BUTEO. 67 
reliquo cinnamomeo-rufo, rhachidibus nigris conspicuis ; preepectoris plumis concoloribus, pectore tamen 
et abdomine plus minusve albido transfasciatis ; tibiis regulariter cinnamomeo fasciatis, sed subcaudalibus 
vix rufo-fasciatis, subalaribus et axillaribus pectori concoloribus et eodem modo fasciatis ; tectricibus 
primariorum inferioribus et remigibus infra albis, conspicue nigro transfasciatis. Long. tota 16:5, 
culm. 1:25, ale 11-9, caude 7-3, tarsi 3:05. (Descr. fem. ex Mexico occ. in Mus. Brit.) 
3 femine similis, vix minor. 
Jw. Brunneus, rufo vel ochraceo variegatus, remigibus rufescenti-albo late fasciatis ; cauda brunnea, 
rufescenti-grisea 8-9-fasciata: subtus albidus, distincte brunneo cordatim striolata. (Descr. spec. ex 
Zacatecas. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Eastern N. America to Manitoba and Nova Scotia, west to Texas and the Plains, 
south to the Gulf States, Western United States, from W. Texas to California 
and Oregon, south into Lower California, Sonora, and Chihuahua.—Mexico (Mus. 
Brit.*), city of Mexico (Le Strange®), Orizaba (Botteri*), Zacatecas (W. B. 
tichardson). 
The Red-shouldered Buzzard is aptly so-called, for the old birds have a conspicuous 
chestnut shoulder-patch, and even the young may be distinguished by a similar rufous 
area on the wing-coverts. The tail is distinctly banded, and has jive (in very old birds 
four) light bars. In young individuals the dark bars are generally seven in number, 
the subterminal one being distinctly broader; the light bars vary from eight to nine. 
The white chequering of the quills is also a well-marked character. 
The western form (B. elegans) is recognized as a distinct race by American ornitho- 
logists, on account of its uniformly rufous chest, which is less barred with buff than in 
examples from the Northern States. Age has undoubtedly something to do with this 
peculiarity, and we believe that the older birds lose much of the cross-barring on the 
underparts and become entirely rufous below. We have birds from Texas answering 
to the description of B. elegans; but we have also in the Henshaw series both barred 
and uniform breasted specimens from Chester Co., Pennsylvania, and examples of 
both races from the same localities in Texas. We have failed, therefore, to find 
valid characters for the separation of Buteo elegans from B. lineatus. The Florida 
form, B. alleni, is said by Professor Ridgway to have a greyish head, but in our 
series from that State many specimens are as rufous on the upper surface as typical 
examples of B. lineatus, while, on the other hand, we have grey-headed birds from 
New York State. ‘The Florida bird is decidedly smaller, and the shoulder-patch 
is rather cinnamon-rufous than chestnut, and thus we are inclined to admit B. alleni 
as a recognizable species. 
B. lineatus is found in Sonora and Chihuahua, according to the ‘A. O. U. Check-list’ 7 
but its recorded occurrences within our limits are very few. In the British Museum 
there are two specimens labelled “ Mexico,” also one adult bird from “* Western 
Mexico,” purchased many years ago from Mr. Edward Bartlett, who received it from 
Mr. Dorman‘. It has been recorded from Orizaba, where Botteri obtained an example °, 
and Le Strange also met with the species in the Valley of Mexico®; Mr. Richardson, 
too, has sent us an immature specimen of it from Zacatecas. 
Q* 
