John Audubon - Audubon and his Journals, Volume 2 (of 2)

Quiscalus brewerii of Audubon, B. of Am. vii., 1844, p. 345, pl. 492, now known as Scolecophagus cyanocephalus . It was new to our fauna when thus dedicated by Audubon to his friend Dr. Thomas M. Brewer of Boston, but had already been described by Wagler from Mexico as Psarocolius cyanocephalus . It is an abundant bird in the West, where it replaces its near ally, Scolecophagus carolinus . – E. C.

This is no doubt the Lepus artemisia of Bachman, Journ. Philad. Acad. viii., 1839, p. 94, later described and figured by Aud. and Bach., Quad. N. Am. ii., 1851, p. 272, pl. 88. It is now generally rated as a subspecies of the common Cottontail, L. sylvaticus . Compare also L. nuttalli , Aud. and Bach. ii., 1851, p. 300, pl. 94. – E. C.

This is the same hybrid Woodpecker which has been already noted on p. 14. – E. C.

That is, the Chestnut-collared Longspur, Calcarius ornatus , which Mr. Bell was mistaken in supposing to breed in holes of the Ground Squirrels, or Spermophiles, as it nests on the open ground, like Sprague's Lark, McCown's Longspur, and most other small birds of the Western plains. But the surmise regarding the nesting of Say's Flycatcher is correct. This is a near relative of the common Pewit Flycatcher, S. phœbe , and its nesting places are similar. – E. C.

This passage shows that Audubon observed individuals of the hybrid Woodpecker which he considered identical with Colaptes cafer , and also others which he regarded as belonging to the supposed new species – his C. ayresii . – E. C.

The usual title or designation of the chief trader or person in charge of any establishment of a fur company. – E. C.

"The black-tailed deer never runs at full speed, but bounds with every foot from the ground at the same time, like the mule-deer." ("Lewis and Clark," ed. 1893.)

The above is a very good example of the way these Woodpeckers vary in color, presenting a case which, as Audubon justly observes, is a "puzzle to all the naturalists in the world." See note, p. 14. – E. C.

Vulpes utah of Aud. and Bach., Quad. N. Am. iii., 1853, p. 255, pl. 151, or V. macrourus of Baird, as already noted. This is the Western variety of the common Red Fox, now usually called Vulpes fulvus macrourus . – E. C.

Among the "birds shot yesterday," July 26, when Audubon was too full of his Buffalo hunt to notice them in his Journal, were two, a male and a female, killed by Mr. Bell, which turned out to be new to science. For these were no other than Baird's Bunting, Emberiza bairdii of Audubon, B. Amer, vii., 1844, p. 359, pl. 500. Audubon there says it was "during one of our Buffalo hunts, on the 26th July, 1843," and adds: "I have named this species after my young friend Spencer F. Baird, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania." Special interest attaches to this case; for the bird was not only the first one ever dedicated to Baird, but the last one ever named, described, and figured by Audubon; and the plate of it completes the series of exactly 500 plates which the octavo edition of the "Birds of America" contains. This bird became the Centronyx bairdii of Baird, the Passerculus bairdi of Coues, and the Ammodramus bairdi of some other ornithologists. See "Birds of the Colorado Valley," i., 1878, p. 630. One of Audubon's specimens shot this day is catalogued in Baird's Birds of N. Am., 1858, p. 441. – E. C.

See Bell's account of the trip, page 176.