Vol. XXlll. pp. 77-78 May 4, 1910 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



ON THE NAME AND SYNONOMY OF THE ANTIL- 

 LEAN SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 



BY J. H. RILEY. 



[By permih^sion of the Secretary of the .Smithsonian Institution.] 



In 1827, Vigors described a small sharp-shinned hawk taken 

 near Havana, Cuba, by MacLeay, as Accipiter fringilloides, 

 under which name it has always appeared in print, but if 

 Haitian and Cuban birds are the same, as they have been con- 

 sidered by those who have had an opportunity of handling 

 specimens from the two islands, then Accipiter striatus oi Vieillot 

 has twenty years priority and must be adopted until the birds 

 of the two islands are proved distinct. 



I am not aware that any direct comparison has been made 

 between birds of the two islands; in fact the rarity of specimens 

 in collections would preclude this. Lawrence, in 1860, described 

 the adult male, adult female, young male, and two young females 

 from Cuban specimens and Cherrie has described the adult 

 female, adult male, and young male from Haitian specimens. 

 Judging from descriptions, the birds of the two islands are simi- 

 lar or identical. I would like to add, however, that in the 

 only specimen of the adult male handled by me the feathers of 

 the nape have concealed white bases and the inner w^ebs of the 

 flight feathers externally, except the tertials, have dark cross 

 bars, a feature not mentioned by either Lawrence or Cherrie. 

 The following synonomy has been worked out by me and may 

 prove useful to future investigators: 



Accipiter striatus Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 42, pi. 14 (Santo 

 Domingo). — Stiuckl.and, Orn. Syn., 1855, 109 (part). 



Falco VieUotinus Sii.vw, Gen. Zool. VII, part 1, 1809, 204 (Santo 

 Domingo). 



17— Phoc. lilOL. ."^oc. Wash., Vol.. XXIII, I'.HU. (V7) 



