128 NOKTII AMEKICAX BIRDS. 



Species and Eaces. 



A. First and second quills equal and longest; tirst wkli itnier web emarginated, 

 second with inner web slightly sinuated. Young with longitudinal stripes on 

 the lower parts, .\dult and young stages very difierent. 



1. F. communis. Wing, 11. .50- 14.30 ; tail, 7.00-8.50; culmen, .T2-.9.5; 

 tarsus, 1.05-2.20; middle toe, 1.80-2.30.1 Second quill longest; Qrst 

 shorter than, equal to, or longer than third. Adnlt. Above plumbeous, 

 darker anteriorly, lighter and more bluish posteriorly ; anteriorly plain, pos- 

 teriorly with darker transverse bars, these growing more sharply defined 

 towards the tail. Beneath ochraceous-while, varying in tint from nearly 

 pure white to deep ochraceous, those portions posterior to the jugulum 

 transversely barred, more or less, with blackish or dark plumbeous ; anterior 

 lower parts (from the breast forward) without transverse bars. Young. No 

 transverse bars on the body, above or below. Above blackish-brown, 

 varying to black, the feathers usually bordered terminally with ochraceous 

 or rusty ; forehead usually more or less washed with the same. Beneath 

 ochraceous, varying in shade; the whole surface with longitudinal stripes of 

 blackish. luner webs of tail-feathers and primaries with numerous trans- 

 verse elliptical spots of ochraceous. Hah. Cosmopolitan. 



a. Young dark brown above, the feathers bordered with rusty or 

 whitish. Beneath white or ochraceous, with narrow longitudinal 

 stripes of dusky. Inner webs of tail-feathers with transverse bars. 

 Auriculars white, cutting oft' the black of the cheeks with a prom- 

 inent " mustache." 



Beneath pure white, the breast and middle of the abdomen 

 without markings. Wing, 12.75 ; tail, 7.30 ; culmen, .80 ; 

 tarsus, 2.00 ; middle toe, 1.80. Hab. Eastern Asia. 



var. orienialis.' 



Beneath pale ochraceous, the breast always with longitudinal 



dashes, or elliptical spots, of dusky ; middle of abdomen 



barred. Wing, 11. .50- 14.30; tail, 7.00-8.50; culmen, .72 - 



.95; tarsu.s, 1.65-2.20; middle toe, 1.80-2.30. Hab. Europe. 



var. co77>m un is .' 

 Beneath varying from deep ochraceous to nearly pure white, 

 the breast never with distinct longitudinal or other spots, 

 usually with none at all. Middle of abdomen barred, or not. 

 Wing, 11.30-14.75; tail, 6.00-9.00; culmen, .75-1.00; 

 tarsus, 1.60-2.10; middle toe, 1.75 - 2.20. Hah. America 



(entire continent) var. a n a turn. 



Auriculars black, nearly, or quite, as far down as the lower end of 

 the " mustache." 



Beneath varying from deep ochraceous to white, the breast 

 streaked or not. Lower parts more uniformlj' and heavily 



1 Extremes of more than one hundred specimens measured ! 



^ Falco commvnis, var. orienialis (Gmf.lix). Falco orienialis, Gmel. S. N. 17S9, 264. — 

 Lath. Ind. Orn. 22. — In. Gen. Hist. I, 162. — D.\un. Tr. Om. II, 76. — Stuickl. Orn. Syn. 

 I, 1S55, S3. Two specimens examined, from Ja])an (Nat. Mus., 1 ; Philad. Acad., 1). 



' Falco communis, var. communis (Gmf.lin>. Falco communis, Gmel. S. N. 1789, 270. — 

 ScHLEO. Krit. iibers, p. 14. —Id. Mus. Pays-Ras, 1862, Falcones, 1. — Pelz. Uek der Geier 

 und Falk. 1863, 23. Falco pcrcyrintis, Gmel. S. N. 1789, 272. — Stiiicki,. Orn. Syn. I, 81, et 

 ArcT. Seventeen .specimens of this race have been examined. They are distributed as follows : 

 Kat. Mus., 5 ; Best. Soc., 6 ; Philad. Acad., 4 ; Cambridge Mus., 2. Total, 17. 



