Fig. 1.
The conch of the ear, Fig. 1, is of enormous size, extending from the level of the forehead over the eye to the chin, in a semilunar form, of which the posterior curve is 3 inches, and the distance between the two extremities in a direct line 1 inch and a half. There is an anterior semicircular flap in its whole length, 5 twelfths in breadth at the middle. The aperture or meatus externus is of a rhomboidal form 4 1/2 twelfths in length, 3 1/2 twelfths broad, bounded anteriorly by the eye, posteriorly by a ligament extended along the edge of the occipital bone, above by a ligament stretching to the operculum, below the articulation of the lower jaw. Above the meatus is a deep depression covered with skin, above which another ligament stretches across to the operculum.
Fig. 2.
In another specimen, a female, the œsophagus is 5 1/2 inches long, its average diameter 11 twelfths. The intestine is 21 inches long, from 2 1/2 twelfths to 1 twelfth in diameter; the cœca are 2 1/4 inches in length; their greatest diameter 4 twelfths; the cloaca still larger than that of the other individuals, being 2 inches long.
BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.
Emberiza Americana, Gmel.
PLATE CCCLXXXIV. Male and Female.
Although this handsome Bunting may be said to be abundant in our middle Atlantic districts, it is there much less so than in the vast prairies of the south-west; and I consider those of the Texas to afford the localities best adapted to its habits. There, as my companions and I were returning from the capital of the infant republic, Houston, we were surprised to see how very numerous the Black-throated Buntings were in every open piece of ground covered by tufts of tall grass. They are also abundant on the open lands of Missouri and Illinois: but rarer in Ohio, and scarce in Kentucky. They are rarely observed to pass over South Carolina, but in Pennsylvania they are plentiful, and there breed in every field covered with grass or grain. I have also met with them in Massachusetts, but beyond this they are not seen to the eastward.
At the approach of the period of their removal from our Middle States southward, the Black-throated Buntings congregate in particular localities, as if to consult regarding their future proceedings. At this season I once went from Philadelphia in search of them, accompanied by my friend Edward Harris, and my son John Woodhouse. Having reached Salem in New Jersey, we rambled some time in the neighbourhood, and found an elevated piece of ground, closely covered with high rank weeds, among which a great number of these birds had assembled. It being late in July, the males were moulting, or had already acquired their new plumage; the young, although full grown, had not yet assumed their second clothing, in which the sexes are distinguished; and the females were generally ragged. The birds were at first quite gentle, but after we had fired a few times they all flew off to a considerable distance, from which, however, they soon returned. On our continuing to harass them, however, they rose high in the air, and flew out of our sight in a southward direction. They had then undoubtedly begun migrating. These birds are very partial to particular localities. Sandy soil, unmixed with clay or earth, is not favourable to them; and it is probably for this reason that none are found in any purely sandy part of the State of New Jersey.
The Black-throated Buntings reach our Middle States about the 10th or 15th of May, and at once betake themselves to the dry meadow lands and grain fields, where they soon after begin to breed. The males are often observed perched on the top branches of the shade trees found in those places, and engaged in delighting their mates with their simple ditty, which, according to my learned friend Mr Nuttall, resembles ’tic ’tic-tshĕ tshĕ tshĕ tshe, and tship tship, tschĕ tschĕ tschĕ tschip. To my ears the notes of our Black-throated Bunting so much resemble those of the Corn Bunting of Europe, Emberiza Miliaria, that I have often been reminded of the one by hearing the song of the other. These unmusical notes are almost continuously uttered from sunrise to sunset, and all this while the female is snugly seated on her eggs, and listening to her beloved. He often visits her, alighting within a few yards of where she is concealed, and then cautiously proceeding toward the spot on foot, through the grass. When the bird leaves the nest, it creeps along to some distance, and then flies off low over the ground.