rufous colors - OneLook

Literary analysis:

In literary descriptions—especially in ornithological works—the term “rufous” functions as a precise and evocative color descriptor, frequently connoting a warm, red‐brown or brick-red hue. For instance, it is equated with “brick‐red” in one early text ([1]), while in other passages it pinpoints particular plumage details such as rufous tips on primary feathers ([2]) or striking rufous edging along wing-coverts and rectrices ([3]). Its use helps distinguish species and seasonal variations, as noted when rufous features mark differences between young and adult plumage ([4], [5]), or when variation in its intensity aids in distinguishing between similar birds ([6], [7]). Additionally, “rufous” appears in compound color terms—like “cinnamon-rufous” ([8])—demonstrating how authors blend hues to create vivid, nuanced imagery that renders the natural world both specific and poetically rich.

Rufous : brick-red [chronic yellow + dragon's blood].
— from Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John Bernhard Smith
The young bird differs from the young of G. melanolophus by the rufous tips to the primaries.
— from A Manual of Philippine Birds by Richard C. (Richard Crittenden) McGregor
[68] All the wing-coverts, tertials, secondaries, primaries, and rectrices distinctly edged with rufous (the latter on both webs).
— from A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 2 of 3 by Robert Ridgway
Female above rufous, beneath white, lower flanks and under tail-coverts tinged with ochraceous; tail wholly rufous.
— from Argentine Ornithology, Volume 1 (of 2) A descriptive catalogue of the birds of the Argentine Republic. by Philip Lutley Sclater
—Differs from the summer plumage in wanting the rufous chest and in the absence of all facial markings.
— from A Manual of Philippine Birds by Richard C. (Richard Crittenden) McGregor
Similar to townsendi but less rufous; very near fuliginosa , but not quite so deeply colored.
— from Color Key to North American Birds with bibliographical appendix by Frank M. (Frank Michler) Chapman
Colors very variable, and amount of rufous exceedingly different in the different races.
— from A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 2 of 3 by Robert Ridgway
Cinnamon-Rufous ( cinnamomeo-rufus ), rufous with a tinge of cinnamon.
— from Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi How to select and cook the edible; how to distinguish and avoid the poisonous, with full botanic descriptions. Toadstool poisons and their treatment, instructions to students, recipes for cooking, etc., etc. by Charles McIlvaine

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