Volume I Part 28 (1/2)

The other birds mentioned in the above text were all well-known species in 1843.--E. C.

[263] Black Snake Hills (in the vicinity of St. Joseph, Mo.). ”On the 24th we saw the chain of the Blacksnake Hills, but we met with so many obstacles in the river that we did not reach them till towards evening. They are moderate eminences, with many singular forms, with an alternation of open green and wooded spots.” (Maximilian, Prince of Wied, ”Travels in North America,” p. 123.)

[264] The measurements in pen and ink are marked over the writing of the journal. As already stated, this bird is _Fringilla harrisii_: Aud. B. of Am. vii., 1844, p. 331, pl. 484. It had previously been discovered by Mr. Thomas Nuttall, who ascended the Missouri with Mr.

J. K. Townsend in 1834, and named by him _F. querula_ in his Man. Orn.

2d ed. i., 1840, p. 555. Its modern technical name is _Zonotrichia querula_, though it continues to bear the English designation of Harris's Finch.--E. C.

[265] That is, the Green-backed or White-bellied Swallow, _Hirundo bicolor_ of Vieillot, _Tachycineta bicolor_ of Cabanis, and _Iridoprocne bicolor_ of Coues.--E. C.

[266] The surmise proved to be correct; for this is the now well-known Bell's Vireo, _Vireo bellii_ of Audubon: B. of Am. vii., 1844, p. 333, pl. 485.--E. C.

[267] No doubt the species named Brewer's Blackbird, _Quiscalus brewerii_ of Audubon, B. of Am. vii., 1844, p. 345, pl. 492, now known as _Scolecophagus cyanocephalus_.--E. C.

[268] The Prairie Hare, _Lepus virginia.n.u.s_ of Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, i., 1829, p. 229, later described as _L.

campestris_ by Bachman, Journ. Philad. Acad. vii., 1837, p. 349, and then described and figured as _L. townsendii_ by Aud. and Bach., Quad.

N.A. i., 1849, p. 25, pl. 3. This is the characteristic species of the Great Plains, where it is commonly called ”Jack-rabbit.”--E. C.

[269] Not a good species, but the dusky variety of the protean Western Fox Squirrel, _Sciurus ludovicia.n.u.s_; for which, see a previous note.--E. C.

[270] Or Bellevue, in what is now Sarpy County, Neb., on the right bank of the Missouri, a few miles above the mouth of the Platte.--E.

C.

[271] Vicinity of present Omaha, Neb., and Council Bluffs, Ia., but somewhat above these places. The present Council Bluffs, in Iowa, is considerably below the position of the original Council Bluff of Lewis and Clark, which Audubon presently notices. See ”Lewis and Clark,” ed.

of 1893, p. 66.--E. C.

[272] The journals of Captain Joseph A. Sire, from 1841 to 1848, are extant, and at present in the possession of Captain Joseph La Barge, who has permitted them to be examined by Captain Chittenden. The latter informs us of an interesting entry at date of May 10, 1843, regarding the incident of the military inspection of the ”Omega” for contraband liquor, of which Audubon speaks. But the inside history of how cleverly Captain Sire outwitted the military does not appear from the following innocent pa.s.sage: ”_Mercredi, 10 May_. Nous venons tres bien jusqu'aux cotes a Hart, ou, a sept heures, nous sommes sommes par un officier de dragons de mettre a terre. Je recois une note polie du Capt. Burgwin m'informant que son devoir l'oblige de faire visiter le bateau. Aussitot nous nous mettons a l'ouvrage, et pendant ce temps M.

Audubon va faire une visite au Capitaine. Ils reviennent ensemble deux heures apres. Je force en quelque sorte l'officier a faire une recherche aussi stricte que possible, mais a la condition qu'il en fera de meme avec les autres traiteurs.” The two precious hours of Audubon's visit were utilized by the clever captain in so arranging the cargo that no liquor should be found on board by Captain Burgwin.--E. C.

[273] John Henry K. Burgwin, cadet at West Point in 1828; in 1843 a captain of the 1st Dragoons. He died Feb. 7, 1847, of wounds received three days before in the a.s.sault on Pueblo de Taos, New Mexico.--E. C.

[274] The question of the specific ident.i.ty of the American and European Magpies has been much discussed. Ornithologists now generally compromise the case by considering our bird to be subspecifically distinct, under the name of _Pica pica hudsonica_.--E. C.

[275] No doubt Thomas C. Madison of Virginia, appointed a.s.sist. Surg.

U.S.A., Feb. 27, 1840. He served as a surgeon of the Confederacy during our Civil War, and died Nov. 7, 1866.--E. C.

[276] Council Bluff, so named by Lewis and Clark on Aug. 3, 1804, on which day they and their followers, with a number of Indians, including six chiefs, held a council here, to make terms with the Ottoe and Missouri Indians. The account of the meeting ends thus: ”The incident just related induced us to give to this place the name of the Council-bluff; the situation of it is exceedingly favorable for a fort and trading factory, as the soil is well calculated for bricks, there is an abundance of wood in the neighborhood, and the air is pure and healthy.” In a foot-note Dr. Coues says: ”It was later the site of Fort Calhoun, in the present Was.h.i.+ngton Co., Neb. We must also remember, in attempting to fix this spot, how much the Missouri has altered its course since 1804.” (”Expedition of Lewis and Clark,”

1893, p. 65.)

[277] This Wolf is to be distinguished from the Prairie Wolf, _Canis latrans_, which Audubon has already mentioned. It is the common large Wolf of North America, of which Audubon has much to say in the sequel; and wherever he speaks of ”Wolves” without specification, we are to understand that this is the animal meant. It occurs in several different color-variations, from quite blackish through different reddish and brindled grayish shades to nearly white. The variety above mentioned is that named by Dr. Richardson _griseo-albus_, commonly known in the West as the Buffalo Wolf and the Timber Wolf. Mr. Thomas Say named one of the dark varieties _Canis nubilus_ in 1823; and naturalists who consider the American Wolf to be specifically distinct from _Canis lupus_ of Europe now generally name the brindled variety _C. nubilus griseo-albus_.--E. C.

[278] Little Sioux River of present geography, in Harrison Co., Iowa: see ”Lewis and Clark,” ed. of 1893, p. 69.--E. C.

[279] Otherwise known as the Mule Deer, from the great size of the ears, and the peculiar shape of the tail, which is white with a black tuft at the tip, and suggests that of the Mule. It is a fine large species, next to the Elk or Wapiti in stature, and first became generally known from the expedition of Lewis and Clark. It is the _Cervus macrotis_ of Say, figured and described under this name by Aud. and Bach. Quad. N.A. ii., 1851, p. 206, pl. 78, and commonly called by later naturalists _Cariacus macrotis_. But its first scientific designation is _Damelaphus hemionus_, given by C. S.

Rafinesque in 1817.--E. C.

[280] Wood's Bluff has long ceased to be known by this name, but there is no doubt from what Audubon next says of Blackbird Hill, that the bluff in question is that on the west or right bank of the river, at and near Decatur, Burt Co., Neb.; the line between Burt and Blackbird counties cuts through the bluff, leaving most of it in the latter county. See Lewis and Clark, ed. of 1893, p. 71, date of Aug. 10, 1804, where ”a cliff of yellow stone on the left” is mentioned. This is Wood's Bluff; the situation is 750 miles up the river by the Commission Charts.--E. C.

[281] Blackbird Hill. ”Aug. 11 [1804].... We halted on the south side for the purpose of examining a spot where one of the great chiefs of the Mahas [Omahas], named Blackbird, who died about four years ago, of the smallpox, was buried. A hill of yellow soft sandstone rises from the river in bluffs of various heights, till it ends in a knoll about 300 feet above the water; on the top of this a mound, of twelve feet diameter at the base, and six feet high, is raised over the body of the deceased king, a pole about eight feet high is fixed in the centre, on which we placed a white flag, bordered with red, blue, and white. Blackbird seems to have been a person of great consideration, for ever since his death he has been supplied with provisions, from time to time, by the superst.i.tious regard of the Mahas.” (”Expedition of Lewis and Clark,” by Elliott Coues, 1893, p. 71.)