GENERAL HISTORY OF BIRDS BY JOHN LATHAM, M.D F.R.S Acad Cjis Na r Ciiiioi A.S, AM L.S Reg Holm, et Sor Nat Scrut Bekolin Soc &c &c VOL WINCHESTER PRINTED BY JACOB AND JOHNSON, FOR THE AUTHOR : SOLD IN LONDON BV G ANDW B.WHITTAKER, AVE-MARIA-L ANE JOHN WARREN, BOND-STREETJ W.WOOD, 428, strand; and j mawman, 39, ludgate-street ; 1822 -i^: K^IBH BIRDS, ORDER III PASSERINE GENUS XXXVII— STARE Common Stare ; STARE L'Etourneau, Buf Storno, Olin t Nuturf Id 22 133 62 Gcori,' It Stare, or Starling, (ien Syn Id fol i pi 40 JVill f Engl Ed 1812 p 196 44 Bolt Birds, mi/cot THE i pi Birds, pi 12 weight of f t The 2-39 f pi 10 t Ey p 52 t t Br Zoo/, 390 pi 50 Bewick, is u pi ii Om ii ; Id 01 t pi 46 331 A A/h Shaw's Zool Lewin Birds, p 88 three ounces 60 No 104 i 32 Donov.'iv pi 92 Graves Br f, 10 39 Arct Zool Hayes Br Birds, i)l pi this bird, Nest Schmid, Vog p i 37 adult ii Voi> p 69 6'mm^/j Id Sup 1.37 p iii /(/, 173 i Voy en Barb 271 Zinnan Id 25 14 482 pi, 43 young Collins and P t enl To Cct Uc Sard 184 Staar, fVirs Vog xvii 79 PL 17G pi 15 iii p 18 t ii pi 56 Pu/t Cat Dors p pi 14 bill 111 Orn Diet length eight inches and a half, brown, with a yellowish point nostrils surrounded with a prominent rim irides hazel general colour of the plumage black, glossed with blue, purple, and copper bronze each feather marked at the end with tliree quarters Ii x \ xl '3 scarcely one inch f ; ; ; a pale yellow spot; wing coverts edged with yellow ; quills and tail dusky, the former edged with yellow, the latter with dusky white; legs reddish brown The female This bird Sweden to the is is somewhat like the male, but smaller a general inhabitant of the Old Continent, Cape of Good Hope Seen in England from at all seasons, and sometimes appears in vast flocks in the winter, giving reason to suppose that in severe seasons the additional numbers migrated here from colder regions with us it builds in the hollows of rocks, ruined : edifices, decayed and rarely on the branches, except when it Thrush or another bird frequently builds in trees, finds the old nest of a Pigeon-houses, and is ; accused of sucking the eggs of those birds, though we believe on no just foundation The eggs in colour are light blue, varying to greenish ash, and five or six in number; in length one inch and a quarter; and each weighing about one dram and three quarters The young birds are dusky brown till the first moult it is generally seen running on tli€ ground like the Wagtail or Lark ; rarely advancing by leaps like the Thrnsh, and manv others : m STARE Starlings Fieldfares, are often mixed winter with the Redwings and in frequently in large flocks, unaccompanied with other from their tumultuous and disorderly mode of flight, difl^erent from that of any other bird The chief food consists of insects and worms, and in particular the birds; and in such case may be known, rose-beetles,* but in failure of these on i:;t olives, grapes, and it will eat grain: said also to feed but prefer the latter ; however, it is probable that they are most fond of animal food, for when kept in cages, they seem pleased with scraps of meat of every kind In a state of nature, the note of this bird is merely a short, shrill cherries, whistle, chattering at intervals, but when kept tame it human speech, and will learn to whistle a tune I have observed this Bird, with all its Varieties, imitates the among collections known of drawings from India, where it appears to be common, and by the name of Tiliel, also Tillory In England called Stare, or Starling; A.-Sturnus albus, /«d Or» White Stare, Gen Syn This is i 322 p iii /3 Bm ii in the north, Chepster 444 A M8vo.i.281 A/dr ii 030 Will Engl 196 wholly white, with a reddish bill, and flesh-coloured legs; in the Leverian Museum two of these were B.—Sturnus leucomelas, Bris ii 444 B Id 8vo Sturnu8 capite atro, reliquo corpore albo, Will 148 Pied Stare, Gen Syn iii p Will Engl 150 In this the head is *ouiid at Aberdaren, a black, little i 281 the rest of the plumage white village in Caernarvonshire * ScarabcEus oiiratus & nobilig, Lin ;; STARE C —Sturnus leucocephalus, Aldr ii 637 Tliis is described with a white head and neck, two black spots above the eyes ; breast, belly, sides, thighs, upper wing and under tail coverts white, with bluish spots; quills and tail as in common, but the two outer feathers of the last white; bill white le^^^s yellow ; D.— Sturnus Grey cinereus, Bris Stare, Gen, Spi iii ii 446 D Id 8vo 282 i Aldrov ii 038 p Upper parts of the body rufous ash-colour, inclining marked with small points Bill and legs black to yellow breast To which may be added one similar in the Leverian Museum, wholly cream-colour, covered all over with white spots 2.— SILK STARE Sturnus sericeus, Ind.Orn.i 324 Martin, Tern Man Ed ii Anal Silk Starling, Gen Syn ii Gi Lin.\ 805 Uaud u 304 III pi 21 p Iv 324 Id Sup 137 Brown, Shaw's Zool x 497 LENGTH eight inches Bill purplish red, the end dusky ; the whole head, and fore part of the neck yellowish white, inclined to dusky on the crown ; upper part of the body fine pale ash-colour wings and tail glossy black ; base of the quills white, forming a spot on the outer part of the wing ; bastard wing white ; tail two inches and a half long, even at the end ; the under parts of the body the same as the upper, but paler, and nearly white at the vent ; legs reddish, or pale yellow The female is brown where the male is black forehead mixed sides of the head and behind the eye white back ; black and white ; ; as in the male; wings glossy brown, inclining to ash-colour; base » STARE of the quills not white; rump white; one-fourth of an inch, with white, outer feather plain tail as the quills, tipped, for deeper on the inner webs, the legs brown ; The above described from specimens in the collection of Sir Jos Banks, who received them from China The late Mr Tunstal informed me, that he kept one alive for some time, and that it had all the actions of the Common Starling Inhabits also Bengal, where I observed one among the drawings of Sir John Anstrnther, in which the breast, belly, and vent were pale rufous, and no white in the wings it is called Cuorley S.—vYHITE-HEADED STARE Turdus leucocephulus, Ind Orn Merle Dominicain de la White-headed Thrush, Gen Syn LESS i 348 Gm Lin Chine, Sonn Voy Ind iii ii i 829 197 59 than a Blackbird Bill blackish, with a tinge of red, and head and neck white, the feathers long, and narrow neck behind deep cinereous grey ; back and rump, breast and belly the same, but paler; wing coverts and lesser quills copper green, glossed with violet ; on the first a white spot or two greater ; quills black; tail as the wing coverts; under coverts white; legs yellow ; the wings reach halfway on the tail yellow; irides yellow ; ; The female has the head grey, as the copper gloss on the wings less brilliant rest of the body; and the Inhabits China, called by some Petite Galinote This seems to coincide greatly with the Silk Starling; yet the bill is not depressed towards the point, as in that Genus ; on which account, perhaps both these birds might rather be placed in the Thrush Genus STAIIR 4— LOUISIANE fiturnuH Ludovioianus, /„,/ 0;7i t 42 Id 8v() SIZE si Clieval, la r.ouisinne, Louisiane Stare, Gen 323 X»m*• riu .ih-m (v_ '';^)» ,v://«,,**> ./ '• ; 339 BUNTING above lead-coloured black ; beneath from the breast white ; even, but the outer feather rather the longest, and the next white, but obliquely dusky is tail nearly wholly white; at the base within ; the third 1) i 111, dusky white down the middle, half way to the end, the rest of it, and all the others dusky black; legs brown The female is brown where the male is black otherwise alike, but without any white in the third tail feather; the wings reach halfway on the tail I' ; Inhabits America, shifting quarters according to the season and Hudson's Bay the beginning of Nova Scotia to breed, and again by Severn Settlement in autumn, on its return to the south It makes the nest in the corn fields, under clods of dirt and tussocks comes into Severn Settlement June, and stays a fortnight ; passing into Met with also in Georgia, there called Snow common appears there the first week in November of grass not ; seen in Pennsylvania in flocks of thousands in April, and about : Bird, but ; is sometimes retreats into the woods the 20th, departs northward 68— BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.— Pl Einberiza Americana, Ind,Orn.\, 411 Gm.Lin.i 872 xcii Amer.Orn.'x pl.3 f Shaic's Zool ix 379 Black-throated Bunting, Gen Syn.'m 197 pl 44 SIZE of a Yellow Bunting length six inches Bill and legs brown irides hazel the upper parts of the plumage streaked with brown on the back over the eye a yellow streak ; at the gape a patch of the same chin M'hite ; on the throat a large triangular spot of black ; breast and middle of the belly yellow ; sides over the thighs streaked with dusky; wing coverts tawny; quills and tail ; ; ; !•! ; ; " dusky, with pale edges The female is throat, or streak direction of the like the male, but without the black spot above the eye; beneath jaw sides as in the male ur' ; between the bill it a dusky one, on the in the and eye white ; the belly and —Inhabits America Xx2 !l jit I HUNTING 340 A.— Black-throated Bunting, Arct Zool iii No 228 Gen Sytu Sup 158 pi 17 Length seven inches breadth thirteen ; and weight from ten to tliirteen drachms troy The bill and legs black ; forehead yellowish, passing over the eye in a streak between the bill and eye black, ; ; continuing under the eye, and ending in a patch below the ear above the forehead a black crescent, the horns turning upwards; crown, and upper parts of the plumage brown ; quills tipped with white ; tail : coverts reddish brown ; the two middle tail feathers brown ; the three next white on the outer webs the exterior one white, both the outer web and tip; throat yellow, with a triangular black spot in the middle ; belly and vent bluish white Inhabits Hudson's Bay, there called Outatapaseu ; it breeds there, making the nest on the gn md, of fine dried grass, and lays four or lines of the five white eggs, spotted with black, and a few irregular same it frequently chirps, but is not found to have any other note, ; ; even this in August, and departs in September; seen now and then, in small flocks, accompanying the Geese, and sometimes with the Snow Buntings it loses 69— OLIVE BUNTING Embeiiza olivacea, Lid Oni, i Lin 410 i 309 Gtn Lin i 870 Shaw's Zool ix p 377 Emberiza Domiuicensis, Bris L'Olive, Buf iv Olive Bunting, Gen Syn LENGTH brown iii i 392 195 three inches and three quarters head and upper parts of the ; Id, 8vo 300 t.l3, f.5.^male iii 363 body Bill and olive green ; legs grey the throat and eye a spot of yellow, reaching over breast black ; the rest the eye fore part of the neck and part of the yellow ; the quilis wing the of edge of the under parts olive grey orange ; between the bill ; ; brown, edged with olive green ; tail the same ; BUNTING 341 though marked much as the male, but without the orange yellow on the head and throat; and the fore part The female is more dull, of the neck and breast are not black Inhabits St Domingo> and were seems greatly to approach to the it not for the difference in size, last described species 70.— BADEN BUNTING Gm Etnberiza Badensiii, Ind.Orn.'u 411 Nalur/.\\\\ s.l98 Lin.'u 873 Shawns ZooL'w 378 Baden Bunting, Gen, S^n Sup THIS is to be a small ii 200 much said to bear span in length affinity with the Olive Bunting, and Bill black ; beneath it yellowish the middle of the upper mandible a single, stout indentation nostrils covered with feathers; general colour of the streaked with dusky One He olive, legs yellowish ; in Germany to any one, nor had was not known observes, that and ; the of these was shot by chance not far from Carlsrnhe, in the Marquisate of Baden, says, it plumage in ; it is it was, in : M Sanders, who describes it, been met with before every respect, like the Olive Bunting it possible to have been a caged bird, brought from some of the American Islands, and by chance escaped from confinement 71.— BRAZILIAN BUNTING Emberiza 392 Brasiliensis, /m the nest on, or near feathers, lined many brown with spots, especially A the male has an agreeable note Species, or very like is ; , bird of this found on the Island of Tristan da Cunha.* 72.— MEXICAN BUNTING Gm Lin i 873 Shaw's Zool i 412 La Theresejaune, Bruant du Mexique, Buf.'w 361 PI enl 386 Einbeiiza Mexicana, Tml Oni ix 395 Mexican Bunting, Gen Syn m 198 f and a half Bill and legs pale; head to the crown, sides, throat, and fore part of the neck yellow; body above brownish, as in the Yellow Bunting ; the brown on the sides LENGTH six inches of the neck tending upwards to the eye, in a point ; the under parts pale are dirty white, spotted with brown ; quills and tail edged with brown —Inhabits Mexico 73.— TOWHE BUNTING Gm Lin Enibeviza erythropthalma, Ind Orn i 413 Fiingilla erythropthalma, Lin.'u 318 Fiingilla Carolinensis, Bris iii 169, aux ycux rouges, Bm/ Le Towhe Bunting, Pin90ii noir Gen Syn Bartr Trav p 289 iii iv i Om 874 Shaw's Zool ix 414 353 141, Arct Zool 199 Amer Id 8vo i pi x f ii Cut Car No 224 5— the egg Id vi pi 53 i f pi 34 5— fem and legs brown head, neck,Jback, wing coverts, and rump, black under irides red breast and belly parts, from the breast, dull red; the middle of the LENGTH eight inches ; breadth eleven Bill ; ; * Lin Trans, xii p 496 nU.NTIXG 3J.J white ; lower part of the back mixed with ferruginous brown the outer part of the of tlie tail wing a patch of white even, the others rounded ; ; on the four middle feathers the outer white on all the outer ; web, and on the inner to about the middle from the tip ; the third the same, but the white shorter; the fourth black brown, with a dash of white on the inner web, near the end ; dusky black feather three inches ; length of the middle The half, the exterior three inches where the male is tail the four middle ones plain female differs black Inhabits Carolina, and frequents the most shady woods seen except in pairs ; comes into but a kind of twittering noise the American Bulfinch ; New York is a restless bird fall : the female is seldom By some and called called Chewbut in colour like the female, the breast and belly are pale yellow, with brown streaks a curved, dusky streak ; has no song, in spring; Is found in Georgia, wink, or Joe wheat The young male, which and a in being brown, ; on the ear rufous brown, but the feathers over the wings, on the shoulders, and sides next the wing, more beneath from the breast, white These ; oak woods, swamps, and thickets, seldom more than a pair, or a few together ; but Mr Abbot informs me, that he once met with a large flock, at the edge of n;^ old field, in Savanna River: they build in the swamps on the ground, among dry leaves, of which also the nest is partly made, with fine grass within the eggs are incline to ferruginous birds frequent : reddish white, marked with ferruginous spots, pretty thick all over, but not very deep coloured •I I 74._WHITE-CROWNED BUNTING Emberiza leucophrys, Ind Orn i 413 Gin Lin i 874 Ph Trans Ixii, p, 403 426 Mill III t 21 C ^mer Orn iv pi, 31 f Shato's Zool ix 392 Grosbec, Tern Man Ed ii Anal p Ixxii White-crowned Bunting, Gen Si/n iii 200 Id Sup 159 Arct Zool ii No 22 LENGTH seven inches, weight three quarters of an ounce and legs flesh-colour ; irides deep hazel ; lower eyelids white Bill ; on i ; 344 BUNTING the crown a white stripe, which does not quite reach the bill ; on each side of this, one of black ; over the eyes a line of white, which passes to the vertical stripe behind; neck cinereous, palest on the back ferruginous brown ; rump cinereous brown, the feathers edged with cinereous ; wings brown ; the outer edge of the prime quills very pale ; within cinereous ; across the wings two white bands; bastard wing white; breast ash-colour; vent and thighs yellow ; tail rather long, a trifle rounded, brown The female is 'y.-; •.;••;; 'i ;v m like the male, but somewhat smaller Inhabits Canada, a id visits Severn Settlement in June ; seen at Albany Fort in May, where it stays the summer, and departs in September ; makes the nest at the bottom of willows, and lays three chocolate-coloured eggs : the chief food is grass seeds, worms, grubs, &c Called at Hudson's Bay Cnsabata shish said to have a melobreast ; ' ; ' : when perched, but in flight, silent Is rarely seen in the United States At first sight resembles the White-throated Finch dious song, 75—CINEREOUS BUNTING Emberiza cinerea, Ind Orn Canadensis, Brit Le Cul-rouBset, Bwf iv i iii 415 296 Gm Lin 14 i Shaic's Zoof ix 401 87G Jd, 8vo , i 391 ' 308 Cinereous Bunting, Gen 5yn ; iii 204 Id Stip 159 Arct Zool ii, 233 and legs pale brown upper parts of the head chestnut, with a dash of brown down the middle of each feather ; the rest of the parts the same, but more inclined to grey ; rump wholly so ; upper and under tail coverts rufous white j under parts of the body dirty white, marked with chestnut spots The female is more quills and tail brown, edged with reddish grey SIZE of the Yellow Bunting Bill ; inclined to grey Inhabits America ; comes from the north and frequents the bottoms of the red cedars ; foot from the ground New York in March, seldom seen abovei one to ; BUNTING A.—Cinereous Bill yellow ; Gen Duntin|j^, Si/n Sup p 34.> 150.—Vur A head, neck, back, and wings, rnst-coloiired, the and elegantly edged with pale grey some of the edged with paler rust ; primaries and tertials with throat, breast, and sides white, fully spotted with rust white middle of the belly white; middle feathers of the tail brown ; exterior feathers deeply, ; greater coverts ; white, each truncated obliquely Inhabits New York 76 Embcriza rxrulca, Jnd ——— Canadensis L'Azuroux, SMALLER and Om Gm Lin 415 i caerulea, £m iii 208 t i 876 14 f Shawns Zool Id 8vo i, 408 ix 301 Btif iv 360 Blue Bunting, Gen Bill -BLUE BUNTING St/n iii 205 than the legs pale brown Arct Zool No 234 length four inches and a quarter crown dull rufous ; body above mixed, last ; ii ; and blue ; beneath the same, but the rufous colour pale and tail, brown, with the outer edges rufous Inhabits Canada dull rufous greater coverts, quills, 77.— INDIGO BUNTING Emberiza cyanea, Ind Om i 415 Gtn Lin i 876 Shawns Zool Tanagra coerulea, Ind Om i 427 Gm Lin i 801 Tanagra cyanea, Lin i 315 Fringilla cyanea Blue Linnet, Amer Om i pi f Tangara Carolinensia cserulea, Bris iii p 13 Id 8vo i 307 Avis exotica obscura cserulea, Gerin Le Ministre, Buf iv 86 Grosbec, Tern Man d'Om Ed rot V iii t ix 407 ' I 359 i i ii Anal p Ixxi Y y r 346 BUNTING Passe bleu de Cayenne, Biif Blue Linnet, Edw p Blue Tanager, Gen Syn iii Indigo Bunting, Gen St/n SIZE of a Siskin iv 495 273.—lower PL enl 203 figure 234 iii 205 Arct Zool ii 235 deep lead-colour ; plumage in general fine blue, deepest on the crown ; greater quills brown, edged with blue ; tail brown, even, with a length five inches; extent eight ; Billl light tinge oi blue; legs brown In some specimens a black mark appears between the eye — The female is brown, not unlike a Linnet and indeed the male, bill The young and bird, moulting time, is like the female, being plumage It may, however, be known at that time from the female, as the edge of the wing is of a deep brownish blue; whereas, in the female it is greenish brown This inhabits Carolina; where it is called by some the Minister, blue only when in in full by others the Bishop chiefly found in the inner parts, 150 miles from the sea, and frequents the mountains Said to sing like a Linnet The Spaniards at Mexico, call it Azul lexos, or Far-fetched Blue Bird feeds on millet: is common at New York comes the beginning of April, and mostly in orchards when in bloom It is rare in Georgia, and there called Summer Blue Bird Mr Abbot observes, that the nesl is near the ground, in a low bush, made with dry grass, and lined with finer materials; it frequents old fields on Savanna River but is not common : : : ; A.-«-£mberiza cyanella, Mus, Carls, ii t 42, 43 Gm Lin i 8S7 and legs yellowish ; head, neck, rump, and under parts of the body glossy blue; shoulders, and interscapulars blue, and ferruginous mixed ; quills and tail brown, edged with blue The female is mixed brown, ferruginous, and blue ; quills and tail as in the male Inhabits North America Bill — ; 347 BUNTING 78— PAINTED BUNTING Emberiza Clris, J«d 278 Orn 416 i Amer Orn t Passer Brasiliensis, Gerin Fringilla Mariposa, Scop iii i iii t X,tn 344 f Gw 313 i pi 24 ii/i i 2.—male Act Slock 1750 885 Shaw's Zool f ix 403 pi 62 f and female No 222 Fringilla tricolor, Klein, 97 Chloris Ludoviciana, Papa, Bris Le Pape, Buf 176 iv t Grosbec, Tern Man, Ed ii China Bulfmch, Alb, pi 68 Painted Finch, Edw iii No 226 200 t f f Id 8vo i 362 1, Anal p Ixxi 273.— upper Id pi 130 Painted Bunting, Gen Spi iii PI enl 159 iii 206 Bartr Trav p 289 Nat Misc Cat, Car figure Id Sup, 159 pi Id Sup ii i pi 4* Arct Zool, 202 ii 597 SIZE of a Hedge Sparrow length five inches Bill and legs brown ; irides hazel head and neck violet round the eyes red the upper part of the back, and scapulars yellow green lower part, rump, and all beneath dull red ; lesser wing coverts violet brown, ; ; ; ; ; with a tinge of red ; the greater of a dull greenish colour ; quills brown, the edges of some greenish, of others red; tail brown, the two middle feathers incline to red, and the others margined outwardly with the same The female beneath brown, fringed with green ; quills is dull green above, and yellow green ; the tail also brown and green mixed This bird varies exceedingly, and said not to get the till the third year : in the first, both sexes are brown the blue head the second, but the rest of the wings and tail : plumage the male gains is blue green the female, at that and as they moult twice in a year, not wonderful, that scarcely any two birds are quite alike Y y2 \ plumage brown, edged with blue green time, inclines greatly to blue, is ; full it BUNTING 348 This species generally inhabits the wanner parts of Canada, and every where between that and Mexico, Brazil, Guiana;* at Carolina none are seen near inhabited parts, nor very near the sea They build on the orange, and other trees, but are there only in summer; frequently kept in cages in England, and and other seeds The Dutch contrive may be means land, like Canary, and other birds, but rarely succeeded in England stull, that nests, of and his, at it we eggs in ; the orange-trees, in Holderness, in Yorkshire were not hatched Hol- believe the attempt has Tunand that two pairs made a menagery of a relation I was assured, by the late Mr has happened more than once laid fed on millet, succory, to breed these in ; but in this instance, the young- The above gentleman has kept many, but seems plumage sooner than the third year; suspend themselves, hanging by one leg from the perch while asleep ; in this, imitating the Sapphireto think, that they gain their full and observed them frequently to crowned Parrakeet, the Coly, and some others Mr Abbot informed me, that it frequents the oak woods in Georgia, and builds the beginning of May, in bushes the nest formed of dried stalks of plants, cotton, and dried leaves, lined with hay; the egg is bluish white, with several ferruginous red spots, more numerous in a zone at the larger end ; and that theyoung male, the second spring and summer, continues the same colour as the female, but sings like the adult According to Mr Bartram, the song of this bird is remarkably low, soft, and warbling, exceedingly tender, and soothing ; is not seen north of Cape Fear, in North Carolina ; and seldom ten miles : from the sea coasts, or at most twenty or thirty miles ; chiefly near the banks of great rivers, in the fragrant groves of the orange, &c * Bancroft talks of a bird called Kishee Kishee, at Guiana; said to exceed thered tribe, having a confused assemblage of among all the most lively all the fea- and beautiful colours in and blackish purple, or indigo, have the greatest share; besides which there are white, black, and blue, and that they are brought by the Accawaw Indians, from the inland parts of the country and the common price is a nature : these, yellow, scarlet, green, ; but he adds, that many ineffectual attempts have been made to convey them to Holland If not the bird in question, I know not what else it can be pistole per pair: A \ BUNTING 349 79.— GREY BUNTING Emberiza giiseu, /«