DESCRIPTION
.; Of a male, killed May 28,1827, on the Saskatchewan.
Colour.—Head, nape, sides of the neck, throat, breast, and a few of the vent feathers,
bright saffron-yellow. Primary and six greater secondary coverts white, tipped with black.
The orbits, lores, and the remainder of the plumage velvet-black. Bill and legs pitch-
black.—Some male specimens have the yellow plumage of the top of the head fringed with
black.—R.
Form.—Bill rather stouter in proportion than that of A. phceniceus, the base of the
culmen flattened, but the contour very slightly arched: the tip of the upper mandible
slightly depressed, and entire. First, second, and third quills nearly equal: some of the
lesser quills sinuated at the tip of the outer web; and others, towards the tertials, shew a
tendency to form an obsolete point in the middle. Tail very slightly rounded. Legs very
long: the tarsi proportionally longer than those of A. phceniceus: claws shorter, and but
slightly curved.-—Sw.
The female is-described by the Prince of Musignano* as being eight inches and a quarter
long. The general colour uniform dark brown, the edges of the feathers somewhat lighter.
No white on the wing. Frontlet and supra and infraorbital lines, which unite on the ears,
greyish-ferruginous. Chin and throat whitish. A large rounded patch of vivid-yellow on
the breast
Dimensions
Of the male.
Inch. T.in. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin.
Length total 10 6 Length of bill to rictus . 0 10§ Length of middle claw . 0 4
„ of tail . 4 6 „ of tarsus . . 1 4* / „ of hind toe. 7
„ of wing . 5 6 of middle toe . . 1 o ,, of hind claw . . 0 4f
„ of bill above . 0 id
Some males are an inch and a half longer than the preceding: their members in proportion.
[89.] 1. Stdrnella Ltjdoviciana. (Swainson.) Crescent Starelet.
Sub-f a m il y , Agelain®, Sw ain s. Genus, SturaeUa, Vi e i l .
Crescent Stare. P e n n . Arct. Zool., ii., p. 330, No. 192.
Meadow Lark (Alauda magna). "Wil s ., iii., p. 20, pi. 19, f. 2.
SturaeUa coUaris. V i e i l . Gal. des Ois., pi. 90.
Sturaus Ludovicianus. Sa b . Franlcl. Joum., p. 674. B onap. Syn., p. 60, No. 48.
Peesteh-atchewusson. Cb.e e I n d ia n s.
This beautiful bird arrives about the 1st of May on the Saskatchewan, beyond
which it was not seen by us : it is only partially migratory in Pennsylvania.
. Through some accident, we brought home no female specimens of this bird.—R.
In the fur-countries it frequents open plains and meadows, hiding itself in the
grass. It rises on the approach of a sportsman, flies heavily, though quickly-
for-about two hundred yards, and then alights on the ground, where it will
generally remain until it is almost trodden upon, before it takes a second flig •
It often perches on the top of a low bush, and utters a loud, mellow, and plaintive
whistle, which its Cree appellation is intended to express. The crops of the
individuals we killed were filled with fragments of coleopterous insects*.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, kiUed May 8, 1827, on the plains of the Saskatchewan.
Colour.—-Upper plumage liver-brown, bordered with pale-brown, the darker colour
assuming the form of narrow bars on the posterior part of the back, lesser quills, and middle
tail feathers. Greater quills greyish-brown, slightly barred externally: edge of the wing
yellow Three exterior pairs of tail feathers white, their outer tips and inner borders barred
and coloured like the three central pairsf. Three white stripes on the upper surface of
the head, the lateral ones changing to bright yellow before the eyes. Sides of the neck,
breast, flanks, and under tail coverts whitish, with blackish-brown central spots, which are
rare on the latter. Under plumage rich king’s-yellow j a large pitch-black, horse-shoe
shaped mark on the breast, its limbs rising on the sides of the neck and cut by a white spot.
Bill dark-brown above; its sides and under surface bluish-grey. Legs flesh-coloured.
The female differs merely in the black crescent on the breast being skirted with grey.—R.
F orm, typical. The bill, like that of the Starling, is considerably depressed on its outer
half, and there is a faintly marked indenture on each side of the upper mandible; indicating
the first development of the notched bill by which the true Starlings are known. The lesser
quills are truncate, but the shaft projects sufficiently to form a macro or little pomt.-Sw.
Dimensions
Of a Saskatchewan and a Georgian male specimen.
Length total
„ of tail
of wing
„ of bill on its ridge
of bill to rictus
InScahs. kaLtcihn.. InGceho.r giLainn.s
11 0 8 6
. 3 0 3 0
5 0 4 3f
. 1 3 1 2§
1 4^ 1 3 f
Length of tarsus .
,, of middle toe .
- of middle nail
,, of hind toe
„ of hind nail
InScahs.kaLtcihn.’. IGnecohr.giLanin. .
. 0 5 1 n 1 0 1 m
. 0 4£ 0 4£
0 9 0 8?
. 0 5 0 6
Some of the Saskatchewan male specimens measure only nine inches and a half in length.
. This species is subject to very considerable variation, not only in its colour, but in its size and in the proportionate
lenethof the bill Thi northern specimens are larger and much paler than those we possess from Georgrn; while the
P e C v a n ia n oaes are intermediate between the two, proving the inSuence of climate, or the prevalence of particular
races.—Sw. „ . £§ a In some specimens the white extends to four pairs of feathers.