A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
_Young male_ (second year, No. 26,920, Nova Scotia, June; W. G. Winton).
Plumage very much variegated. Head above, nape, and anterior portion
of the back, ochraceous-white, each feather with a central stripe of
brownish-black, these becoming more tear-shaped on the nape. Scapulars,
back, wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts umber-brown; the
feathers with lighter edges, and with large, more or less concealed
spots of white,—these are largest on the scapulars, where they occupy
the basal and middle thirds of the feathers, a band of brown narrower
than the subterminal one separating the two areas; upper tail-coverts
similarly marked, but white edges broader, forming conspicuous terminal
crescentic bars. Tail cinereous-umber, with five conspicuous bands of
blackish-brown, the last of which is subterminal, and broader than
the rest; tip of tail like the pale bands; the bands are most sharply
defined on the inner webs, being followed along the edges by the white
of the edge, which, frequently extending along the margin of the black,
crosses to the shaft, and is sometimes even apparent on the outer web;
the lateral feather has the inner web almost entirely white, this,
however, more or less finely mottled with grayish, the mottling becoming
more dense toward the end of the feather; the bands also cross more
obliquely than on the middle feathers. Secondaries grayish-brown, with
five indistinct, but quite apparent, dark bands; primaries marked as in
the adult, but are much lighter. Beneath pure white, all the feathers,
including lower tail-coverts, with sharp, central, longitudinal streaks
of clear dark-brown, the shafts of the feathers black; on the sides
and tibiæ these streaks are expanded into a more acuminate, elliptical
form; the crissum only is immaculate, although the throat is only very
sparsely streaked; on the ear-coverts the streaks are very fine and
numerous, but uniformly distributed.
No. 18,404 (west of Fort Benton, on the Missouri, May 16, 1864; Captain
Jas. A. Mullan, var. _striatulus_). Similar to No. 26,920, but colors
much darker. Upper parts with dark brown prevailing, the pale borders to
the feathers very narrow, and the basal very restricted and concealed;
upper tail-coverts deep ashy-umber, tipped narrowly with white, and with
large subterminal, transversely cordate, and other anterior bars of
dusky. Tail ashy-brown, much darker than in No. 26,920, with five broad,
sharply defined bands of blackish, without any distinct light bordering
bar. White of the lower parts entirely destitute of any yellowish tinge,
the stripes much broader than in No. 26,920, and deep brownish-black,
the shafts not perceptibly darker; tibiæ with transverse bars of dusky;
lower tail-coverts with transverse spots of the same. Wing, 12.25; tail,
9.70.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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