as a hatchet. It bores to the heart of the trunk, and forms a very capacious cavity; as much as a bushel of wood—dust and chips is often seen on the ground below its hole; and sometimes it hollows out the substance of the trees to such a degree that they are soon borne down by the wind]: They prefer the decayed trees, but as they also attack those which are sound, the careful proprietors of woods are at pains to destroy them. M. Deslandes, in his Essay on the Ship-building of the Ancients, re- grets, that there are few trees fit for making "oars forty feet long, which are not bored by the woodpeckers §. _ 9* Fauna Suecica, No. 79. 1 The forest of Spessert. I Aristotle, Hist. Anim. lib. ix. 9. § But M. Deslandes is much mistaken in the same place, when he says that thisWOodpecker employs its tongue like. an anger to bore the largest tree‘s. 48 THE BLACK woonpzexzx. The Black Woodpecker lays, in the bottom of its hole *, two or three eggs, which are white; as in all birds of the genus, according to ‘Villughby: it seldom alights on the ground; the ancients atlirmed even, that no wood- pecker ever descends from its tree’r: when they clamber, the long hind tee is sometimes placed sidcwise, and sometimes forwards, and is moveable in its joint with the foot, so as to ac- commodate itself to every position: this power is common to all the woodpeckers. After the Black Woodpecker has perforated into the cavity of the tree, it gives a loud shrill and lengthened scream, which is audible at a great distance. It also makes at times a crack- ing, or rather a scraping, by rubbing its bill rapidly against the sides of its hole. The female differs from the male in its co- lour, being of a lighter black, and having no red but on the back of the head, and sometimes none at all. It is observed that the red descends lower on the nape of the neck in some indivi- duals, and these are old males. The Black \Voodpecker disappears during winter. Agricola supposed that it remained concealed in hollow treesi: but Frisch atiirms, that it retires before the rigour of the season, ’ Pliny has asserted with too great latitude that the wood- peckers are the only birds which breed in hollow trees (lib. x. 18); many other small birds, such as the titmice, do the same. 1 Aristotle, Hist. Anim. lib. ix. 9. I Apud Gesnerum, p. 677. "THE BLACK WOODPECKER. 49 Twhen its provisions fail, for, continues he, the worms then sink deep into the wood, and the ant-hills are covered with ice and snow. We know not of any bird of the ancient con- tinent, whether in Asia or Africa, that is anao logous to the European woodpecker; and it would seem to have migrated hither from the New World, where many species occur that closely resemble it. I proceed to enumerate these *.—-— * Pennant observes that the Black Woodpecker inhabits the forests of Russia, from Petersburgh to Ochotsk. It does great mischief to the bees, by piercing their hives. In Russia they remove the hives as far out of the way as possible, and surround them with thorns. It is a very shy bird, and diflicult to shoot. W. VOL. VIII. f. (50) BIRDS or THE NEW CONTINENT, WHICH ARE RELATED TO THE BLACK “'OODPECKER. THE WHITE-BILLED WOODPECKER". First Species. THIS woodpeckcr is found in Carolina, and is the largest of the genus, being equal or even * CHARACTER BPPZCIFICUR PICUS PRINCIPALIS. P. nigor, cri>ta coccinea. linea utrin- quo collari rcmigilmsque sccumlariis ulbis.—~(.l1cs.) Lark. Ind. Orn. i. p. 2'25. N0. 3. (hurl. Syst. i. p. 4'25. ——-—— NIGER CAROLINENSIS +.—I)‘n'~. iv. p. 26. 9. lMBRlI-‘GL'I‘US.——Ruii 83,". p. 161—!!111'. p. 301. QUATOTUMOMI. — Ruii 5512. p. 162.——H'z!l. p. 94. t. 22.— Icl. (lit/2341.) p. 390. LE PIC Nam liL’Pl’F.’ do In CAROLINE—Pf. Iim’. 690. - i). BEC BL;\_\‘(‘..-—II:{1‘f'. par Swim. lv. p. 3H3, KING 01: Till: Womwuvxlins.—I{u{m.113;. ii. p. 8.3? VVlil'l‘Ii-IEILLED \Vuunmzm'. ER. -(‘u.‘. ('ar. i. t. 16,—.31-ct. Z001. ii. N0. 156.——1.all}. Syn. ii. p. 653. ll A B I TAT in America—16 pollices longus. ' W. “t Brisson probably measured a very small specimen, “hen THE WHITE-:BILLED WOODPECKER. 51 superior in bulk to the crow. Its bill is white like ivory, and three inches long, “channeled through its whole length, and so sharp and strong, says Catesby, that, in an hour or two,- the bird often makes a bushel of chips. Hence the Spaniards term it carpenteros, or carpenter. Its head is deborated behind by a great scare let tuft, parted into‘ two tufts, one of which falls 011 the neck, and the other is raised, and co— vered by long black threads, which rise from the croiyn and invest the whole head, for the scallet feathers lie behind; a white st1i.pe,de— scending on the side of the neck, and makino an a11Ole 011 the shoulde1,1uns into the white that eoveis the lowei pa1t of the back and the middle quills of the wing; all the 1est of the plumaoe 1s ajet deep black. ' ' " It hollows its nest in the lalgest tiees, and b1eeds dining the 1ainy season. It is found, too, in hotte1 climates than that of Carolina; fo1 we 1ecoo11ise it in the pious imbrz'fwtzts of Nielembergb 3", and the quatoz‘omomi of Feman- dez T, though theie a1e some differences which would seem to indicate a varietyjf‘; its white he stated the length of this woodpecke1 at sixteen inches; that 1n the royal cabinet, fivured 1n the IZlumz'ned Plates, was eighteen inches. * P. 223. + Hist. Nov. Hisp. p. 50. cap. 186. I The Quatotomomi, a kind of woodpecker of the bulk of a hoopoe : it is variegated with black and fulvous ; its bill, with which it hollows and bores trees, is three inches long, stout, and bright white . . . . Its head is decorated by a'red crest three inches long, but its upper part black on either 132 .52 THE WHITE-131mm) woonncxzn. bill, three inches in length, suffices to discrimi- nate it. This woodpecker,'says Fernandez, in-. habits the regions bordering on the South Sea. The North Americans work the bills into co- ronets for their warriors; and, as they cannot procure these in their own country, they buy them of the more southern Indians at the rate of three deer-skins for each bill“. side of the neck, a bright white bar descends to near the breast. It inhabits Tototepeco, in higher Misteca, not far from the South Sea. It nestles in lofty trees: feeds on the grasshoppers, final/i, and on small worms. ‘It breeds in the rainy season, that is, between May and September.”—-Fer- nandez, Hist. Nor. Hisp. p. 50. cap. 186. ‘ It is a scan-e bird in North America, and never pene- trates beyond the Jerseys. It breeds in a winding hole, the better to screen the young from the insinuating rains. (5‘3“) THE PILEATED WOODPECKER’X‘. Second Species. THIS woodpecker, which is Common in Lou- isiana, occurs equally in Carolina and in V ir- ginia: it resembles much the preceding, but its bill is not white, and it is rathersmaller, though it somewhat eXceeds the black woodpecker of Eur0pe. The crown of the head, as far as the eyes, is (leCOrated by a large scarlet crest, Col- lected into a single tuft, and thrown backwards in the shape of flame; above there is a black bar, in which the eye is placed; a red musta- choe is traced from the root of the bill on the black sides of the head; the throat is white; a fillet of the same colour passes between the eye and the mustaehoe, and extends on the neck as far as the shoulder; all the rest of the body is black, with some slight marks of white on the * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS‘. PICUS PILEATUS. P. niger, crista rubra, temporibus aliq- que ma'culis albis-.——La‘tlz. Ind. Orn. i. p. 225. No. 4. Gmel; Syst. i. p. 4‘25. -—-—- VIRGINIANUS PILEATUS.-Bris. iv. p. 29. 10. LE PIC Nora HUP'PE’ de la LOUISIANE.——Pl. Enl. 718. ' —-——-- a HUPP E’ ROUGE—Biff. par Son». 1v. p 319, LARGER CRESTED WOODPECKER.——Cat. Car. i. t. 17. PILEATED WOODPECKER.-—'—Arc‘f. Zool. ii. No. 157.~—Latfi.- Syn. ii. p. 554. 3.—-—«Id. Sup. p. 105. H A B 1 TA T in America.—.—15pellices longus. W. 54 THE PILEATED woonpncxnn. wing, and a larger spot of that colour on the middle of the back; under the body, the black is lighter, and mixed with grey waves; in the female, the fore—part of the head is brown, and there are no red feathers but on the hind-part of the head. Catesby says that these birds, not content with rotten trees which supply their usual food, attack also the plants of maize, and do much injury; for the wet insinuates into the holes which they make in the husk, and spoils the seeds. But is their motive not to get some kind of worms that lurk in the car, since no bird of this germs feeds on grain? .With this bird we must also join a wood- pecker which Commerson brought from the country contiguous to the Straits of Magellan: its bulk is the same, and its other characters pretty similar; only it has no red, except on the cheeks and the fore—part of the head, and the back of'its head bears a tuft of black tea- thers. Thus the same species occurs in the corresponding latitudes at the two extremities of the great continent of America. Commer- son remarks, that this bird has a very strong voice, and leads a very laborious life; a cha- racter that belongs to all the woodpeckers, which are inurcd to toil and hardship *. ’ It is halfthe weight of the preceding species. It spreads over the “hole extent ot‘North America: lays six emvs and _—-') batches in June. The Indians decorate their calumets with its scarlet tuft. (553 THE LINEATED WOODPECKER r. T Izz'rd Species. THIS bird is the ooam‘oo 0f the Americans, which Barrere has inaccurately pronounced wen- too, and the 122])6000 of Marcgrave. It is as long as the green woodpecker, but not so thick; its upper surface is entirely black, except a white line, which, rising from the upper mandible, descends like a. cincture on the neck, and strewis some white feathers on the c‘overts of the wings; the stomach and belly are waved with' black- andavhite bars, and the throat is Speckled with the same; from the lower‘mandible proceeds a red mustachoe; a. beautiful crest of the same colour covers the head, and falls backwards; * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS LINEATUS. P.‘ niger, crista coccinea, linea a rOS« tro utrinque collari ad medium dorsum alba, corpore sub- tus rufo—albido fasciis .nigris. —- Lat/z. Ind. Orn. i. p. 226. N6. 5. . Gmel. Syst. i. p. 425. —— VARIUS BRASILIENSIS, 'Ipecu DICTUs.—Raz'i Syn. p. 43. 7.—-—I'Vz'll. p. 94. t. 22.—-I(I. (Anglj p. 138. t. 22. ————- NIGER CAYANE'NSIS CRISTATUS.-—-Brz's. iv. p. 31. 11. t. 1. f. 2. . LE PIC NOIR HUPPE’ de CAYENNE. —— Bufi PI. £722. 717. —Bz£fl'. par Sonn. lv. p. 323. ‘LIf‘IEATED‘ WOODPEcKER.-—Latlz. Syn. ii. p. 556. 4. HABITAT in Cayana.~—-14 fere pollices longus. W. 56 THE LINEATED woonpncxen. lastly, under the long threads of this crest, we perceive small feathers of the same red, which clothe the t0p of the neck. Barrere is right in referring this woodpecker to the hipecoo of Marcgrave, as much as Brisson is wrong in referring it to the great Carolina woodpecker of Catesby: the latter is larger than a crow, and the hipecoo exceeds not a pi- geon. And the rest of Mangrave 3 description agrees with the ouantoo as much as with the great Carolina woodpecker, which has not the under side of its body \ariegated with black- and-white as the ooantoo and the hipecoo; and its bill is three lines, not six. But these charac- ters belong as little to the black woodpecker of Louisiana; and Brisson was mistaken, too, in placing with it the ooantoo, which, as we have just seen, is nothing but the hipecoo, and would have been better ranged with his ele- venth species. The ooantoo of Cayenne is also the tlauh- quechultototl of New Spain, described by Fer- nandez. It bores trees; its head and the Upper part of its neck are covered with red feathers. But there is a circumstance accidentally intro~ duced in his account which seems to discrimi- nate it from the other woodpeckers :-——“ The red feathers on the t0p of the neck, if applied or rather glued to the head, relieve a head- ache ;” whether this was learnt from expez ience, or was suggested by seeing them glued near the bead oft/re bird. (5.7) THE RED-NECKED WOODPECKER ”*2 Fourtk Species. THIS bird has not only its head red, but its neck as far as the bxeast of the same beautiful colour. It is lather longer than the g1 een woodpecker, its neck and tail being elongated, which makes its body appear less thick ; allthe head and neck is covered with red feathers to the breast, where'the tints of that colour melt into the fine fulvous that covers the breast, the bel- ly, and the sides; the rest of the belly is deep brown, almost black where the fulvous mixes with the quills of the Wing—This bird is found. in Guiana, as Well as the preceding and the following ones. "‘“ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS RUBRICOLLIS. P. fuscus, occipite cristato, cor-r pore subtus testaceo-albo, capite colloque coccineis.-—- Latin Ind. 0172. i. p. 226. No.6. A . Gmel. 8318!. i. p. 426 LE GRAND PIC HUPPE’ a TETE ROUGE de CAYENNE. P1. Enl. 612. LE PIC a COU ROUGE.—-Bz_zf. par Somz. lv. p. 327. .RED-NECKED WOODPECK ER.———Latfi. Syn. ii. p. 558. E HABITAT in Cayanap-JG pollices- .longus. W- (58) THE LESSER BLACK WOODPECKER *. Rift/z Species. THIS is the smallest of all the black wood- peckers, being only of the size of the wryneck. A deep black with blue reflections covers the throat, the breast, the back, and the head, ex- cept a red spot found on the head of the male; it has also a slight trace of white on the eye, and some small yellow feathers near the back of the head; below the body and along the sternum there extends a bar of a line poppy— red; it terminates at the belly, which, like the sides, is 'well enamelled with black and light- grey; the tail is black. There is a variety of this woodpecker, which, * CHARACTER SPECIFICL’S. PICUS "IRUNDINACEITS. P. niger, occipite cristato nrbro, humeris ulbido punctatis, abdomiue inferiore alb0.—Lu.‘/i. Ind. Urn. i. p. 227. N0. 8. Gmd. 5355!. i. p. 426. -—-— FLAHPEs.—-—Gnu~l. 5315!. i. p. 438. -—~—- Nicer. Norm .-\.\'(‘.Ll.-‘E.—Bris. iv. p. 24. 7. LE l‘liTl'l‘ PIC NOIR. ~Bqfii par Sun". lv. p. 3:29. Yumw-maccnn \VoonmzvxEIL—Arct. Zuul. ii. No. 167. Lr-tssrtk BLACK \V’oonpeexm.-—Alb. iii. t.‘23.—-~1,m‘!i.u$pn, ii. p. 55:). 7. II A BlTA'l‘ in America Septentrionuli.~-a}k polliuw longus. \l. THE LESSER BLACK WOODPECKER. 59 instead of the red spot on the crown of the head, has a yellowish crown completely. encir- cling it; and this is the opening of those small yellow feathers seen in the former, and proba- bly results from age—The female has neither a red spot nor a yellow circle on the head. T o‘this species we shall refer the Lesser Black Creeper of Albin, which Brisson makes his se- Venth species, under the name of the Black I’Voodpecker of ZVew England 75 * Mr. Pennant reckons the authority of Albin very su— spicious. (60) THE BED-HEADED WOODPECKER ’7‘. Sixth Species. THIS bird, described by Catesby, is found in Virginia. It is nearly as large as the variegated woodpecker of Europe. Its whole head is en- veloped in a beautiful red domino, which is silky and glossy, and falls on the neck ; all the Under surface of the body and the rump are white, and so are the small quills of the wing, of which the black joins that of the tail, to form, on the lower part of the back, a great white space; the rest is black, and also the great quills of the wings, and all those of the tail. Very few of these birds are seen in Virginia * CHARACTER svecrrrccs. Prces ERYTHROCEPHALI'S. P. capitc toto rubro, alis caudaque nigris, abdomine rcmigihusque secundariis albis. --I.at/I. Ind. 0m. i. p. 2'27. N0. 9. _____ . (11ml. Syst. i. p. 4'29.— Eris. iv. p. 52. 19. t. 3. f. 1. LE Pic de VikGiNiE.—PI. En]. 117. — 501R it Dosuxo Rover-2. — Bzyf. par Son". Ir. p. 332. Renarmnan Wooopecx rem—(11:. Cur. i. t. 2ll, (1..l,l'l;(”)'(h't..'.‘ in! X«)1‘\‘. (‘- 7 giuu, Kraut-Sphere : and in l’oliab, Damn! 13:23, l.’ .’:...ny. THE GREATER SPOTTED VVOODPECKER. 63 of which stretches on each side to the root of the bill and marks a mustachoe, and the other, descending to the lower part Of the neck, deco- rates it with a collar: this black streak unites near the shoulder with the blaCk piece that oc‘ cupies the middle of the back; two great white spaces cover the shoulders; in each wing the great quills are brown, the others black, and all mixed with White; the whole of the black is deep, and the whole of the white is pure and ”unmixed; the red 011 the head is bright, and that of the belly is'a fine scarlet. Thus the plumage of this bird is charmingly diversified, and surpasses that of all the other woodpeck- ers in beauty. This description answers only to the male' exaCtly; the female figured in the Plane/26.9 E22- ‘lzmzz'nées has no red on the back of the head. ’Some Spotted woodpeckers are clothed with a less beautiful plumage, and some even are en- tirely white. There is also a variety whose co- lours appear more obscure, and, though all the upper side of the head and the belly are red, the tint is pale and dull. Of this variety, Brisson makes his second variegated woodpecker, though he had before produced‘it' under the name of the Great Va- riegated Woodpecker; yet these two birds are both nearly of the same-size, and have ever been referred to the same species. Belon, who lived in an age when the rules of nomenclature and the errors of system had not multiplied the (li- 64 Tux; GREATER SPOTTED wooopecxen. visions in the arrangement of natural objects, classes all these varieties with his Epeic/ze, or Variegated Woodpecker. But Aldrovandusjust— ly blames both him and Turner for applying to that bird the name Ficus rlfartius, which be— longs only to the green wood'pecker. The Variegated Woodpecker strikes against the trees with brisket and harder blows than the green woodpecker; it creeps with great ease up- wards or downwards, and horizontally under the branches; the stiff quills of its tail serve to support it when it hangs in an inverted peso ture, and knocks keenly with its bill. It is a shy bird; for, when it perceives a person, it hides itself behind a branch and remains still. Like the other woodpeckers, it breeds in a hol- low tree. In our provinces it approaches the habitations during winter, and seeks to settle on the bark of fruit-trees, where the chrysalids and eggs of insects are deposited in greater quantity than on the trees of the forest. In summer, during droughts, the Variegated \Voodpeekers are often killed at the wood— nicres, whither these birds repair to drink: it approaches the spot in silence, fluttering from tree to tree; and each time it halts it seems anxiously to examine if any danger threatens: it has an air of inquietude; it listens, and turns its head on all sides, and even looks through the foliage to the ground below; and the least noise is sullicient to drive it back. When it reaches the tree next the mere, it descends from. THE GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 65 branch to branch, until it gets to the lowest on the margin of the water; it then dips its bill, and at each sip it hearkens and casts a look round it. After its thirst is quenched, it retires quickly, without making a pause as on its \ar- rival. When it is shot on a tree, it seldom dr0ps; but, as long as a spark of life remains, it clings firmly with its nails, so that one is often obliged to fire a second time. This bird has a very large sternum; its in- testinal canal is sixteen inches long, but there is no caecum; its stomach is membranous ;'the point of its bill is bony, and five lines in length. An adult male, which had been taken from a nest of five young, weighed two ounces and a . half; these Weighed three gros each, and their toes were disposed as in the father; their bill wanted the two lateral ridges, which, in the adult, took their origin beyond the nostrils, went below them, and extended two-thirds of the length of the bill; the nails, though yet white, were already much hooked. The nest was in an old hollow aspin, thirty feet above the ground 3*. *5 It is found nearly over the whole of Europe : in Russia, Laponia, and eastern Siberia. It is not a common species'in . England. W. VOL. VIII. F (55) THE LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER 5‘ T. Second Species. Tms species resembles the former so closely, that it might be regarded as the same formed on a smaller scale, only the fore-part of its body is dirty-white, or rather grey; and it wants the red under the tail, and the white 011 the shoul~ ders. As in the large species, too, it is the male only that has its head marked with red. This little spotted woodpecker is scarcely so "‘ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICI’S MINOR. P. albo nigroque varius, vertice rubro, crisso testaceo.-—-Latlz. Ind. Orn. i. p. 229. No. 15. _.___.__—-—-. Cmel. 3313!. i. p. 437. —- VARIL'S Mmom—Bris. iv. p. .11. 15. —-————-—-—- TERTIUS.-—Ruii Syn. p. 43. 6. — Will. p. 94. t. 21. LA PETITE EPEICHE.—-Bl{fl: Pl. En]. 598,—— Bufl. par Sunn. lv. p. 346. Lassen Spoon-:1) \VooopECKER.—12r.Zool. i. No. 87. t. 37.——z1rcl. Zoo]. ii. p. 278. E.——Lut/i. Syn. ii. p. 6366. 14. —1d. Sup. 1). 101—1311;”. Birds, i. p. 124. HABITAT in Eurom, Asian—SQ pollices longa. W. 1r In Italian, I’ipra or I’ipo: in German, Speckflr, Grass Spec/1t: in Norwegian, Lille, Tree-put: and in Polish, Dzicciul l’str‘z/ .llizzi‘vuszy. "T‘HE ‘LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 67 large as a sparrow, and weighs only an ounce. In winter it resorts near houses and vineyards. It does not creep very high on large trees, and seems to prefer the circumference of the trunk *. It nestles in some hole of a tree, and often dis- putes the possession with the colemouse, which is commonly worsted in the struggle, and com- pelled to surrender its lodging. It isfound in England, where it has received the name of ‘lzz'clcwall. It also inhabits Sweden : and this species, like that of the greater spotted wood- pecker, would appear to be dificused even to North America; for in Louisiana a small spot- ted woodpecker is seen, which resembles it al— most entirely, except that the upper side of the head, as in the variegated woodpecker ofCana- da, is covered with a black cap edged with w Ite. _ Salerne says that this bird is unknown in France, yet it occurs in most of our provinces. The mistake originated from his confounding the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker withthe wall- creeper, with which he owns that he was un- acquainted. He was equally deceived in as- serting that Frischfmakes no mention of this woodpecker, from which he infers that it exists not in Germany; for that naturalist says only that it is rare, but gives two excellent figures of it 1‘. ” Gesner. Jr This species, like the preceding, is spread towards the «north, and equally found in the eastern countries of Siberia. F 9. 68 THE Lesser: SPOTTED WOODPECKER. M. Sonnerat saw, in the island of Antigua, a small variegated woodpecker, which we shall refer to this, since the characters which he gives are insufficient to discriminate two spe- cies. It is of the same bulk: black, striped and streaked with white, covers all the upper surface of the body ; the under surface is spot- ted with blackish on a pale yellow, or rather yellowish-white ground; a white line marks the sides of the neck. M.Sonnerat did not perceive red on the head, but he remarks that it was perhaps a female. at is probably no stranger to the south of Asia, since Pennant saw it among some drawings from the island of Ceylon. W. (69) BIRDS or THE ANCIENT CONTINENT, WHICH ARE RELATED To THE SPOTTED WOODPECKER. THE NUBIAN WOODPECKER *2 First Species, THIS bird is a third smaller than the spotted woodpecker of Europe; all its plumage is agrees- ably variegated with, dr0ps and waves broken and, as it were, vermiculated with white and rusty on a grey-brown ground, and blackish on the back, and tears of blackish on the whitish complexion of the breast and belly ; a half-crest of fine red covers, like a cowl, the back of the head; the crown and the fore-part consist of delicate black feathers, each tipped with a small White drop; the tail is divided horizontally by brown and rusty waves. The bird is very hand- some, and the species is new. 7 ’* CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS NUBICUS. P. fusco albo ruquue undato-maculatus, vertice nigro albo punctato, occipite cristato rubro, collo pectoreque albidis nigro guttatis. —— Latlz. Ind. 0272. i. p. 5233. No. 24. ‘ Gmel. Syst. i. p. 439. L’EPEICHE de NUBrE QNDE’ ET TACHETE’rszgfi Pl. E722. 667.—-—Bzgf par Seen. 'lv. p. 351. NUBIAN WOODPECKER.—-—Latlz.‘ Syn. ii. p. 576. 23. HABITAT in Nubian-72; polliccs longus. W. (70) The GREAT VARIEGATED WOOD. PECKER of the ISLE or Lugox ’. Second .S'pecies. THIS bird, which is described by Sonnerat, is as- large as the green woodpecker: the fea- thers of the back and the coverts of the wing are black, but their shafts are yellow, and there are also yellowish spots on the latter; the small coverts of the wing are striped trans- versely with white; the breast and the belly are variegated with longitudinal black spots on a white ground; there is a white bar on the side of the neck, extending below the eye; the crown, and back of the head, are of a bright-red, and for this reason Sonnerat would apply to it the epithet of ('(n'tfz'nal; but the red hood is rather a generic than a specific. charac- ter, and therefore the name w hieh that traveller would impose is not sullieiently descriptive. * CHARACTER SPllt‘Il-‘H'L'S. PlCl'S CAI-IDIXALIS. l’. alho nigreque Varius, subtus ulbus maeulis oblongis nigris, lat-crihus eulli \itta utrinque alba, verliee nuehaque ruhris.—I.a.’fi. 1nd. Om. i. p. 233. No. ‘23. — . (insa’. Stat. i. p.438. LE Pic CARDINAL the Lt eo.\.—— Son. 11:3;- p. 72. t. 35. LE GRAND l’lC VAIHE.’ de Ll‘g‘HN.——I)'rgf'; par .Sonn. l\'. p. 353. CARDINAL \V’oonpeexicn.—I.ar.’:. Syn. ii. p. 576. 22. HABITAT in insula Luzonia. W. (71) THE LITTLE BROWN SPOTTED WOODPECKER of the,MOLUCCAS 9". Third Species. THIS little woodpecker has only two dull and faint shades: its plumage is blackishbrown, waved with white on the upper side of the body; whitish spotted with brown speckles below; the head and tail, and also the quills of the Wings, are all brown. It is hardly so large as the lesser spotted woodpecker. ’"‘ CHA RACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS NIOLUCCENSIS. P. fusco-nigricans albo undatus, subtus albidus fusco sagittatus, crisso albo, remigibus rec. tricibusque albo maculatis.—Laz‘/1. Ind. Om. i. p. 233. No. 25. Gmel. Sust. i. p. 439. LE PETIT PIC des MOLUOU 12s —-Pl. F71]. 7.48 f. 2. --—-—— EPEICEE BRUN des MOLUQUEs.-——Bzgfi§ par Son”. lv. p. 355. . BROWN WOODPECKER.—-Lat/2. Syn. ii. p.577. 24." HABITAT in insulis Molu-cc-is. ’ W. (72). BIRDS OF THE NEW CONTINE‘NT, WHICH ARE RELATED TO THE SPOTTED WOOD PECKER. ——-— THE SPOTTED WOODPECKER of CANADA 4*. First Species. Tms bird is of the same size with the Eu- r0pean Spotted Woodpecker, and differs only in the distribution of its colours. It has no red; and the space which encircles the eye is not white, but black: there is more white on * CHA RACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS C.-\NADF..\'SIS. P. albo nigroque varius, corporc snbtus (lorsoque medio albo, nucha fulvu, reetricihus ‘2. intermediis nigris immaculatis, (luabus extimis albis basi nigris.——I.at/z. Ind. 0271. i. p. ‘230. No. 17. VARIUS CAN'ADENSIS. — Bria. iv. p. 45. 16. t. 2. f. 2.—Gmcl. Syst. i. p. 437. QUAUHTOTOPOTLI ALTER—Rafi Syn. p. 162. L'EPEICHF. (lu C.x.\'ADA.—quf. Pl. Eu]. 34:3. l.—Buf. pa,- Smut. l\'. p. 9.57. CANADA SPOTTED WOODPECKER.—Arct. Zool. ii. p. 163. -—Lut/:. Syn. ii. p. 569. 16. HA BITAT in Canada.—9 polliccs longus. W. THE SPOTTED WOODPECKER OF CANADA. 73 the side of the neck, and white or faint yellow on the back of the head. These differences however are slight, and the two contiguous. species are perhaps the same, only altered by the change of climate. ' The Quauktotbpotli Alter of Fernandez, which is a woodpecker variegated With black and white, appears to be the same with this Cana- dian woodpecker; especially as that author never mentions its having any red, and seems to insinuate that it comes to New Spain from the north. And there must be Spotted Wood- peckers in those tracts, since travellers have found them in the isthmus of Darien. (74) THE VARIED WOODPECKER ’7“. Second Species. I AM much inclined to think that the Great Variegated flIewiean [Voodpcclccr of Brisson, and his Little Variegated Mexican [Voodpecken arc the same bird. lie borrows the first from Seha, on whose authority Klein and Moehring have inserted it in their systems: but it is well known how inaccurate are most of the descrip- tions of that compiler. Klein mentions the same bird twice, and it is one of those which we have rejected from the family of wood- peckers. ()n the other hand, Brisson, for a reason which we cannot guess, applies to his second Mexican \x'oodpcclwr the epithet little, though Fernandez, the only original author, * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS TRIPOLOR. P. nigcr, alriis transversis albis, pectorc abdomincque rubris.-—la.!/z. 1121/.(lrn. i. p. 280. No. 16. “i, ( me]. SUM. i. p. 437. ————~ Vamcs Mrzxxmxrs Mum: ct Mixon.——Br§s. it. p. 57. 21. Qt:AUru'nocnom'rLr.——Rm'i Syn. p. m3. L’EPL-zlcmr. du M l-LXIQL’I-Zr—[iuf/L par Sum. lv. p. 660. PICA Muxrumm—brb. i. p. 101. t. (M. f. (3. VARIED \VOUDPECKER.——-La(/l. 5.911. ii. p. 568. 1x3. HABITAT in Mexico, cujus frigida loca frequentat. W. THE VARIED W'OODPECKER. 75 says that it is large, which he repeats twice in four lines._ According to him, it is equal in bulk to the Mexican crow; its plumage is varied with white transverse lines on a black- and-brown ground; the belly and breast are vermillion. This woodpecker inhabits the coolest parts of Mexico, and bores the trees like the rest of the kind. - (75') THE VARIEGATED JAMAICA WOO DPECK ER '3‘. T I: ird Species. Tms woodpecker is of a middle size between the green woodpecker and the spotted wood- pecker of EurOpe : Catesby makes it too small, when he compares it to the spotted woodpecker; and Edwards represents it too large, in assert— ing it to be equal in bulk to the green wood- pecker. The same author reckons only eight quills in the tail, but probably the two others were wanting in the subject which he describes; for all the woodpeckers have ten quills in the ‘ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS CAROLINUS. P. pileo nuchaque rubris, dorso {asciis nigris, rectricibus mediis nigro punctatis.—- Latla. 1nd. 0m. i. p. 231. No. 18. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 431. VARIUS JAMAICENSIS.—— Bris. iv. p. 59. 23. —— VBNTRE RUBRO.-—- Kalm. It. iii. p. 43.—Ia‘. (xi/1‘31.) ii. p. 86. LE Put VARIE' dc la JA surges—1215f. P2. 1511!. 591—3ng par Sum). lv. p. 362. JAMAICA WoomnzcxeR.—Edw. t. 244. Ran-Barman \V()()DPECKER.-—Cuf. Car. i. t. 19. f. 2. CAROLIVA WOODPECKER.—Arc(. Zoo]. ii. .\'0. 161.—« MM. Syn. ii. p. 570. 17. HABITAT in Carolina, Jamaica—10¢ pollices longa. W. VARIEGATED JAMAICA \VOODPECKER. 77 tail. It has a red hood which falls on the arch of the neck; the throat and stomach are rusty- grey, which runs by degrees into a dull red on the belly; the back is black, striped trans- versely with grey waves in festoons, which are lighter on the wines, broader and entirely White on the r.ump The figure which Sir Hans Sloane has given of it is very defective, and it is the only one that this naturalist and Brown found in the island of Jamaica, though there are a great many others on the continent of America. The present occurs also in Carolina, and, notwith- standing some differences, it may be recognised in the red-bellied woodpecker of Catesby. The front is a rusty-White, and in the male, red. (78) THE STRIPED WOO DPECK ER of LOUISIANA ’5‘. Fourth Species. IT is rather larger than the spotted wood‘ pecker; all the upper surface is agreeably striped with white and black, disposed in cross bands; of the quills of the tail, the two ex‘ terior and the two middle ones are mixed with white and black, the rest are black; all the under surface and the fore—part of the body are uniform white; grey, and a little dilute red, tinges the lower belly. Of two specimens lodged in the royal cabinet, the one has the upper side of the head wholly red, with some streaks of the same colour on the throat and under the eyes; the other has its front grey, and no red but on the back of the head, and is probably the female, this being the usual difference between the sexes: in both of them, this red is ofa feebler and lighter cast than in the other variegated woodpeckers. * CHARACTER SPEC! FICUS. PICUS CAROLINL'S. P. pileo rubescente, gula geuisquc rubro variis, rectricibus duahus intermediis ct cstimis albo nigroque variis, reliquis nigris.—La!lz. Ind. Om. i. p. 231. N0. 18. Var. 'y. L‘Errrcns Rn'r.’ de la [pagans—Pl. En1.69-2. (’ mina 9—82.11} par Semi. lv. p. 367).——-1.a(/r. Syn. ii. p. I) 17. B. I?" 7 1. H A BX '1' .\T in Ludovieia. W THE V A'RIEGAT-ED WOODPECKER of ENCENADA * Fy‘tlz Species. T ms bird is not larger than our lesSer spotted woodpecker, and is one of the handsomest of the genus; its colours are simple, but its plumage is richly mailed, and the white-and-brown grey, With which it is painted, are so finely broken and intermingled, as to produce a charming effect.’ The male has a full crest, and some red feathers appear in it; the female wants the crest, and its head is entirely brown. ’3‘“ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. i’xc US VARIEGATUS. P. capite subcristato, lateribus rubm notato, corpora supra transversim, subtus longitudinaliter fusco alboque vario, genis albis.—Lat/e. Illd. 0172. i. p. 233.» No. 22. BICOLOR.——-Gmel. Syst. i. p. 438. LE PIC VARIE’ de la ENCE’NADA.—_—Bzgf'. Pl. E121. 748. f. 1. (mas.)——-Bzg‘f. par 8mm. lv. p. 367. ENCENADA VVOODPECKERr—Lat/z. Syn. ii. p. 575. 21. HABITAT in America, Encenada.——-6 pollices longus. W. (80) THE HAIRY WOODPECKER *. Slit/z Species. I SHALL borrow the name of Hairy IVood- pecker from the English settlers of Virginia, because it expresses a discriminating charac- ter of the bird, viz. a white bar consisting of loose feathers, that extends quite along the 'back to the rump: the rest of the back is black; the wings too are black, but marked pretty regularly with Spots of dull white, round, and in the form of tears; a black spot covers the crown, and red the back of the head, from which a white line extends to the eye, and another is traced on the side of the neck; the * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS VILLOSt‘s. P. albo nigroque varius, subtns albus, dorso longitudinaliter suhvilloso, rectricibus extimis toto albis.L—1.a(/z. 1m]. 0m. i. p. 232. No. 19. Gnu]. Syst. i. p. 43.3.—-Kalm It. 3. p. 43. -—l’/ii1. Trans. Ixii. p. 388. —— — VARIL‘S VII:GI.\'1.-\NX'S.-—Iiris.imp. 48. 17. Le: Pic VARIE' MALE de VIRGINIE.—P1.En’. 754. -——-— Crim'eu.‘ dc \’1noi.\‘in.—-Buf. par .Sunn. 1v. p. 368. HAIRY \VtMUPECKERs—Cat. Car. i. t. 19. f. 2.-—--1r:t. Zuni. ii. N0. “LL—Kuhn, Tr. ii. p. Bil—IAN). Syn. ii. p. 572. 18.——I¢1. Sup. 1). 108. HA BITAT in Aim-rim soptenlriouali l‘reryieus, rarius in Anglia—a 8f pollices longu. \V. THE HAIRY \VOODPECKER. 81 tail 18 black, all the under surface of the bodv is white. This woodpecker is 1atl101 sn1alle1 than the spotted woodpec:ke1"X * It is found not only in Virginia, but also 111 Ca1olina, Pennsylvania, Canada, and even as hwh as Hudson’s Bay. Some have been seen in the n01 th of England. D1‘Latl1am observed a paix in the co lection 0f the Duchess (lowagei of P01tland, which had been killed nea1 Halifax, in Yorkshire e. They are Very destructive to the fi‘uitrtrees. W. V012. V111. (82) THE LITTLE VA RI EG ATED WOOD- PECKER (1f [VIRGINIA *. Seven! [1 Species. EVE owe to Catesby the account also of this small woodpecker: it weighs rather 111 m3 than an ounce and a. half, ando resembles the haiiy woodpecker so much, it is said, in its Spots and colours, that, but for the difieience 0t size, they might be regarded as of the same Species . its b1eust and belly are liuht g1ev, the four middle quills 0f1ts tail 2110 black, and the rest barred with black and \1h1teTl1ef<-111:11e is distinguished f1om the male as in all the woodpeckeis, by having 110 red on the hmd’f. *‘ CHARACTER sucxricus. PICUS PUBESCENS. P. albo nirquue \arius, suhtus :riwu- albus, rectrice extima alha 111aculis quatuor albis. —Lur/}. Ind. 0rn.i. p. 232 .\0. 20. . Gmcl. 5315!. i. p. 435. -—-—-—VARIL‘S VIRGINIANUS Hume—Hm. iv. p. 511. 11;. LE PETIT PIC VARIE’ dc V'iizeixie—qui‘. par Sum. l\'. p. 370. SMALLEST WOODPECKER.-—('ut. Car. 1. t. '21.‘—-Ka.'xn. Tr. ii. p. 87. Dowxv W00011£c1<1111.—;1rct. Zoo]. ii. -.\'o. “Kl—LCL‘SUL Car. 143. LITTLE \VOOI)PECKER.—I.1IM. Syn, ii. p. (173. 19.~L/ 5.1 p. 106. H A B I TA '1' in America septentrionali.~5} polliees longus. W. 1' This species is very abundant in North America, passm the whole winter in Pennsylvania and adjacent countries, 3111'. greatly damages the fruit trees. W. ('83) -‘1~‘HE VARIEGATED woo DPECKER of C .ARQLINAai". Eiglztlz Species. THOUGH this woodpecker has a yellowish tinge on the belly, We shall not exclude it from those which are variegated with white and black, since these colours appear on the upper surface, which really characterizes the plumage. It is scarcely so large as the lesser wood pecker; all the upper side of its head is red; four stripes, alternately black and white, cover the Space between the temple and the cheek, and the last of these stripes bounds the throat, which is of the same-red with the head, the * CHARACTER sPEcIFIcus. PICUS VARIUS. P. albo nigroque varius, vertice rubro, crisso albo fusco fasciato.—Lalt/z. Ind. Cm. i. p. 232. No. 21. l V l V -——--. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 438. —- ——-—- CAROLINENSIS.——~ Eris. iv. p. 62. 24. LE PIC VARIE’ de la CARoLiNE.—Bzgj“. 1’1. Enl. 785.— Bzg‘f. par Sonn. lv. p. 372 YELLOW- BELIIED WOODPECKER. ——Cat. Car. i. p. 21.—-— Aid. Z001. ii. N0. 166.~—Ka[m. Tr]. ,i- p. 87. “Lat/2. Syn. ii. p. 574-. ‘20.~—-Id. Sup. p. 109. HABITAT in America, Asia—~73]; pollices lopgus. VV' 84 THE VARIEGATED WOODPECKER. black and white intermingl'e and intersect each other agreeably 011 the back, the wings, and the tail; the fore-part of the body is a light yellow, sprinkled with some black speckles. The fe- male wants the red. This woodpecker inha- bits, according to Brisson, Virginia, Carolina, and Cayenne. {35) THE, VARIEGATED UNDATED WOODPECKER 4“. Ninth Species. THE plumage reSembles that of the Spotted. Woodpecker; the back is black, with white disposed in waves or rather scales on the great quills of the wing, and these two colours form, when it is closed, achecked bar: the under Surface of the body is White, variegated en the sides with black scales; two White streaks Stretch backwards, one from the eye, the other frOm the bill, and the top of the head is red. The figure of this bird agrees perfectly with Brisson’s description of the Variegated Cayenne fVoodpec/ier, except that the former has four toes as usual, and the latter only three. We Cannot therefore doubt the existence of three‘ -* CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. PICUS TRIDACTYLUS. P. albo nigroque varius, subtus albus.—-Latlz. Ind. Om. i. p. 243. No. 56. Var. B. VARIUS CAYANENSIS'r—Bris. iv. p. 54. 20. LE PIC TACHET'E de CAYENNEr—Pl. E21! 553. L’EPEIU,HE ou PICVVARIE’ ONDE'.-—.Blfi par Sonn. 1v. ‘ p. 375. WOODPECK ER WITH THREE ToEs. ——Bancr. Guian. p. 164. SOUTHERN THREE TOED WOODPEQKER .wLaa/z. Syn. ii. p. 601. 51. A.’ HA BITAT in Cayana. W. 86 THE VARIEGATED woonpacxaa. toed woodpeckers: Linnau‘s describes one found in Daleearlia; Sehmid, one in Siberia; and we are informed by Lottinger" that it occurs also in Switzerland T. The three-toed woodpecker appears therefore to inhabit the north of both continents. Ought the want of the toe to be regarded as a specific character, or considered as only an accidental defect? It would require a great many observations to answer that ques- tion; but it may be denied that the same bird inhabits also the equatorial regions, though after Brisson it is termed the Spoiled Cayenne IVOOII/Jecker in the Plane/res En/uminées. After this long enumeration of the birds of both continents that are akin to the wood- peckers, we must observe that we have been obliged to reject some species noticed by our nomenclators. These are the third, eighth, and twentieth, which Brisson ranges with the woodpeckers, Seba with the herons, and Moeh- ring with the crows. Klein calls these birds harpooncrs; because, according to Seba, they dart from the air upon fish and transtix them. int this habitude belongs not to the woodpeckers; and the diSpositiou of the toes, ’ Extract of a letter from M. Lottinger, to M. de Mont- beillard, dated Strasbnrg, 22d September, 1774. 1‘ I‘allas observed this species in the desert and woody districts between the Don and the \Volga, and in the environs of Abakanks; and M. Soujet', one of the professor's com- panions, met with a great number ot‘tbese birds near Berezof, tire degrees farther north than Tobolsk. W. rm: Woomcxmcsmuns. 87 which in Seba’s figure are disposed three and , one, besides demonstrate that they are quite a distinct kind; THE WOODPECK EROREEPERS 9*. LES PiCrGRIMPEREAUX.——quf. The genus of these birds, of which we know i only tWo Species, appears manifestly discrimin- ated, and constitutes the intermediate link be- tween the woodpeckers and the creepers. The first and largest species resembles most the creepers, by its curved bill; and the second, on the contrary, is more analogous to the wood- peckers, since it has a straight bill. Both of them have three toes before and. one behind, like the creepers; and at the same time the quills of their tail are stiff and pointed, like the woodpeckers. I The firsts“ was ten inches long; its head and throat spotted with rufous ‘ and white; the upper side of the body, rufous, and the under‘ side, yellow, striped transversely with black- ish; the bill and feet black. The second 1 was only seven inches long; its head, neck, and breast, spotted, with rnfous and white; the under side of the body is Inf-'- * GRACULUS SCANDENS.-—Lat72. 1% ORIQLUS PICUS.--Laflz. 88 THE WOODPECKER-CREEPERS. ous, and the belly rusty-brown; the bill grey, and the feet blackish. Both these birds have very nearly the same natural habits; they creep against trees like woodpeckers, supporting themselves by the tail; they bore the bark and the wood with much noise, and they feed upon the insects thus detected: they inhabit the forests, and seek the vicinity of springs and rivulets. The two species live together, and often on the same tree, on which many other small birds are perched; yet they are only fond of each other‘s society, and never intermix the breed. They are very agile, and flutter from tree to tree, but never perch or fly to a distance. They are com- monly found in the interior parts of Guiana, where the natives of the country confound them with the woodpeckers; which is the rea- son that they have received no appropriated name. It is probable that they also inhabit the other “arm climates of America, though no traveller has mentioned them. "I [’I'H'.‘ It.» \Ot‘l kmlurfifi , . A: TH'E COBBIOA' '\\'RY.\'E (Ii. ('89). T1111 EW’RX’NECK*1. THIS biid may be distinguished at first sight by a habit peculia1 to itself; it twiSts and turns * YUNX. CHARACTER GENERICUS. RoStrum. teretiu‘sculum, paulo incurvatum, debilé. Bares concavze,de11udatze. ngua teres,lumbricif01mis, longissima, apice mucronata. Rectizces decem flexiles. 1 Pedes scansorii. ' CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. YUNX TORQUILLA. Y. grisea fuséo nigricanteque varia, abdomine rufescente-aiho maculis nigricantibus, re‘ctricibus macuiis striis fasciisque nigris undulatis.-——"—Lat}z. Iiz'd. 0m. i. p. 223. N0. 1. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 423.-—”-Raii Syn. p; 44. A. saw—Will p. 9.5. t. 22—13123. iv. p. 4. t. 1-. ..f 1. LE TORCOL.—-—B¢{[j. Pl. E111. 698. ——qu par Sonn. 1v p 386. pl. 176. £2 WRYNECK.-—Br. Zool.i. No. 83. -—'Arct. Zoo]. ii‘. p. 267. B -1171! (.411ng p 130.1 22. ——Lam. Syn. 1i. p. 548 t. 24. ———1d.Sup. p 103. —-Bew. Bir.(Is, i. p. 115. A». ‘ HABITAT in Europze, Asiae, Afric'ae, truncisarborum putrescentibus. ‘Long. 7 poll; , W. +III—G1‘eek 11.71;; in modern Latin Torquill/z ; and almost all itsother names in various languages refer toithe distortion of its neck; in Frenli1,'1"orcol; in Italian, 'J'mtocollo, Capotmto Veracclla ; in Spanish,’1’orzicuelle , in Ge. man, IVznd—lzalz, 96 THE WRYNECK. back its neck, its head reverted on its back, and its eyes half-shut ”'3 and the motion is slow, tortuous, and exactly similar to the waving wreaths of a reptile. It seems to he occasioned by a convulsion of surprise and fright; and it is also an effort, which the bird makes to dis- engage itself when held, yet this motion l3 natural to it, and depends in a great measure on its structure; for the eallowr brood have the same vermieular wreathiug, and many a timor- ous nest-finder has t'aueied'them to be young serpents T. The \l’ryneek has also another singular habit. One which had been shut twenty-four hours in a cage, turned towards a person who approach- ed it, and, eyeing him steadily, it rose upon its spurs, stretched slowly forwards, raising the feathers on the top of its head and Spread— ing its tail; then it suddenly drew back, strik- ing the bottom ofthe cage with its bill, and re- tracting its crest. It repeated this gesture. which was also observed by Schwenckfeld, to the number of a hundred times, and as long as the spectator remained beside it. These strange attitudes and natural contor- tions seem ancicutly to have prompted supersti- tion to adopt this bird in enehantments, and .-\'al¢:r-}zai:, Nutrit-a‘cag, Killer-uranicf; in S'wedish, Givea- 1.1»; in l)aui~h, lirm.}--.":a.v'z; in Norwegian, .S':.'o-g:.-u~';; in l’oli-li, Krrlogfuw; in Russian. [insulin/mu. ‘ Aristotle, Hist. Anim. lib ii. xii.-Sehwcnckfeld. l llelon. THE warnncm 91 “to prescribe its flesh as the most powerful in; centive to love ; insomuch, that the name [yum denoted all sort of enchantments, violent pass sions, and whatever we call. the charm of beauty; that blind power which irresistibly commands our affections. Such is the sense in which Heliodorus, Lycophron, Pindar, JEschy- his, and Sephocles, employ it. The enchantress in Theocritus makes this charm, to recal her lover. It was Venus herself that, from Mount Olympus, brought the Jynx to -Jason, and taught him its Virtue, to win the heart of Medea (Pindar). The bird was once a nymph, the (laughter oftEcho: by her enchantments, Jupiter became enamoured of Aurora; and Juno, in wrath, performed the metamorphosis. --See Suidas, and the Scoliast of Lycophron, .Eschylus, Sephocles, Heliodorus, Pindar, and ‘ Erasinus. T he species of the VVryneck is no where numerous: each individual leads a sequestered life, and even migrates solitarily. They arrive singly in the month of May *‘1 They never enter into any society but that of the female, and it is only transitory, for the domestic union is dissolved, and they retire in September. The W'ryneck prefers, for the sake of solitude, a straggling tree in the midst of some broad hedge-row. Towards the end of Summer, it is "* Gesner says that he has seen them in the month of épril. 92 THE WRYNE found alone among the fields of corn, particu- larly oats, and in the small paths that run through patches of buck-wheat. It feeds on the ground, and does not clamber on the trees like the woodpeckers, though it is closely re- lated to these birds, and has the same con- formation in its bill and feet. Yet it never intermixes with them, and seems to form a small separate family. The \Vryneck is as large as the lark, being seven inches long, and ten inches across the wings; all its plumage is a mixture of grey, of black, and of tawny, disposed in waves and bars, contrasted so as to produce the richest enamel with these duky shades‘; the under- side of the body is of a white-grey ground, tinged with rusty on the neck, and painted with small black zones, which separate on the. breast, and stretch into a lance-shape, and are scattered and diluted on the stomach; the tail consists of ten flexible quills, which the bird spreads when it flies, and which are variegated below with black points on a dusky-grey ground, and intersected by two or three broad waved bars like those on the wings ofnight flies; the same mixture of beautiful undulations ol'black, of brown, and ofgrey, among which are perceived zones, lozenges, and zigzag lines, paints all the upper surface on a deeper and more rusty ground. Some describers have. ‘ l‘iudar calls the .lynv. variegated.-—G¢~mcr. THE WRYNECK. 93 compared the plumage of the W1 yneck to that of the woodcock; but it is more agreeably va- ried, its tints ale cleare1 and distincter, of a softer feel, and have a finer effect; the cast of the colour is'rufous in the male, and more cine- reous in the female, which discriminates them ; the feet are rusty-grey ; the nails sharp, the two exterior much longer than the two interior. This bird holds itself very erect on the branch where it sits, and its body is even bent backwards. It clings in the same way to the trunk of a tree when it sleeps; but it never clambers like the woodpecker, nor seeks its food under the bark; its bill, which is nine lines in length, and fashioned as those of the woodpeckers, does not assist it in finding its nourishment, and is nothing but the sheath of a large tongue th1ee or foul finge1s in length, which it darts into the ant-hills, and which it again draws back coveied with ants that stick to its viscous humidity. The point of the tongue is sharp and horny; and, to give it ex. tension, two great muscles rise from its root, and, after inclosing the larynx, and stretching to the crown of the head, as in the woodpeck- ers, are inserted in the front. ,It also wants commonly the cwcum* ; and Willughby says, that in its stead there is only a sort of inflation of the intestines. The cry of the W'ryneck is a very shrill drawling whistle, which the ancients properly * Albiu. 94 in”; WRYN ecu. termed stridar, and the Greek name toys seem.) to imitate the sound *1 It is heard eight or ten days before tlfe cuckoo. It lays in holes of trees, without making any nest, and on the dust of rotten wood, which it throws to the bottom of the cavity, by striking the sides with its bill. It has commonly eight or ten eggs, which are white as ivory'i‘. The male carries ants to his mate during incubation ; and the young brood against the month of June writhe their neck, and whistle loud when one approaches them. They soon abandon their lodgment, and acquire no attachment for each other, since they separate and disperse as soon as they can use their wings. They can hardly be raised in a cage, it being very dilhcult to procure the proper food. Those which had been kept some time, touched the paste that was ofl'ered them with the tip. of their tongue, and after tasting, rejected it, and died of hungergt. An adult \l'ryneck, which "‘ Sealigcr derives l'x/S from l;_':';.-.‘, which occurs in the 17th book of the Iliad, and signifies to scream. + 0n the l‘ltll of June, we received lt” eggs of a “fry- neck, taken out ofa hole in an old apple-tree, five feet {mm the ground, and which rested on rotten wood: and three years before, \Vryneelis' eggs were brought to us from the. 0 same hole. I On the 10th of June, I caused :1 \Vryueck's nest to be taken out ot'an old cmh, five feet from the grouurl ; the male remained on the high branches of the tree, and cried very loud while his female and his young were dislodged. 1 fed them with paste made of bread and cheese; they lived THE WHY-NECK; ‘ 95. Gesner. tried to feed with ants, lived only five days : it constantly refused to eat other insects, and perished seemingly from languor. About the end of summer, this bird grows very fat, and is then excellent meat; so that in many countries it goes by the name of orz‘olan. It is sometimes caught by the spring, and the sportsmen tear out its tongue, with the View to prevent its flesh from contracting the taste of ants. The season is from August to the middle of September, when the Wrynecks depart, none of .them remaining during the winter in our climates. I The species is spread through all Europe, from the southern states to Sweden ii and even Lapland’f: it isx common in Greece i, and ltaly§. We learn from a passage of Philos— ~ tratus N, that the Wryneck was known to the Magi, and found in the region of Babylon. Edwards assures us that it occurs in Bengal. In short, though its numbers are in each coun- try rare, they are diffused through the whole- extent of the ancient continent. Aldrovandus nearly three weeks : they were familiar with the person who took care of them, and would come to eat out of his hand. When they grew large, they refused the usual paste, and, as no insects could beiprocured for them, they died of hunger.” L—Note cm/mumir‘uted b.5531. Gumc'au dc Illrmlbez'lc'ard. 5“ Fauna Suecica. T Rudheek. 3 391011 V § Aldrovandns. fl Vita Apollon. 96 THE w RYNECK. alone Speaks of a variety in the species; but his description was made from a drawing, and the difTerences are so slight, that we have thought it unnecessary to separate it *. ‘ Its Swedish name Giu'ék—Tz'ta, signifies Me cuclmu's er»- plainer; and the Welsh Gum y gag, means (/1: curious ut- tendant. In fact, the Wryneck usually appears a little before the cuckoo. It weighs an ounce and a quarter. Its egg is white, and semi-transparent. (97) THE BARBETS. NA TU RA LISTS have applied the epithet bearded to several birds that have the base of their bill beset with detached feathers, long and stiff like bristles, all of them directed forward. But we must observe, that under this designation some birds of different species, and from very distant climates, have been confounded. The tamatia of Marcgrave, which carhe from Brazil, has been ranged with the Barbet of Africa and that of the Philippines; and all those which have a heard on their bill, and two toes before and two behind, have been grouped together by our nomenclators. Yet the natives of the old continent are discriminated from those of the new, their bill being much thicker, shorter, and more convex below. We shall therefore give the name tamatm to the former kinds, and appropriate .barbet solely to the latter. VOL. VIII. . n (98) THE TA IVI AT] A“. First Species. W'E have already remarked, that Brisson wan mistaken in ranging this bird with the little thrush of Cateshy; for it is entirely different in the disposition of its toes, and the shape of its bill, as well as in its beard and the largeness of its head, a property common to the whole genus. Marcgrave is inaccurate too in assert- ing that it wants the tail: this is indeed short, * BUCCO. CHARACTER onxnnrees. Rostrum cultratum, compressum, apice emarginato, incur— vato, rictu infra oculos protensa. Narcs permis incumbentibus obtectze. I’m/cs scansorii. CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BL'CCO TAMATIA. B. rufo-fuscus, subtus rufo-albus nigro maculatus, gula fulva, collo luuula rufo nigroque varia, pone oculos macula nigra.—-Latll. Ind. ()rn. i. p. 201. No. 1 . . r . Gmcl. Syst. i. p. 405. —- Rafi Syn. p. 65. 6.-—Will. p. 140. t. 59.-Id. (AnglJ p. 190. LE BARBU a VENTRE TACHBTR' dc CAYENNE.—PI. EM. 746. 1. LE TAMATiA.——Bzgfl‘. par Sonn. 1v. p. 400. pl. 177. f. l. SPOTTED-BELLIED Banana—Lam. Syn. ii. p. 494. 1.— 1:]. Sup. 1). 95. HABITAT in Guyana, Brasilia.-——G§ pollices longus. W. v. \ Plate 1(' k THE SPO T TED 'BELLIED BARBETT. THE TAMATIA. 99 but his specimen was probably incomplete. All the other characters correspond; and as the bird occurs not only in Brazil, but also in Cay- enne, whence it has been sent to us, we can easily compare the descriptionl Its total length is six inches and a half, of “which the tail occupies two inches; the bill is fifteen lines, its upper extremity booked, and, as it were, divided into two points; the beard, which covers it, extends more than half its, length; the upper side of the head and the front are rusty ; on the neck there is a half-collar va- riegated with black and rufous; all therest of the plumage above is brown, ’ shaded with ruf- ous; on each side of the head, behind the eyes, there is a pretty large spot; the throat is orange, and the rest of the lower surface of the body is, spotted with black on a rusty-White ground; the bill and feet are black. ‘ a The habitudes of this Tamatia are the same with those of all the birds of the same genus found in the new continent: they reside in the most sequestered parts of the'forests, and con- stantly remote from dwellings and even cleared grounds: they never appear in flocks or in pairs: they fly laboriously, and to short dist- ances, and never alight but on low branches, preferring such as are thickest clothed with sprays and leaves: they have little vivacity, and, when once seated, they remain a long time. \ They have "even a dull melancholy QSPCCC,‘ and they might be said to affect giving H 2 100 THE TA MATlA. themselves an air of gravity, by sinking their large head between their shoulders, and it then seems to cover all the fore-part of the body. ‘ Their disposition corresponds exactly to their massy figure and their serious deportment. They are so unwieldy that they have much dif- ficulty to move; and a person may advance as near as he pleases, and fire sexeral times, with- out driving them to flight. Their flesh is not bad, though they live on caterpillars and other large insects. In short, they are exceedingly silent and solitary, homely and remarkably ill shaped. (101) THE TAlVIATI‘A,‘With the HEAD and THROAT RED Y“. Second Species. THIS bird, which we have delineated in the same plate under two different denominations, appears however not to form two species, but only to include a variety; for in both the head and throat are red; the cheeks and all the un- der surface of the body black; the bill black- ish, and the feet cinereous. The only differ— ence is, that in the first figure the breast is yel- lowish-white, but in the second it is brown di- luted with yellow: the former has black spots on the t0p of the breast; it has also a small white spot above the eyes, and white spots on the wings, which are wanting in the second: ’7’ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. .BUCCO CAYANENSIS. B. niger, pennis margine griseo~au~ reis, subtus albo-flavicans, fronte gulaque rubris, super- eiliis albis.——-Lat/z. Ind. Om. i. p. 202. N0. 2. —-. Bris. iv. p. 95. 2. t. ’7. f. 1.-——-Gmcl. Syst. i. p. 405. LE BARBU de CAYENNE.—-P/._Elll. 206. f. 1. LE TAMATIA a TETE ET GORGE ROUGES.-—Bufi par Sonn. lv. p. 404. _ CAYENNE BARBET.——Latlz. Syn. ii. p. 495. 2. HABITAT 4‘53 Cayana.——7 pollices longus. W. 109 TAMATIA, WITH HEAD A'ND THROAT RED. but as, in other re5pects, they are similar, and are of the same size, we do not regard the dif- ferences of colour suflicient to constitute two distinct Species, as our nomenclators have pre- sumed. These birds are found not only in Gui- ana, but in St. Domingo, and probably in other hot climates of America. (103) THE COLLARED TAlVIATIASE. T Izird Species. THE plumage is agreeably variegated; the under side of "the body. deep orange, striped transversely with black lines; about the neck there is a collar, which is very narrow above, and so broad below asto cover all the t0p of the breast; and this black collar is accompa- nied with a half-collar of a tawny colour; the throat is whitish; the lower part of the breast is rusty-white, which constantly inclines more to rufous as it descends under the belly; the tail is two inches and three lines in length, and the whole bird measures seven inches and a quar- ter; its bill an inch and five lines, and the legs, which are grey, seven and ahalf lines in height. It is found in Guiana, but is rare. 5“. CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCCO .COLLA‘RIS. B. rufus, fascia humerali fulva, pecto- ' rali nigra.—Latfi. Ind. 0m. i. p. 202. No. 3. CAPENsrs.—Gmcl. Syst. i. p. 406. Bris. iv. p. 92. 1. t. 6. f. 2. L13: BARBU la COLLIER.——Pl. En]. 395. LE TAMATIA a Comma—But”. par Sonn. lvi. p. 5. COLLARED BARBET.—Latfi. Syn. ii. p. 497. 3. HABITAT in Guiana—73E pollices longus. W . (104) THE BEAUTIFUL TAlVIATIA *7. Fourth Species. THIS bird is the 'most beautiful, or rather the least ugly, of the genus: it is better made, smaller, and more slender than the rest; and its plumage is so variegated that it would be diffi- cult to give a full description. It is five inches eight lines in length, including the tail, which is nearly two inches; the bill measures ten lines, and the legs the same. It is found on the banks of the river Ama- zons, in the country of the Maynas: but we are informed that it inhabits equally the other parts of South America. "‘ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCCO MAYNANENSIS. B. viridis, capite gulaque rubris cmruleo marginatis, jugulo et pectore flavo, abdomiuis macula rubra.—-La(/z. Ind. Orn. i. p. 203. No. 4. Bris. iv. p. 102. 5. t. 7. f. a. ELEGANS.—Gmcl. $55!. i. p. 406. LE BARBU dc MAYNAs.—1’I. En]. 330. LE BEAU TAMATIA.—Br([f. par Sam. M. p. 7. BEAUTIFUL BARBET.—-Lat/z. Syn. ii. p. 498. 4. HABITAT in Maynas ad Amazonum fluvium.-—6 pollices longus. W. (105) THE BLACK-AND-WHITE TAMATIAS 4%. Fgfflz and Sixth Species. \VE can scarcely separate these two birds,’ for they differ only in size; and besides their ge~ neral resemblance in the colours, they have both an appropriated character; viz. their bill is 9* CHA RACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCCO MACRORYNCHOS. B. niger, fronte gulaj‘ugulo ab- domine rectricibusque apice albis, fascia pectorali nigra.—-— Lat/z. Ind. 0m. i. p. 203. N0. 5. Gmel. Syst. i. p‘. 406. LE PLUS GRAND BARBU 2‘: Chaos Bea—Pl. Enl. 689. LES TAMATIA Nora ET BLAriIc.-——qu. par Smm. lvi. p. 9. GREATER PIED BARBET.~—Lat/z. Syn. ii. p.498. 5. HABITAT in Cayana.—-—7 pollices longus. W. :BUCCO MELANOLEUCOS. B. nigcr, corporc suhtus-frontc gula macula scapulari strigaque pone oculos albis, fascia pectorali lata nigra.——Lat/2. [m]. Om. i. p. 203. No. 6. ~— . Gmel. Syst. i. p. 406. LE BARBU 2.. POITRINE NomE dc CAYENNE.—-Pl. Enl. (588. f. 2. LES TAMATIA Nora E'I‘ BLANc.—-qu. par Salm. lvi. p. 9. LESSER PIED BARBEr.—-Lat/z. Syn. ii. p. 409. 6.. H A B I T A T in Guyana-53 pollices longus. W. 106 THE BLACK-AND-WHITE ’I‘AMATIAS. stronger, thicker, and longer, than the other tamatias, in proportion to their body ; in both also the upper mandible is very hooked, and terminates in two points, as in the first species. The largest of these Black-and-white Ta— matias is very thick compared with its length, which is hardly seven inches : it is a new spe- cies sent from Cayenne by M. Dnval, and also the other species which is smaller, and exceeds not five inches in length. It would be tedious to enter into a minute description: their simi- larity is so striking, that but for their differ— ence of size we might regard them as the samt species. (107) THE BARBETS. LES BARBUSr—Blgfl‘.’ WE applied the name tamatz’a to the bearded birds of America, and reserved barber for those of the ancient continent. As both these fly with great difi’iculty, on account of the thick4 ness and unwieldiness of their body, it is im- probable that they could migrate from one con: tinent into another, since they inhabit the hot- test elimates. Accordingly, they are different, and we have therefore discriminated them. But still they resemble in many characters ; for he— sides the long, slender bristles that cover the bill either wholly or partly, and form the beard, and the position of the-feet, which is the same in both; theyhave equally a squat body, a very large head," and a bill exceedingly thick, some- what Curved below, convex above, and com- pressed on the sides. In the Bar-bets, however, the bill is sensibly shorter, thicker, and rather less convex below than in the tamatias. Their dispositions also differ: the former are sedate and almost stupid, while the latter, which in- habit the East Indies, attack the small birds, and, in their economy, resemble nearly the shrikes. (103) TH E YELLO WJI‘IIROA'I‘ED BARBET *. First .S'pecies. ITs length is seven inches; the tail only eighteen lines; the bill twelve or thirteen lines, and the legs eight lines: the head is red, and also the breast ; the eyes are encircled by a large yellow spot; the throat is pure yellow, the rest of the under side of the body yellowish, varie- gated with longitudinal spots of dull green. The female is smaller than the male; and has no red on the head or breast. They are found in the Philippines. * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. Bucco PIIILIPPENSIS. B‘. viridis, subtus flavicans ma- culis olivaceis, genis colloque subtus flavis, fronte fascia- que pectorali rubris.—Latb. Ind. Ora. i. p. 203. No. 7. Brit. iv. p. 99. 4. t. 7. f. 2. Mas. ——Gmcl. Syst. i. p. 407. LE BARBU des PHILIPPINES—PI. Enl. p. 331. a GORGE JADNE.—Bufl'. par Soun. lvi. p. 15. YELLOW-THROATBD Banana—Lam. Syn. ii. p. 500. 7. HABITAT in I’hilippinis insulis.-—-5§ pollices longus. . W. Plate [(50 THE BARBE '1‘. ( 109‘ ) THE BLACK-THROATED BARBET ’5‘. Second Species. THIS species, which, as well as the preced- ing, is found in the Philippines, is yet very different. It is thus described by Sonnerat.-—~ “ This bird is rather larger, and particularly longer than the Grosbeak of EurOpe; the front 7 or fore-part of the head is of a beautiful red; ‘the crown, the back of the head, the throat, and the neck, are black; there is also, above the eye, a semi-circular, black stripe, which is continued by another one, straight and white, that descends to the lower part of the neck on the side; below the yellow stripe and the white one, which continues it, there is a. black ver- tical stripe, and between this and the throat there is a white lono‘itudinal stripe, that is lost *CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCCO NIGER. B. niger supra flavo varius, sineipite rubre, lateribus colli striga bifida, peetore abomincque albis.—- Lat/z. Ind. 01'”. i. p. 204. N0. 8. ' ---—-—---~——--——-. Grncl. bit/st. i. p. 407. LE BARBU de l’ISLE DE LU90N.—-7-Son. Veg. p. 68. t. 34. ----———-- a GORGE NOIRE.—Bzfi par Some. lvi. p. 17. BLACK'THROATED BARBE'I‘.—-L(1.’/z. 83/72.. ii. p. 501. 8. H A B 1 TA T Cum prazcedcnte. W. 110 THE. BLACK-TH ROATED BA RBET. at its base in the breast, which, as well as the belly, the sides, and the upper surface of the tail, is white; the middle of the back is black, but the feathers on the side, between the neck and the back, are black, speckled each with a streak of yellow; the first four, including the stump, are tipt with white, and the fifth with yellow, which forms a cross stripe on the top of the wing; below this stripe are black feathers, Speckled each with a yellow point: the last feathers, finally, which cover the great quills of the wing, are likewise entirely black ; but the others have over their whole length, on the side where the webs are longest, a yellow fringe; the tail is black in the middle, tinged with yellow on the sides; the bill and feet are blackish. ' THE BLACKBREASTED BARBET 5‘. T lzira’ Species. THIS is a new Species sent to us from the Cape "of Good .H0pe, but 'without any account of the natural habits of the bird. ’ It is six inches and a half long; its tail eighteen lines; its feet eight or nine lines. It is of a middle size, smaller than the grosbeak of Europe; its plumage is agreeably mingled and contrasted with black and white; its front is red; there is a yellow line on, the eye, and drops of a bright shining yellow scattered on the’wings and the back; the same yellow tinge extends in dashes to the rump ; and the quills of the tail, and the middle ones of the bill, are slightly fringed with the same colour; a black plate coversthe. breast as far as the neck ; the back of the head is also enveIOped in black, and a black bar be- tween two white ones descendson the side of the neck. ' 3" A variety of the preceding. (112) THE LITI‘LE BARBET *. F ourt/z Species. THIS is a new species, and the smallest in the genus. It was given to us as brought from Se- negal, but without mention of any other cir- cumstance. It is only four inches long: its large head and thick bill shaded with long bristles, sutliciently characterise it. Its tail is short, and its wings, when closed, reach almost to its extremity : all the upper side of the body is of a blackish-brown, shaded with fulvous, and tinged with green on the quills of the wing and of the tail; some small white waves form fringes on the former: the under side of the body is whitish, with some traces of brown; the throat is yellow ; and from the corners of the bill a small white bar passes under the-eyes. a * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCCO PARV‘US. B. fulvomigricans, subtus albns fusco striatus, gula lutea, striga suboculari alba.—Latlz. Ind. Oru. i. p. 204. Nu. 9. __._._....... ——. (hurl. Sysl. i. p. 407. L8 BARBU du SENEGAL—1’]. Eu]. 746. :1. LE l‘tartr Rambo—Big? pm‘ 8mm. lvi. p. 21. pl. 178. f. l. LITTLE Barman—1.0M. 83,». ii. p. .303. 9. I! A B I '1‘ A '1‘ in Senegala.——4 polliccs longus. W. (113) THE GREAT: BARBET 3". Eiflk Species. THIS bird 1s nearly eleven inches long. The. p1incipal colouI in its plumage is a fine gleen, which mingles with othei colouis on difle1ent parts of the body, and especially on the head .and neck: the head entirely, and the fore-part of the neck, are green mixed with blue; so that they appear green or blue, according to their expo- sure to the light; the origin of the néck, and that of the back, are of a chesnut- brown, which varies also in difleIent aspects, being inter- mingled with g1';een all the upper side of the body 13 of a ve1y fine green, except the great quills of the Wings, which ale paitly black, all the u11de1 side of the body IS of a much lighte1 gleen, there aie some featheis below the tail *‘ CHARACTER 51113011110113. BUCCO GRANDIS. B. viridis versicolor, remigibus ni- gro variegatis, crisso rubro.——Lat/z. Ind. Orn. i. p. 204. No.10. ‘ Gmel. Syst. i. p. 408. LE GRAND BARBU. —-qu Pl. Enl. 871 .——B1{f par Sonn. lvi. p. 23. GRAND BARBET.——Lat/I. Syn. ii. p. 503. 10. HABITAT in Sina.—-—11 polliees longus. W. VOL. VIII. I 114 In: GREAT BARBET. which are of a very fine red: the bill is ten lines in length, and an inch broad at the base, where there are black hard bristles; it is whitish, but black at the point: the wings are short, and scarcely reach the mid- dle of the tail. This bird was sent to us from China, (115) THE GREEN BARBET *1 Sixth Species. 11* is six inches and ahalf long; the back, the coverts of the wings, and of the tail, are of a very fine green;lthe great quills of the wing are brown, but that colour is not seen, being hid by the coverts of the wings; the head is brown—grey; the neck is the same'colour, but each feather is edged with yellowish, and above and behind the eye there is a white spot; the belly is of a much paler green than the back: the bill is whitish, and the base of the 'upper mandible is surrounded with long black and hard hairs; the bill is an inch and two lines in length, and seven lines broad at its base; the wings are short, and reach only to the middle of the tail. We received it from the East Indies. * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCCO VIRIDIS. B. viridis, capite colloqne griseo-fuscis, supra poneque oculum utrinque macula alba,—-Lat/i. 1nd. Om. i. p. 205. No. 11. Gmel. 53131“. i. p, 408. LE BARBU de MAHE'.——Pl. E721. 870. -—-—-———-——-- VERTg-«B-uj'fi par 507m; lvi. p. 26, GREEN BARREL-Lam, Syn, ii. p. 504. 11, HABITAT in India—6% pollices longus. W. 12 (116) THE TOUCANS *. \VHAT may be termed the physiognomy of animated beings results from the aspect of their head in different positions. Their form, their figure, their shape, 8zc. refer to the appearance of their body and of its members. In birds, it is easy to perceive that such as have a small head and a short slender bill exhibit a delicate, pleasing, and Sprightly pliysiognomy. Those, on the contrary, with an over-proportioned head, such as the barbets, or with a bill as large as the head, such as the ’l‘oueans, have an air of stupidity, which seldom belies their natural ta~ lents. A person who saw a Toucan for the first time might take the head and bill, in the front View, as one of those long-nosed masks that frighten children; but when be seriously exa- mined this enormousproduction, he would be surprised that nature had given so huge a bill to a bird ot‘such moderate size; and his aston- ishment would increase on rellecting that it * RIIAMPIIAS'I‘OS. CHARACTER G ex iaiuccs. Rostrum maximum, inane, convexum, extrorsum sem» tum ; nmmnbulu utraque apice iueurva. Fares pone rostri basin. Linguu pennacea. Pcdcs scansorii. THE TOUCANS. 117 Was useless and even burdensome to its owner, which it obliged to swallow its food whole, Without dividing or crushing. And so far is this bill from serving the bird as an instrument- of defence, or even as a counterpoise, that it acts like a weight on a lever, which tends con- stantly to destroy the balance, and occasion a sort of hobbling motion. The true character of Nature’s errors is dis-é pmportion joined to inutility. All those parts of animals which are overgrown or misplaced, and which are useless or inconvenient, ought not to be ranged in the great plan of the uni- verse; they should be imputed to her caprice 'or oversight, which however tend equally to their object, since these extraordinary produc- tions evince that whatever can be actually ex- ists ; and that though a regular symmetry com- monly obtains, the disorders, the excesses, and the defects which are permitted, demonstrate the extent of that power, which is confined not to those ideas of proportion and system that We are apt to regard as the standards. And as Nature has bestowed on most animals all the qualities that conspire to beauty and per- fection of form, she has also admitted more than one defect in her careless productions. The enormous and useless bill of the Toucan includes a tongue still more useless, and Whose structure is very uncommon; it is not fleshy or cartilaginous as in other birds, but a real feather miSplaced. 118 THE TOUCANS. The word toucan means feather in the Ian- guage of Brazil, and toucan tabouracé, which signifies feathers/or dancing, is applied by the natives to that bird, which furnishes them with the decorations worn on festival days. Indeed these birds, so shapeless and monstrous in their bill and tongue, have a brilliant plumage; their throat is orange of the most vivid hue; and though such beautiful feathers are found only in some species of Toucans, yet have they given name to the whole genus. These feathers are even in EurOpe in request for making muffs. The huge bill of the Toucan has acquired it other honours, and translated it among their southern constellations, where nothing is ad- mitted but what is striking or wonderful". Besides the excessive length of this bill. it is through its whole length wider than the head of the bird. Lery has termed it the bill o/‘bi/Ls 1‘; other voyagers have named the Toucan the bird all-125111 ; and the Creoles of Cayenne apply to it the epithet of grosbeak. The magnitude of the bill would exceedingly fatigue the head and neck, were it not very thin, insomuch that it may easily be crushed between the fingers §. ' Journal des Observations Physiques du P. Feuillée p. 428. 1 Voyage dn Brasil, p. 174. 1 Dampier’s_Voyage round the World. § Mauduit tells us, that the beak is a cavernous body, filled with open cells, which are separated by bony partitions, as thin as paper. The whole is covered by a horny sub- r1112: memes; 119 Authors" were therefore mistaken in asserting that the Toucans. bored trees,- like‘ the wood- peckers; or they were at’ least misled by the Spaniards, who; have confounded these birds under the same name carp‘enter‘os (carpenter), or. tacatacas. in the language of Peru. But it is certain that the Toucans‘ are very different from ‘ the woodpeckers, and: could not imitate them: in that habit; and indeed Scalige‘r has befOre us remarked, that, as their bill was hooked downwards, it seemed impossible for them to make a pelfmation. The form of this huge unwieldy bill is very different in each mandible: the upper one is bent into the shape of a sickle, rounded above, and booked 'at the extremity; the under one is shorter, narrower, and less curved below. Both of them have indentings on the edges, but which are‘much- more. perceptible on the upper than on the under; and what appears still more singular, these indentings do not fit ”into-each ‘ other, nor. even correspond in their relative po- sition, those, on- the right side not being OppOA- site to those on the left; for they begin more or less behind, and! end- also- more. or less for- ward. The tongue of the-Toucans is, if possible, more wonderful than the. bill: they are the only birds which may be said to have afeathe’r stance, and is so thin as to bend withdheslightest pressure. ——En(ycl. .Météwl. W. ' 1‘ Hernandez. 120. THE TOUCANS. instead of a’ tongue; and a feather it certainly is, though the shaft is a cartilaginous substance two lines broad: for on both sides there are very close barbs entirely like those of ordina1y feathers, and which are longer the nearer thev are inserted to the extremity. With an organ so singular, and so tlitferent from the ordinary substance and organisation of the tongue, we might suppose that these birds were mute; yet they have a voice as well as the rest, and often utter a sort of whistling, which is reiterated so quickly, and with such continuance, that they have been denominated the preaching-birds. The savages ascribe great virtues to this fea— thery tongue *3 and use it as a cure in many disorders. Some authors 'I' have supposed that the Toucans had no nostrils; but we may see them by stroking aside the feathers at the base of the bill, which in most species conceal them; in others they are bare, and consequently very apparent. The Toucans have nothing in common with the woodpeckers but the disposition of their toes, two placed before and two behind. Even in this character a distinction h1a_v be perceivo ed; the toes are much longer and differently " M. de la Condnmine speaks of a Toucan which he saw ' on the banks of the Marngnon, \1 hose monstrous bill is red and yellow; its tongue, he sags, which resemblesadelicate feather, is esteemed to have great virtues.—~Ilnmgc (i In Rio z'ir‘rc a'rs Amazoncs, Paris, 17-15. See also Uemeli Carreri, Paris, 1719, tome. vi. 1). 2-1. (\t i " Barrere and \Villughh)‘. 'l‘t) UCAN. '1‘ H E THE TOUCANS. ‘121 proportioned than in woodpeckers; the outer fore-toe is almost as long as the whole foOt, which is indeed very short, and the other toes are also very long, the two inner ones arethe least so. The feet of the Touca’ns are only half the length of the legs, so that they cannot walk, but hop, and that awkwardly : the feet are not feathered, but covered with long soft'scales. The nails are proportioned to the length of the toes, arched, and somewhat flattened, obtuse at the end, and furrowed below lengthwise by a channel; they are of no service to the bird in attack or defence, or even for climbing, but only to support it firmly on the boughs on which it perches. The Toucans are scattered through all the warm parts of South AnieriCa, and neve1 occur in the ancient continent. They flit lather than inigiate, following the n1atu1ity of the fruits :on which they feed, pa1ticula1ly those of the palms , and as these tiees delight 1n wet places near the margin of water, the Toucans affect such situations, and sometimes they even lodge on the mangmves, which g10w in deluged mud. And hence it has been supposed that they eat fishes ”‘ but these must at least be very small, since they arelobligedf. toswallow their food sentne. These birds generallyb 00' in small bodies from six to ten; then flight is heavy and labo1ious, 'owing to‘t‘he shortness of'their wings and the ’ Fernandez and Nieremberg. 122 THE‘ TOUCANS. weight of their enormous bill; yet they rise above the tallest trees, on the summits of which they are almost always perched, and in conti- nual flutter; but the vivacity of their motions dispels not their (lull air, for the huge bill gives them a serious melancholy countenance, and their large dull eyes augment the effect: in 'short, though lively and active, they appear the more heavy and awkward. As they breed in the holes abandoned by the woodpeckers, it has been supposed they exca- vate these themselves. They lay only two eggs, yet all the species contain abundance of indi- viduals. They may be easily tamed, if taken young; it is even said that they will propagate in the domestic state. They are not difficult to rear, for they swallow whatever is thrown to them, bread, flesh, or fish; they also, with the point of their bill, lay hold of the bits that are held near them; they toss these up, and receive them in their wide throat. But when they are obliged to provide for themselves, and to gather their food from the ground, they seem to grope and seize the substance sidewise, that it may leap up, and be caught in its fall. They are so de- licate to impressions of cold, as to be affected by the coolness ofevening in the hottest clim- ates even of the new continent; they have been observed in the house to make a bed of herbs, of Straw, and of whatever they could gather. Their skin is in general blue under THE TOUCANS. 123 the feathers, and their flesh, though black and hard, is yet palatable. The genus of these birds subdivides itself into the Toucans and Aracaris: these differ from each other; 1. in size, the Toucans being much larger than the Aracaris; 2. by the di- mensions and the substance of their bill, which in the Aracaris is much longer, harder, and so— lider; 3. by their tail, which is longer in the Aracaris, and very sensibly tapered, Whereas it is rounded in the Toucans *1 The Toucans, prolierly so called, contain five species. '--‘ The Brasilians were the first who distinguished these two varieties, calling the large ones Tourans, and the small ones Aracarz's. The natives of Guiana have made the same discrimination, giving the former the name of kararouima, and the latter that of grigri. (124) T H E T O C O *. First Species. THE body of this bird is nine inches long, including the head and tail; its bill is seven inches and a half; the head, the upper side of the neck, the back, the rump, the wings, the whole tail, the breast, and the belly, are deep black; the eoverts of the upper side of the tail are white, and those of the under side are fine red; the under side of the neck and throat are white, mixed with a little yellow: between this yellow below the throat and the black of the breast, there is a small red circle; the base of the two mandibles is black; the rest of the lower mandible is reddish-yellow; the upper mandible is of the same reddish-yellow colour, as far as two-thirds of its length; the rest of this mandible is black to the point: the wings are short, and reach hardly the third of the tail; the feet and nails are black. This species is new, and we have given it the name of tom 1‘. * euAnAcri-zn SI’FCIFXCL'S. RHAMPHASTOS Toco. R. nigrieans, eollo subtus nropy- gioque albis, orbitis lunula peeleris erissoque rubris.——- Lat/1. 1m]. Urn. i. p. 135). No. l. Gnu]. best. i. p. 356. LE 'l‘ncoa—lilgfil 1’]. En]. 81—8/3"". ‘rlzr bun/z. lVl. p. 47. pl. 178. f. 2. Toeo.— -1.a:_/z. Syn. i. p. 3'25. 1. t. 9. HABITAT in Cuynm:.-—-10 polliees longus. \V. ’t This is the largest of the germs. S innini mentions it as rare in French Guiana. W. THE ‘YELLOW-THROATED TOUCANi‘. Second Species. Two birds of this kind have been figured in the Plane/26.9 Enlaminées, the first under the de- nomination of' the Yellow-throated Toucan of Cayenne, and the second under that of the Yel- low—tbroaz‘ed Toucan of Brazil. But they inhabit equally both countries, and appear'to us to fOrm the same species. The difference in the colour of their bill, in-the extent of the yellow plate on the throat, as well as in the vivacity of their colours, may be owing to the age of the bird. It is certain that the superior coverts of the tail are yellow in some individuals, and red in others. In both, the head and upper side of the body, the wings, and tail, are black; the * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. RAMPHASTOS DICOLORUS. R. nigricans, pectore adec mine crisso uropygioque rubris, gula lutea.——Lat/:. Ind. Orn. i. p. 135. N0. 2. . Gmel. Syst. i. p. 356. TUCANA CAYANENSIS, GUTTURE LUTEO. -—-Brz':. ‘iv. p. 411. 2. t. 31. f. 1. LE TOUCAN a GORGE JAUNE.——-B1gf. Pl. Enl. 269..—Bqfl". par Sonn. lvi. p. 49. YELLOW—THROATED TOUCAN.-La,tlz. Syn. i. p. 325. 2. HA B ITA T in Cayana.—17 pollice‘s longus. W. 126 THE YELLOW-THROATED TOUCAN. throat orange, more or less bright; under the throat a red bar of various width stretches on the breast; the belly is blackish, and the infe- rior coverts of the tail are red; the bill is black, with a blue stripe running from its top all its length: the base of the bill is surrounded by a pretty broad yellow or white bar; the nostrils are concealed in the feathers at the root, and their apertures are round ; the legs are twenty lines in length, and blueish; the bill four inches and a half long, and seventeen lines high above the base: the whole bird, from the end of the bill to the extremity of the tail, is nineteen inches; and if from this we deduct six inches and two or three lines for the tail, and four inches and a half for the bill, there remains hardly nine inches for the length of the head and body. It is from. this species of toucan that those brilliant feathers used as ornaments are obtain- ed ; all the yellow part is cut off from the skin, and sold at a high price. The males only fur— nish these fine yellow feathers, for the throat of the females is white; and this distinction has misled the nomenclators, who have regarded the male and female as .of different species“; ' Rhamphastos Piscivorus.-—Linn. Cy Gmcl. ' — Erythrorhynehos.-—Gmrl. Tucana Cayaneusis gutture albo.——Brz‘s. — Brasiliensis gutture albo.—Bris. Picus Americanus.—Fcnmnd(:. Altera Xochitenacatl.—Fcrnandcz. THE YELLOW-THROATED TOUCAN. 127 and,,finding some variation of colours in both, have even gone so far as to make each include two separate species. But we reduce these four pretended species to one; and we may also join a fifth mentioned by Laét *, which differs only, in the white colour of its breast. In, general, the females are very nearly as large as the males; their colours are not so vivid, and the red bar below the throat is very narrow; in other respects they are exactly si» milar. This second species is the most com- mon, and perhaps the most numerous, of the toucans. They abound in Cayenne, particular- ly in the swampy forests, and on the mangrove trees. Though, like the rest of the genus, they have only a feathery tongue, they articulate a sound like pinien-coin,’ which the creoles of Cayenne have employed as its designation, but which we have not ad0pted, it being common also to the torso. Passer Longirestrus, Xochitenacatl d ictus.——-N ieremberg. The Toucan, or Brasilian Pye.~—-Edw. Red-beaked Toucan—Eda). -’ Histoire du Nouveau Monde, p. 553, (123) THE RED—BELLIED TOUCA N 5“. T lu'rd Species. THIs toucan has a yellow neck, like the pre- ceding; but its breast is a line rod, which in the other is black. Tlievet, who first men- tioned this bird, says that its bill is as long as its body. Altlrovanclus admits the bill to be two palms in length, and one palm in breadth; and Brisson reckons the palm three inches. As we have never seen the bird. we can only speak from the accounts given by the two former writers. “'6 may observe, however, that Al- (lrovamius was mistaken in assigning it three toes before, and one behind; 'l‘hevet expressly mentions that it has two before and two he hind, which is conformable to nature. ’* CHARACTER sriteiriccs. RAMPHASTOS PICATI’S. R. nigrieans, peetore luteo, erisse rectricnmque apieibns rubris, uropygio nigro.——Lu:/2. Ind. 01'". i. p. 137. No. 6. Cmel. Seat. i. p. 356. TL'CAN .-\.———Bris. iv. p. 408. l. PICA BRASILICA ALDR.—1{uii Syn. p. 44. l. —— H'ill. p.18. t. 20. LE 'I‘OUCAN S VENTRE R()l‘GE.——- Buff". par Sunn. l\’i. p. 3.3. BRASILIAN PYE, or 'I‘oec.-\.\'.—H'i//. (.-lngl.) 1). 128.1320. PREACHER TOUCAN.-——Lal/z. Syn. i. p. 329. 6. 11 A B [TA T in Guiana, Brasilia—205 pollices longus. W. THE RED-BELLIED TOUCAN. 1.99 The head, neck, back, and wings, are black, with whitish reflections; the h1east 13 of a fine gold colour, with red above it—that 1s, under the th1oat; the belly, too, and the legs me of a very bright red, and like-wise the extremity of the tail, the rest of which is blackgt the iris is black, sunouuded by a white cilcle, which it- self is i11closed within anothe1 yellow cilcle; the lowei mandible is only half as lalge near the ext1 em1ty as the co11espondingpa1t of the Upper mandible; both a1e indented on the edges. Thevet assures us that this bird lives on pep— per, of which it swallows such quantities as to be obliged to vomit it. This story has been Copied by all the naturalists, and yet there is. no pepper in Ame1ica. It would be difficult to imagine what spice 'lhex et 111ea11t, unless it was pimeuto, which some authors have teimed Ja- maica pepper. v.01. VIII. K (' 130 ) THE COCHICAT’. Fourth Species. W15 have shortened the Mexican name Co- c7zitenacatl into Coe/zicat. Fernandez is the only author who says he has seen it, and I shall here borrow his account.—-—“ It is nearly of the same bulk with the other toucans; its bill is seven inches long, the upper mandible white and in- dented, and the lower black ; the eyes are black, and the iris reddish-yellow; the head and neck black, as far as a cross red line which encircles it like a collar, after which the upper- side of the neck continues black, and the under side whitish, Sprink led with red spots and small black lines; the tail and wings are also black; the belly is green ; the legs red; the feet of a greenish ash-colour, and the nails black. It frequents the sea-shore, and lives on fish.” "' CHARACTER SPLCIFICUS. RAMP‘JASTOS TougrATrs. R. supra niger, collo subtus albido, ahdomine viridi postiee rnbro, torque rubro.—- Lat/I. Ind. ()rn. i. p. 137. No. 7. PSIT'I‘ACUS TORQI'A'l‘lTS.—(r')m‘/. 831st i. p. 8.34. TUCANA l‘lEXH‘ANA T()RQL‘AT.~\.——an. iv. p. 4‘21. 6. LE COCIHCA'I‘.———Iilgjil par Sum). lvi. p. 59. COLLARED TOL‘CAN.-—-LaI/:. Syn. i. p. 330. 7. HABITAT in Mexico, circa maris “(term—18 pollices longus. W, (131-) THE HOTCHICATi“. Fit/z Species. THIS name is contracted also for the Mexican .Xochitenacatl’r; and Fernandez is the only an?- thor who has described it from the lite.—-“ It is,” he says, “ of the size and shape of a parrot; its plumage is almost entirely green, only sprinkled with some red spots; the legs and feet are black, and short; the bill is four inches long; it is variegated With yellow and black.” This birdalso inhabits the sea-coast in the hot- test parts of Mexico. * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. RAMPHAsros PAVONINUS. R. toto’ corpore viridi rubro pavoninoque‘ colore variegatus, rostro luteo nigroque va- rio.—Lat/2. Ind. Orn. i. p. 137. No. 8. —. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 353. TUCANA MEXICANA VIRIDIs.—Brz's. iv. p. 423. 7. LF. HOCHICAT.—-Bzgffl par Somz. lvi. p. 61. PAVONINE TOUCAN.-—Latlz. Syn. i. p. 331., 8. HABITAT in Mexico maritimis. W. t The X0 is pronounced'Ho. K2 THE ARACARIS. Tm: Aracaris, as we have already said, are smaller than the toucans; we are acquainted with four species of them, all natives of America. ~----.---- THE GRIGRI”. First Species. THIS bird is found in Brasil, and is very common in Guiana, where it is called Gri-gri, because that word expresses its shrill short cry. It has the same natural habits as the toucans; it also inhabits the swamps, and lodges among the palms. This species contains a variety, which our nomenclators have regarded as a se- * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. RAMPHASTOS ViRiDrs. R. viridis, abdomine flavo, uro- pygio rubron-Lcu‘lz. Ind. Orn. i. p. 138. No. 9. (find. Syd. l. p. 353. TUCANA CAYANENSIS Vilnius. — 13m. iv. p. 423. 8. t. 33. f. 2. La TOUCAN VERD (le CAYENX 1-1. —Pr'. Enf. 7:27. 728. L1; (iRlGRI.—~ “(gill-tu- 5mm. lvi. p. 63. pl. 179. f. 1. YELLOW-BREAS'l‘rLU TOL'CAN.»— 1:33;. I. 329. Gar-:13 '1‘<;uc.m.——Lat/z. 53,312. i. p. 331. 9. HABITAT in Cayman—514 polliccs loiigus. W. THE carom. 133 parate species. Yet the difference is so slight that it may be imputed to age or climate; it consists in a eross~bar of fine red on the breast. There is likewise some difference in the colours of the bill '; but that character-is quite dubious, since these vary in the same individual accord- ing to the age, without following any regular order: so that Linnaeus was wrong in drawing the specific characters of birds from the celours of the bill. I The head, the throat, and the neck, are black; the back, the wings, and the tail, are dull - green ; the rump, red; the breast and belly, yellow; the inferior eoVerts of the 'tail, and the feathers of the legs, olive-yellow, va- riegated. with'red and fulvous; the eyes large, and the iris yellow; the bill is four inches and a quarter long, sixteen lines high, and of a more solid and harder texture than the bill of the toucans ; the tongue is of the same feathery nature; the feet blackish-green, very short, and the toes very long: the whole length of the bird, including the bill and the tail, is six- teen inches and eight lines. " The female differs from the male only in the colour of the throat and of theunder side of the neck, which is brown, but black in the male, which usually has its bill black and white, whereas in the female the lower mandible is black, and the upper one yellow, with a lon- gitudinal black bar resembling a long narrow feather. I TUE KOULIK“. Second Species. THE word Iroulilr, pronounced fast, resem- bles the cry of this bird, which is the reason why the Creoles of Cayenne have imposed that name. It is rather smaller than the preceding, and its bill shorter in proportion; the head, the throat, the neck, and the breast, are black; on the upper side of the neck, there is a yellow narrow half-collar; there is a spot of the same colour on each side of the head, behind the eyes; the back, the rump, and the wings, are of a line green, and the belly, which is also green, is variegated with blackish; the inferior * CHARACTER sneer net's. RAMPnAsros Pi PHRIV’ORL‘S. R. viridis antice niger, macula aurium aulea, lunula ccrvicis auruntia, crisso femoribusque rubris.-—Lat/i. 1nd. Om. i. p. 138. No. 12. Gmd. Syst. i. p. 3:33. TUCANA CAYANENsrs TORQUA'I‘A.—Bris. iv. p. 429. 10. L32.fi2. LE TUUCAN a COLLIER dc C ‘x Y l-ZVVF..— 1’]. [in]. 577. Jlas. VENTRE GRISE Caressa—4’]. Eu]. 729. Femina. LE KOULIK.—Bqfli par Smm. l\'i. p. 67. GREEN TOUCAN.—- Edu‘. t. 330. Jlm. PIPERINE TOUCAN.—-Lut/1. {3,11, i p. 334. 11, H A B [TAT in Cayana.—l3 pollices longa. W. THE KOULIK. 135 coverts of the tail are reddish, but. the tail it- self is green, terminated with red ; the feet are blackish ; the bill is red at the base, and black through the rest; the eyes are encircled by a naked blueish membrane. The female 13 distinguished fiom the male by the colour of the top of the neca, \1 11e1e the plumage lS -,brown but black 111 the male; the under side of the body, f1 om the thioat to the lower part of the belly, is grey in the female, and the half-collar is of a very pale yellow, whereas it is of a ,fine yellow in the male, and the under side variegated with different colours. THE BLACK-BILLED AR-ACARI“. Third Species. WE derive our account of this bird from Nieremberg. It is as large as a pigeon; its bill is thick, black, and hooked; its eyes, too, are black, but the iris yellow; its wings and tail are variegated with black and white; 3 black bar rises from the bill, and extends on each side to the breast; the top of the wings is yellow, and the rest of the body yellowish- White; the legs and feet are brown, and the nails whitish. * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. RAMPIIASTOS LL‘Tl-ZL'S. R.fiavescens, laterihus colli utriu- que strign longitudinali nigm, cauda et alis albo nigroquc variis, tectricihus alarum minoribus fiavis.—Lat/z. Ind. Om. i. p. 139. No. 13. ‘ Gmel. $55!. i. p. 356. TUCANA LUTEA.——Bris. iv. p. 432. 11. ALIA Xm'm'rrzx.\C.\T1..—H-'z1/. p. 298.——Id. (Aug/J p. 386. L'ARM‘ARI a BBC SOUL—Big]. par 5mm. lvi. p. 70. BLACK-BILLED Tot'c.-\N.—-—I.atlz. Syn. i. p. 335. 12. ll A B I T A T in Mexico. W. THE BLUE ARA CARI *1 Fourth Species. N o naturalist has seen this bird but Fernan~ .dez, and his description is this : “ It is of the size of a common pigeon; its bill is very large and indented, yellow above and reddish-black below ; all its plumage is variegated with cinereous and blue.” It appears from the same author, that some species of Aracaris are only birds of passage in certain parts of South America. ”5‘ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. RAMPnAS'ros CIERULEUS. R. caeruleus cinereo variegatus, rostro corpore longiore, iridibus fulvis.—Lat/z. Ind. 0172. i, p. 139. No. 14. Gmel Susi. i. p. 3&7. TUCANA CIERULEA.——Bris. iv. p. 43:}. I2. L’ARACARI BLEU.—-Bufi.par Smm. lvi. p. 72. BLUE TOUCAN.—-Latlz. Syn. i. p. 335. 13. HABITAT in Mexico maritimis. W. (138) THE BARBICAN *. I HAVE applied the term Barbiclm to denote a bird that occupies a middle rank between the barbets and toucans. It is a new species, and though it has not hitherto been noticed by na- turalists, it belongs to no very distant climate, for we received it from the coast of Barbary, yet without its name, or any account of its na- tural habits. ' The toes are (llSPOSC(l two before and two behind, as in the barbets and toueans; it re- sembles the latter in the distribution of its colours, in the shape of its body, and in its large bill, but it is shorter, much narrower, and solider than that of the toueans; it resem- bles at the same time the barbets in the long bristles which shoot from the base of the bill and extend considerably beyond the nostrils; the shape ot'the bill is peculiar, the upper man- # CHARACTER Sl’l-LCIFICUS. BUCCO DI‘BH’S. B. niuer suhtus rnber, fascia pectoris femoribns erissoque nigris.——Lat/x. Ind. 0m. i. p. 206. No. 16. —-—-—-—— --. Gun]. 3355!. i. p. 409. LE B.-\RBl('AN.—-I$u[fl Pl. I'Inl. Uni—Buff. par Sonn. lvi. p. 206. No. 16. DOUBTFUL BhRBETr—Lahi. L302. ii. p. 506. 16. ll A DITA T in Barbaria‘ maritimis.-—~9 pollices lougu». W. THE BARBICAN. 139 dible being pointed, hooked at its extremity, with two blunt indentings on each side; the lower mandible is striped transversely with small furrows; the whole bill is reddish, and curved downwards. The plumage of the Barbican is black on all the upper part of the body, the top of the breast and belly; and it is red on the rest of the under surface, nearly as in that of the toucans. It is nine inches long; the tail three inches and a half; the bill eighteen lines long, and ten thick, and the legs are only an inch high; So that the bird can hardly walk. ( 140 ) THE CASSiCAN ‘1 This bird par-takes of the properties of the cassiques and toucans, and therefore I have termed it Cars-I'm”. It is a new Species sent by Sonnerat. We are uncertain what climate it in'iuhits, only we presume that it comes from the.southeru parts of America; it certainly re- sembles the Air-,ericun cassiques in the shape of its body and the bald spot on the fore-side of the head, at the same time that it is analogous to the toucau in the bulk and shape of its bill, which is round and broad at the base, and hooked at the extremity. So that if its bill were larger, and the toes disposed two and two, it might be regarded as a proximate species of the toucuus. It will be superfluous to describe the colours of this bird; its body is slender and long, * CHARACTER SPECIFICL‘S. CURAFH'S Vntm. C. nigru, ailis albo varicgatis, dorm p. Thu u.up_\'gio corporeque, subtus ulbis, rectricibus No. 22. ' Cine]. St“. 3. p. 38]. LE CASSICAN do: In NULV 1-11.er (:i'iNE'E.—P1. En]. 628. _.. _______ lily}: par Sena. lxl. ;! 8‘2. Pixel) R()].I.l“.R.—1A£(:’l. Syn. i. p. 415. 16. 11.1 BITAT in Nova Guiuear-13 pullices longus. W. ‘1’1111 Q 16 8 i I . I » ‘ w ‘ 1 1 V 1 r 1 I 1 i i i 1 THE CASSICAN. THE CASSICAN. 141 being about thirteen inches; the bill is two inches and a half; the tail five inches, and the legs fourteen lines. W’e are uuacquainted with its natural habits; but if we were to judge from the shape of its hill and feet, we should suppose that it lives-0n prey. Yet the tou- cans and parrots, which have their bill and nails hooked, subsist entirely on fruits; and the nails and bill are much less hooked in the Cas- sican : so that we shall regard it as 'a frugivor- ous bird till we are better i11forn1ecl*. * Mr. Latham justly observes, that this bird partakes so much of the characters of the rollers, of the orioles, and-of the toucans,‘ that it can hardly be referred to any one genus. (142) THE CALAOS, or RHINOCEROS BIRDS? \V}: have seen that the toucans, so remark- able for their enormous bill, belong all of them to the continent of South America. \Ve are now to view other birds, natives of Africa and of India, which wear a bill as prodigiously large, and of a shape still more excessively monstrous. For Nature is more vigorous in the ancient than in the new world, and even her errors are more luxuriant. \Vhen we consider the uncommon expansion and cumbrous overgrowth which swells and de- forms the bill of these birds, we are struck with the incongruity and discordance of their structure. But Nature exhibits other examples of inconsistency ; the cross-[dds are almost inca- pacitated for taking their food, and are unable to defend themselves against even the weakest, and smallest tribes. In the quadrupeds also,_ the sloths, the ant-eaters, the short-tailed "‘ BL’C‘EROS. CHARACTER GENERICCS. Rostrum convexuni, cultmtutn, magnum, plerisque ex- trorsum serratum ; frontis calvaria uuda, osseo-gibbosa. Karts pone rOstri basin. Lingua acuta, brevis. Pc‘des gressorii. THE CALAOS. 143 manis, 8m. naked or miserable, by reason of the shape of their body, and of the disprOpOr- tion of their members, drag out a laborious and painful existence, continually Oppressed by the exuberance, or cramped by the deficiency of organization. The life of such feeble im- perfect species is protected by solitude alone, and could never be supported and maintained, but in desert recesses, untrod by inan or the powerful animals. The bill of the Calao, though large, is weak and ill compacted, and so far from being useful, it proves burthensome: it is like a long lever where the force is applied near thefitlcrmn, and consequently the extremity acts feebly: its substance is so tender, that it shivers by the least attrition, and these accidental cracks have been mistaken by naturalists for a regular and natural indenting. These produce a remark- able effect on the bill of the Rhinoceros Calao; for the mandibles meet only at the point, and the rest remains wide open, as if they were not formed for each other. The interval is worn and broken in such a manner, that this part would seem intended to be used only at first, and afterwards neglected. W e follow our nomenclators in applying the name calao to the whole genus of these birds, though the peeple of India have bestowed it only on one or two species. Many naturalists have given them the appellation Rhinoceros)“, *‘Edwards, Grew, Clusius, Willughby, 6w. 144 This CALAOS. on account of the sort of horn which rises on the bill; bu-i almost all of them have seen only the hills of those extraordinary birds". We will range the Calaos according to the most striking charact r, the sin ular shape of the hill. We 5 all find that, even in her aberrations, Nature proceeds by insensible gradations, and that of the ten species which compose the genus, there is only one perhaps that merits the designatich of Rhinoceros bird. These ten species, are: l. The C ham—rhinoceros. 2. The round-hclz. c «d Calao. 3. The coneave-helmeted Calao of the Phi- lippines. 4. The Abyssinian Calao. 5. The African Calao, which we shall term Brae. . 6. The Malabar Calao, which we have seen alive. 7. The Molucca Calao, of which we have a stuffed preparation. 8. The Calao ot' the island of Pantry, of which we hare stull‘ed Specimens of both the male and female. .9. The Manila L'nlno, of which we have. 3 stntlt-d specimen. It). Lastly, the Tue/r. or red-billed Calao of Senegal, of which we have a stuffed specimen. If we invert the order of these ten Specie-fl Edwards, Bt‘lUD, ti‘c. THE CALAos. 145 We shall be able to trace all the steps by which Nature arrives at this monstrous conformation ofbill. The Tock has a broad bill fashioned as the rest, like a sickle; but it is simple, and Without any protuberance. In the Manilla Calao, a swell may be perceived on the top of the bill; this is more distinct in the Molucca Calao; still more considerable in the Abys- sinian Calao; the exorescence is prodigious in those of the Philippines and Malabar, and quite monstrous in the Rhinoceros Calao 5“. But though these birds admit of such varieties in the bill, they have one general resemblance in the conformationof the feet, the lateral toes being very long, and almost equal to the mid‘ dle one. 9* Levaillant observes, that the beak, in each species, is subject to vary, according to the age of the bird, especially in those species provided with a helmet, for they are born with a beak nearly plain, nor does any excrescence appear till after a certain time. W. VOL. VII}. I"; (146) THE TOCK *. First Species. THis bird has a very large bill, but this is simple, and without any excrescence; yet still fashioned as in the other Calaos, like a sickle. It resembles them for the most part also in its natural habits, and occurs too in the hottest climates of the ancient continent. The negroes of Senegal give it the name of Tock, which we shall retain. The young bird (litters very much from the adult; for its bill is black, and its plumage aslvgrey, and, with age, the bill becomes red, and the plumage blackish on the upper side of the body, on the wings, and on the tail, and whitish quite round the head, on the neck, and on all the lower parts of the body: it is also said, that the legs are origin- * CllAliAC'I‘l-ZR SPECIFICL‘S. BL‘CEROS Nasvrrs. B. fronte lawi, reetricibus basi apiec- que albis.——I.u(/’z. 1nd. Urn. i. p. 145. No. 10. _________ . ({nu'l. Sir/sf. i. p. 361. anaoemux SIZXlZGALENSIS MEI..\N0RY.\'CH03.—Bri:. iv. p. .373. 5. 1.46. 1. LE 'l‘()(‘K.——-Ili_r{7l par Sunn. lVl. p. 94. pl. 18]. f. 1. Cam‘epnicA.A-—1’urs/r. Faun. .vlnzb. p. '2. 4. BLACK-BILLEI) llURNBILI..——L{IU1. Syn. i. p. 354.10. HABIT A T in Senegala 0! Africa: calidioribus.-—-20§ pollices longus. W. THE TOCK. 147 ally black, and grow afterwards reddish. It is not therefore surprising that Brisson has made two species; his first designation seems ap— plicable to the adult Tock, and his second to the young Tock. This bird has three toes before and Only one behind: the middle one is closely connected to the outer toe as far as the third joint, and much more loosely to the inner toe, and at the first joint only. The bill is very thick, bent downwards, and slightly indented on the sides. The subject Which we describe was twenty inches long; its tail six inches ten lines: its hill three inches five lines, and twelve lines and a half thick at the base; the horny substance of, the bill is thin and light: the legs are eighteen lines hig.h These birds, which ale p1etty common in Seneg,al are very simple when young; they suffe1 a. person to approach and catch them; and they may be shot at Without being scared, or even without their stirring. But age in- structs them by experience; their disposition quite alters; they grow extremely shy, and escape to the summits of the trees; while the young ones remain on the lowest branches and the bushes, and continue perfectly still, their head sunk between the shoulders, so that the bill only is seen. The young birds scarcely ever fly, whereas the old ones soar in a lofty and rapid course. The young Tocks are numerous in the'months of August and September: they I. 9. 148 THE rocx. maybe caught with the hand, and appear as tame as if they had been reared in the house. But this conduct proceeds from their stupidity, for they do not pick up the food that is thrown to them, and it must be put in their bill; which affords a presumption that the parents are obliged to maintain them for a great length of time. The Tock is very different from the toucan, and yet one of our most intelligent naturalists has confounded them. Adanson says, in his Voyage to Senegal, that he killed two toucans in that country; but it is certain that there are no toucans in Africa. I should therefore presume that our philosophical traveller meant the Tocks *. ’ Sonnini says that the Took is not only found in Senegal but in many of the hotter parts of Africa, and even in Arabia, V... (14-9) THE MANILLA CALAO *6. Second Species... THIS species was hitherto unknown; it was sent to the king’s cabinet by M. Poivre, to whom we owe m ich other information, and many curious preparations. The bird is scarcely larger than the tock; it is twenty inches long; Sits bill two inches and a half, less curved than that of the tock, not indented, but as sharp at the edges, and more pointed; above this bill, there is a prominent light festoon, adhering to the upper mandible, and forming a simple in- flati011;"the head and neck are white, stained with yellowish, and marked with brown waves; there is a black spot on each side of the head at the ears; the upper side of the body is blackish-brown, with some whitish fringes * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCEROS MANILLENSIs. B. rostro plauo supra carinato cultrato, corpore fusco-nigricante, capite collo et subtus albescente, macula aurium nigra, rectricibus fascia rufa.-—— Lat/z. Iml. Om. i. p. 145. No.9. ' Gmel. Syst. i. p. 361. LE CALAO de l-‘rLil‘JILLE.-——Blfl Pl. En]. 891.—-—Buff. par 801m. lvi. p. 100. MANILLA HORNBILL.—-Lat/1.Syn. i. p. 35-4. 9. HABITAT in insula Manilla.—-—2O pollices longus. W. 150 THE MANILLA CALAO. wrought slightly in the quills of the wing; the under side of the body is dirty-white; the quills of the tail are of the same colour with those of the wings, only they are intersected in their middle by a rufous bar, two fingers broad. We are unacquainted with the economy of this bird ”‘1 “ Levaillant makes the Manilla Calao the same as the fol- lowing species, and adds that the figure in the P1. 151:1. is wrongly coloured. W. (151) THE CALAO of the Island of PANAY 3“. T liird Species. THIS bird was br0ught by M. Sonnerat, correspondent of the cabinet. 1 Shall transcribe the account which he gives of it in his Voyage to New Guinea : he calls it the Chiseled-bill Calao ; but that epithet is equally applicable to other calaos. “ The male and female are of the same size, and nearly as large as the great European raven, rather longer and narrower shaped; their bill is very long, and arched into the form of a sickle, indented along its edges above and below, terminated by a sharp point, and depressed at its sides; it is furrowed up and down, or across, two-thirds of its length; the convex part of these furrows is brown, and the concave spaces are of the colour of orpiment; the rest of the * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCEROS PANAYENSIS. B. rostrocompresso, fronte ossea parum elevata cultrata, corpore nigro, subtus fusco-rubro, rectricibus flavo-fuscis apice late nigris.—Latl§. Ind. 0171. i. p. 144. No. 8. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 360. LE CALAoa BEC CIZELE’ de I’ISLE DE PANAY.—Son. V031. p. 122. t. 82. 83.~—Pl.Enl. 780. 781. LE CALAO de l’ISLE PANAY.-—Bufi'. par Sonn. lvi. p. 102. I’ANAYAN HORNBILL.——Lat/z. Syn. i. p. 353. 8. HABITAT in insula Parlay. W, 152 THE CALAO. bill near the point, is thin and brown; at the root of the bill there rises upwards an excresv cence of the same horny substance, flat at the sides, sharp above, and cut at right angles be- fore; this excrescenee extends along the bill to its middle, where it terminates, and its uniform lunghtisequaltoludfthelneadfliofthe le; the eye is encircled by a brown membrane devoid of feathers; the eyelid bears a ring of hard, short, stiff bristles, which form real eye- lashes; the iris is whitish: in the male, the head, the neck, the back, and the wings, are greenish-black, changing into blueish, accord- ing to the position. In the female, the head and the neck are white, except a broad trian- gular spot, which extends from the base of the bill, below and behind the eye, as far as the middle of the neck across the sides; this spot is dark green, fluctuating like the neck and back in the male : the female has also the neck and wings of the same colour as in the male; the top (n’the lnrmst hi both sexes is of a Inflit brown-red; the belly, the thighs, and the rump, :ne equaHy of a deep bronurrcd; they both have ten quills in the tail, of which the upper two-thirds are of a rusty-yellow, and the lower third is a black transverse bar: the feet are lead-colour, and composed of four toes, one of which is directed behind and three before; the middle one is connected to the outer toe as far as the third joint, and to the inner toe as far as the first. only.” (.. 153 ) THE MOLUCCA CALAO 9". Fourth Species. THE name Alcatraz has 'impi'Operly been ap- plied to this bird; and Clusius is the author of the mistake. He has inaccurately translated the passage of Oviedo; for the Spanish word alcaz‘raz, according to Fernandez, Hernandez, and N ieremberg, denotes the pelican of Mexico. This mistake has occasioned another, which our nomenclators have transferred to the whole genus of the Calaos; they suppose that these birds haunt the margin of water, and hence they bestow the appellation of hydrocorax (water-raven). But this opinion is refuted by all the observers who have viewed them in their native abodes: Bontius, Camel, and, what carries still more Weight, the Calao itself, by its structure, the shape of its feet and bill, de~ inonstrate that it is neither a raven nor an aquatic bird. The Molucca Calaois two feet four inches long; the bill eight inches; but the legs are only two inches two lines: this character of the shortness of the legs belongs not only to it, but to all the other Calaols, which walk with the utmost difliculty; the bill is five inches * For the specific character, see the Indian Raven of Bontius. 154 THE MOLUCCA CALAO. long, and two inches and a half thick at its origin; it is blackish-cinereous, and supports an excrescence, whose substance is solid and like horn; this excrescence is flat before, and extends rounded to the upper side of the head; it has large black eyes, and its aspect is dis— agreeable: the sides of the head, the wings, and the throat, are black, and that part of the throat is surrounded with a white bar; the quills of the tail are whitish-grey; all the rest of the plumage is variegated with brown, with grey, with blackish, and with fulvous; the feet are brown-grey, and the bill blackish. These birds, says Bontius, do not live on flesh, but on fruits, and particularly nutmegs, to which they prove very destructt'ul; and their food communicates to the flesh, which is ten- der and delicate, an aromatic odour, that ren- ders it more grateful to the palate. THE Ht )RN — H ILL. (155) THE RIALABAR CALAO ’59. Ffth Species. THIS bird was brought from Pondicherry; it lived the whole of the summer 1777, in the court-yard of the Marchioness de Pons, who was so kind as to present it to me, for which I take this Opportunity of expressing the warmest gratitude. It was as large as a raven, or twice as large as the common crow; it was tWo feet and a half long, from the point of the bill to the extremity of the tail, which had drapped off 1n its passage home, and the feathers were begun to grow again, but had not nearly attained their full size: so that we may presume that the entire length of the bird was about three feet; its bill was eight inches long and two broad, and bent fifteen lines from the straight posi- tion ; a second bill, ifvit may be so called, sat * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. B'UCEROS MALABARICUS. B. niger subcristatus, nistro incurvato, fronte ossea antrorsum cultrata, abdomin'e fe- moribus crisso remigibus rectricibusqtle lateralibus apice - albis. -—Latl1. Ind. Or'n. i. p. 143- No. 6 Gmel. Syst. i. p. 359. LE CALAo de MALABAR. -13sz par Sam. M. p. 110. pl. 131. £2 PIED HORNBILL.—Latfi. Syn. i. p. 349.. 6. t. 11. ' HABITAT in lndia.——2 ped. 6 poll ad. 3 ped. longus. W. 156 THE MALABAR CALAO. like a horn close on the first, and followed its curvature, and extended from the base to within two inches of the point of the bill; it rose two inches three lines; so that, measuring in the middle, the bill together with its horn formed a height of four inches ; near the head, they were both of them fifteen lines thick across; the horn was six inches long, and its extremity appeared to have been shortened and split by accident, so that we may reckon it to be half an inch longer: on the whole, this horn has the shape of a true bill, truncated and closed at the extremity, but the junction is marked by a very perceptible furrow, drawn near the middle and following all thecurvature of this false bill, which does not adhere to the skull; but its posterior portion, which rises on the head, is still more extraordinary, it is naked and fleshy, and covered with quick skin, through which this parasite member receives the nutritious juices. The true bill terminates in a blunt point; it is strong, and consisting of a horny, and al- most bony, substance, extending in lamina, and we may perceive the layers and undula- tions: the false bill is much thinner, and may be bent even by the. fingers; it is ofa light sub- stance, disposed internally in little cells, which Edwards compares to those ot'a honey-comb; \Vormius says that this false bill. consists of a matter like crabs” shells. The false bill is black, from the point to three THE MALAB‘AR CALAop 157. inches behind, and ,there is a line of the same black at its origin, and also at the root of the true bill; all the rest is yellowish-white. Wor- mius remarks precisely the same colours; only he adds that the inside of the bill and of the palate is black. White folded ski-n meets the root of the true bill above on both sides, and is inserted near the corners of the bill in the black skin that encircles the eyes; the eyelid is bordered with long lashes arched behind; the eye is red-i brown, and grows animated and sparkles when the bird is in commotion ; the head, which ap- pears small in proportion to the enormous bill which it bears, resembles much in its shape that of the jay: in general, the figure, the gesture, and the whole form of this Calao, appears to us composed of the features and movements of the jay, the raven, and the magpie. These re- semblances have struck most observers, and hence the bird has been called, the Indian Ra- 'ven, the Horned Crow, t/ze Horned Pic of Ethiopia rt. The feathers on the head and neck were black, which it had the power of bristling, and they were often in that state, as in the jay; those of the back and wings were also black, 7 and all of them had a slight reflection of violet and green: on some of the coverts of the wings "‘ The female, according to Levaillant, is like the male, only rather smaller: the casque is not so high, and its point does not project so far forward. W. 158 THE MALABAR CALAO. there was an edging irregularly traced, and the feathers seemed hunched out like those of the jay; the stomach and belly were of a dirty- white; among the great quills of the wings, which are black, the outer ones only are white at the point; the tail, which had begun to grow again, consisted of six white quills black at the root, and four which were springing from their shafts entirely black ; the legs are black, thick, and strong, and covered with broad scales; the nails, which were long but not sharp, seemed calculated for holding and clenching. This bird hOpped with both its feet at once, for- ward and sidewise, like the jay and magpie, but did not walk. When at rest, its head seemed to recline on its shoulders; when dis- turbed by surprise and inquietude, it swelled and raised itself, and seemed to assume an air of boldness and importance. Yet its usual gait was mean and stupid; its movements sudden and disagreeable; and its resemblance in fea- tures to the magpie and the raven gave it an ignoble aspect *, suited to its dispositions. Though there are species of Calaos that appear to be frugivorous, and we have seen this bird eat lettuces, which it first bruised in its bill, it swallowed raw flesh: it caught rats, and de- voured even a small bird, which was thrown to it alive 1‘. It often repeated the hoarse cry 001:, “' Bonlius. 't This Calao is very common in Ceylon. where the in— habitants doiueslicatv it, for the purpose of clearing their THE MALABAR CALAO. .1559 not; it uttered also from time to time another sound, which was feebler, and not so raucous, and exactly like the clucking of a. Turkey-hen when she leads her brood. We have seen it spread and open its wings to the sun, and shudder at a passing cloud, or a slight breeze. It did not live more than three months at Paris, and died before the end‘of summer. Our climate is therefore too cold for it. We cannot forbear remarking, that Brisson is mistaken in referring the figure (I of the bill in Pl. 9.81 of Edward’s Gleanings to his Philip- pine Calao 5 for that figure represents our Mala- bar Calao, which bears a simple excrescence, and not a concave double horned helmet, like the Philippine Calao. houses of rats and mice, which these birds catch as readily as a cat. In the wild state they live in the great woods, perching on the highest trees, and, in preference, on the dead branches. They nestle in hollow trees, and lay four eggs of a dirty-white. Their young are born absolutely naked, and for some time the casque remains as a little excrescence, about four or five lines above the base of the upper mandible. When the bird is two years old the horn has acquired its full growth, and is sometimes advanced as far as the end of the beak. This part is frequently injured by the habit which the bird has of detaching the bark from the trees with its' bill, in order to discover the insects which are beneath it. W. (160) The BRAC, or AFRICAN CALAO "3". Sirt/z Species. Wr: shall retain the name Brae, given to this Calao by Father Labat, especially as that tra- veller is the only person that has seen and ob— served it. It is very large, its head alone and its bill making together eighteen inches in length: this bill is partly yellow and part1},r red; the two mandibles are edged with black: at the upper part of the bill there is an excres- cence of a horny substance, which is of the same colour, and of a considerable size; the fore-part of this excrescence projects forward like a horn, it is almost straight, and does not bend upwards; the hind part is, on the con- trary, rounded, and covers the mp of the head; the nostrils are placed below this excreseence, near the origin of the bill. The plumage of this calao is entirely black. ‘ CHARACTER sertcrrrcus. BL’CEROS A FRICANUS. B. niger snberistutns, l‘ronte ossea plana autrursum subnlata, eurpore nigrn, abdomine ree— trieibusque apiee albis.—1.::.‘/.r. lmI. ()nz. i. p. 143. No. 5. Gun]. Sp]. i. p. 359. HYDROCURAX AFRICANL‘s’.“ iiris. iv. p. 570. 3. L‘Orsmu Tao.“Pierre—Inlet. 133;. iv. p. 160. t. in p. 161. {HINOPEROS Ans—WHY. t. 17. 1'. :2. LE BHM‘, on CALAO (l'.\i'i:iQL5.——-B:gf. far Sent. lxi. p. 119. AFRICAN HORNBILL.-—L:Itxl. Sun. i. p. 3-18. 5. “A l‘; I '1‘ A '1‘ in Africa. \" - (‘16! ) THE AEBYSSINiAN CALAO Seventh Species. THIS calao appears to be one of the largest ef the genus; yet, ifwe were to judge from the length and thickness ef the bills, we should reckon the rhinoceros calao still larger. The hill of the Abyssinian Calao seems fashioned after that of the raven, only it is more bulky: the total length ef the bird is three feet two inches; it is entirely black, except the great quills of the wings, which are white, the mid- dle ones, and 'a part of the coverts, which are ofa deep tawny brown: the bill has an easy equal arch through its whole length, and it is flat and compressed at the sides ; the two man- (libles are hollowed internally with furrows, and terminate in a blunt point. The bill is nine * CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. BUCERO‘S ABYSSINICUS. B..rostro nigro compresso, fronte .gibbosa orbice‘lzit-a’czerulea, corpore nigro: remigibus pri- moribus albis, secondariis fulvo-fuscis.——Lat/z. Ind. 0172. i. p. 143. No. 4. . . Gmel. Syst. i. p. 358. LE CALAO d’ABYSSINIE.——Blfi Pl. Enl.- 779.——Bufi par Son/z. lv-i. p. 121. ABYSSINIAN HORNBILL.——Lat/2. Syn. 'i. p. 347. 4. HABITAT in Abyssinia.——Long. ped. 3. pollic. 2. W- VOL. VIII. » M 162 THE ABYSSI-NJAN CALAO. inches long; it bears a semicircular prominence that reaches from its root to near the front, two inches and a half in diameter, and fifteen lines- hroad at its base over the eyes. This excres- cence is of the same substance with the bill, but thinner, and yields under the fingers. The height of the bill taken vertically, and joined to- that of its horn, is three inches eight lines; the feet measure five inches and a half; the great toe, including the nail, is twenty-eight lines; the three fore-toes are almost equal; the hind one is also very long, being two inches ; all of them are thick, and covered, as well as the legs, with blackish scales, and furnished with strong nails, but which are neither hooked nor sharp : on each side of the upper mandible, near its origin, is a reddish spot; the eyelids are pro- vided with long lashes ; a naked skin of violet- hrown encircles the eyes, and covers the throat and part of the fore-side of the neck. (163) THE PHILIPPINE CALAO *2 Eighth Species. THIS bird is, according to Brisson, of the size of the turkey-hen; but its head is proportion- ally much larger, which is indeed requisite to support a bill nine inches long, and two inches eight lines thick, and which carries, above the Upper mandible, a horny exerescence six inches long; andxthree inches broad: this excrescence is a little concave on the upper part, and the trim anterior angles are produced before into the shape of a double horn;- it extends round- ing on the upper part of the head: the nostrils. are placed near the origin of the bill, below‘this excreScence. All the bill, as well as this ex- crescence, is of a reddish colour. *CHARACTER' SPECIFICUS. BUCEROS BICORNIS. B. fronte ossea plana antrorsum bi- comi, corpore nigro, snbtus maculaque remigum alba. rectricibus 10 intermediis nigris.—Latlz. Ind. Orn. i. p. 142. No. 3. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 358. HYDROCORAX PHILIPPENSIs.—Brz’s. iv. p. 568. 2. RHINOCERos Avrs PRIMA VARIETAS. — Will. t. 17. (caput.) LE CALAO des PHILIPPINES.-—Bl{fli par 5mm. lvi. p. 123. PHILIPPINE HORNBILL.—-Latlz. Syn. i. p. 345. 3. HA BITAT in Philippinis insulis. W. 164 TH]; pnrtri’i’lxe CALAO. The head, the throat, the neck, the upper side of the body, and the superior coverts of the wings and tail, are black; all'the under side of the body is white; the quills of the wings are black, and marked with a white spot; all the quills of the tail are entirely black, except the two exterior ones, which are white; the legs are greenish. George Camel has, along with the other birds of the Philippines, described a species of calao, which seems to be much like the present, but not exactly the same. His account was com- municated to the Royal Society of London by Dr. Petiver, and printed in the PhilOSOphical Transactions, No. 285, Art. III. It there ap- pears that this bird, termed Calao or Cagao by the peeple of India, does not haunt streams, but inhabits the uplands, and even the moun- tains, living on the fruits of the balitz', which is a sort of wild fig-tree, and also on almonds, pistachio—nuts, &c. which it swallows entire. We shall here insert a translation : “The bill is black; the rump and back dusky ash-colour; the head small, and black about the eyes; the eyelashes black and long; the eyes blue; the bill is a span in length, somewhat curved, ser‘ rated, diaphanous, and of the colour of cinna- bar; the lower mandible is about an inch and a half broad at the middle ; the upper mandible is a palm in height, more than a span in length, the top flat and about a span in measure, and bearing a helmet of a palm in breadth. The 'rInE PHI L1 II’PINIE CA—LAo. 165 tongue is small for such a bill, being hardly an inch. Its voice 1esembles n1Ore the giunting of a sow, or the bellowing of an ox, than the my ofabi1d. Its legs with the thighs are a span in length: the feet have thlee toes before and only one behind, which are scaly, reddish, and a1 med with solid blaCk talons . the tail consists of eight great White quills, ‘ofa cubit in length; the quills of the wings are yellow. The Gentiles revere this bird, and relate sto- 1ies ofits fighting with the c1 ane which they call tipul or tzizol. They say, that, aftel this battle, the cranes weie obliged to remain in the wet grounds, and that the calaos would not suf- fer them to approach the mountains *1” ‘3‘ We are sorry to remark that the translation which the Count de Bufl'on here gives is exceedingly inaccurate. Ses- guiuncz'a is rendered half an inch, &c. We have therefore altered it in some places ; but, as the last sentence is that from which 'our ingenious author draws his conclusion, we have preserVed it as it stood in the text. We shall now compare it with the original: »“ Calao (says Camel), Gentiles super- stitiose colunt et observant, fabulantur cum Grue T 17111] sen Tihol pactasse, ut heec palustribus, Calao sylvosis, eontenta viverent (hinc T ipol si ligno quocunque insederit), in prenam transgressi foederis sese loco movere non valere, e contra Calao si aquosis et humilibus.” That is, the idolatrous In- dians have a superstitious veneration for the Calao, and re- late that it has entered into a hompact with the crane that it should live contented with its marshes, and the Calao with the woods; thence the crane, it'it perch on a‘ tree, cannot stir from the spot. as a punishment for infringing the treaty ; and, on the other hand, the Calao incurs the same punish- ment, ifit alights in the low fcns. 166 THE PHILIPPINE CALAO. This sort of description seems to prove clear- ly that the calaos are not aquatic birds; and as the colours and some other characters are dif- ferent from those of the Philippine Calao, de scribed by Brisson, we conceive that this should be reckoned a variety of the other. ( 167‘) The BGUNDHELMETED CALA’O *2 Ni 221/; I’Species. =WE have only the bill of this bird, and it is glike that given by EdWards. If We judge of the size of the bird from the bulk of the head, which remains attached to the bill,this calao is one of the largest and strongest 0f. the ge- nus; the bill is six inches long from the cor- ners to the point; it is almost Straight, and not indented; from the middle of the upper man- dible there rises and extends, as far as the oc- eiput, a wen shaped like a helmet, two inches . high, almost round, but a little compressed on the sides : this protuberance, where it joins the bill, has an altitude of four inches, and a cir- cumference of eight. The faded and embrown- ed colours of this bill, which is deposited in the 4“ CHARACTER SPECIFICUS‘, BUCEROS GALEATUS. B. rostro conico, basi mandibular: superioris supra maxime gibbosa, subquadratap—Latlz, Ind. Orn. i. p. 142. No. 2. Gmel. Syst. i. p. 360. LE CALAO a CASQUE RONn.—qu. Pl. Enl. 9.33.——Bzgfl‘. par Sam). lvi. p. 128. flELMET HORNBILL. ——Latlz. Syn. i. p. 343. 2. ——Edw, t. 281. f. C. ‘ , HA BITAT in Asia. W. 168 THE ROUND-H_£LMETIZD (SALAD. cabinet, no longer exhibit that vermilion tinge- which appears in Edwards’s figure. Aldrovandus gives a distinct figure of the bill of this Round-helmeted Calao, under the name of Semenda, a bird ofIndia, whose history is still almost entirdyj'a/mluus. This bill, which belonged to the cabinet of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, had been brought from Dama