University of Virginia Library

[Lewis:]

Saturday (Friday) January 31st. 1806.

Sent a party of eight men up the river this morning to renew
their surch for the Elk and also to hunt; they preceded but
a few miles before they found the river so obstructed with ice
that they were obliged to return. Joseph Fields arrived this
evening, informed us that he had been hunting in company
with Gibson and Willard for the last five days in order to
obtain some meat for himself and the other Saltmakers, and
that he had been unsuccessfull untill yesterday evening when
he had fortunately killed two Elk, about six miles distant from

this place and about 8 from the salt works; he left Gibson
and Willard to dry the meat of these Elk and had come for
the assistance of some men to carry the meat to the salt camp;
for this purpose we ordered four men to accompany him early
in the morning. discovered that Mc.Neal had the pox, gave
him medecine. Charbono found a bird dead lying near the
fort this morning and brought it to me I immediately recognized
it to be of the same kind of that which I had seen in the
Rocky mountains on the morning of the 20th of September
last. this bird is about the size as near as may be of the
robbin.[16] it's contour also is precisely the same with that bird.
it measures one foot 3 1/4 Inches from tip to tip of the wings
when extended. 9 1/4 inches from the extremity of the beak to
that of the tail. the tail is 3 3/4 inches in length, and composed
of eleven feathers of the same length. The beak is smoth,
black, convex and cultrated; one and 1/8 inches from the point
to the opening of the chaps and 3/4 only uncovered with
feathers; the upper chap exceeds the other a little in length.
a few small black hairs garnish the [sides of the] base of the
upper chap. the eye is of a uniform deep sea green or black,
moderately large. it's legs feet and tallons are white; the legs
are an inch and a 1/4 in length and smoth; four toes on each
foot, of which that in front is the same length with the leg
including the length of the tallon, which is 4 lines; the three
remaining toes are 3/4 of an inch, each armed with proportionably
long tallons. the toes are slightly imbricated. the tallons
are curved and sharply pointed. The crown of the head from
the beak back to the neck, the back of the head imbracing
reather more than half the circumpherence of the neck, the
back and tale, are of bluish dark brown; the two outer feathers
of the tale have a little dash of white near their tips not perceptible
when the tail is foalded. a fine black forms the
ground of the wings; two stripes of the same colour pass on
either side of the head from the base of the beak along the
side of the head to it's junction with the neck, and imbraces
the eye to it's upper edge; a third stripe of the same colour
3/4 of an inch in width passes from the sides of the neck just
above the butts of the wings across the croop in the form of
a gorget. the throat or under part of the neck brest and belly
is of a fine yellowish brick red. a narrow stripe of this colour
also commences just above the center of each eye, and extends
backwards to the neck as far as the black stripe reaches before
discribed, to which, it appears to answer as a border. the
feathers which form the 1st. and second ranges of the coverts of
the two joints of the wing next the body, are beautifully tiped
with this brick red; as is also each large feather of the wing on
the short side of it's plumage for 1/2 an inch in length commen[c]ing
at the extremity of the feathers which form the first
or main covert of the wing. this is a beatifull little bird. I
have never heard it's note it appears to be silent. it feeds on
berries, and I beleive is a rare bird even in this country, or at
least this is the second time only that I have seen it. between
the legs of this bird the feathers are white, and those which
form the tuft underneath the tail are a mixture of white and a
brick red.

Observed equal altitudes today with Sextant.

   

	h	m	s		h	m	s		°	′	″
A.M.	8.	55.	24	P.M.	1.	11.	58	—Altitude by Sextn.	40.	32.	–.

   

	h	m	s
Chronomometer too slow on Mean Equated Solar time.	1.	10.	26.1

The days of the month for January are right, but the days
of the weak as affixed are all wrong, nor did I discover it untill
this morning.