FALCONID.-E — THE FALCONS. 131 



culmen, .45- .58; tarsus, 1.20 - 1.55 ; middle toe, 1.15-1.4U. Second 

 quill longest; fu-st longer tliau third. Ci-i.ssuni uniform deep reddish- 

 rufous, rarely barred with white and dusky. Upper tail-coverts 

 obsoletely barred with plumbeous. 



Adult. Above plumbeous-black, the feathers lightening into plumbeous- 

 blue on the edges and ends, and showing oljscure bars on the posterior 

 portions. Throat and jugulum ochraceous-white, the ochraoeous tinge 

 deepest posteriorly and without any streaks. Youiifi. Above ])lLnn- 

 beous-black, without lighter obscure bars, or with a lirovvuish cast, and 

 with faint rusty edges to the feathers. Throat and jugulura deep soft 



jectiou over the cheeks, wliieli are purer black. All tlie leathers above darker eentially, but the 

 obscure spots so formed incstly concealed ; shafts of the feathers inconspicuously black ; upper 

 tail-coverts eacli with two broad transverse spots of black. Secondaries, primary coverts, and 

 primaries uniform dull black ; the former, and inner feathers of the latter, very narrowly ashy- 

 whitish on terminal border, — the coverts with a bluish shade terminally. Tail black {dull light 

 brown at apical margin), crossed with about six obsolete narrow bauds of plumbeous, these 

 changing to narrower white bars on the inner webs. Chin, base of inaxilh?, throat, sides of the 

 neck, and jugulum, ochraccous-wdiite, the ochraceous tinge deepest posteriorly ; breast (broadly 

 across) and sides black, with numerous narrow transverse bars of reddish-white, becoming more 

 ashy posteriorly ; abdomen, anal region, tibiie, femorals, and lower tail-coverts uniform deep, 

 almost castancous, rufous. Lining of the wivjg dull black, with circular ochraceous-white spots, 

 but former predominating ; whole under sttrface of primaries and secondaries a similar blackish- 

 dusky, the former witli narrow transverse elliptical spots of white, of wdiich there are eight (the 

 first and last merely indicated) on the longest quill. Wing-formula, 2-1-3. Wing, 7.70; 

 tail, 3.95 ; tarsus, 1.20 ; middle toe, 1.20. Tail slightly emarginated ; sccoiul and third feathers 

 longest (counting from exterior). 



9 (3,218, Mazatlan ; Colonel Graj'-son). Almost precisely similar to the male ; less contrast 

 between blackish-plumbeous of the nape, and more bluish of the back ; bands on tail five in 

 mimber ; bars on black beneath more reddish. Wing-formula same. Wing, 8.80; tail, 4.40; 

 tarsus, 1.30 ; middle toe, 1.30. 



Juv. (Bryant Coll. 1,531, Orizaba, Mex.). Above continuous dull black, without bluish ca.st 

 or concealed spots ; tail-bands narrower, purer white ; black beneath duller, transver.se bars 

 more obsolete, broader, and pale rusty ; chestnut-rufous of posterior lower portions lighter and 

 less uniform ; lower tail-coverts with broad transverse spots of plumbeous-black. Wing-fonuida 

 as in adult. Wing, 8.75 ; tail, 4.40. 



Two young males from Tehuantepec, Mexico (Xns. 613 and 613, May 16, 1871 ; F. Sumichrast), 

 did'er from that described above in some remarkable respects ; the upper parts are in one black, 

 but without the rusty margins to the feathers ; in the other, almost exactly as in the adult plu- 

 mage described. The lower parts, however, are most difi"erent ; the throat and jugular are uniform 

 deep soft ochraeeous, with a few longitudinal streaks of black near the bhick alidonunal patch ; 

 the bars in this last are deep rufous, and the terminal band of the tail is also deep rufous. The 

 Weak bill, and soft, blended character of tlie plumage, indicate unmistakably the very young 

 age of these specimens, which are also marked " very young " liy M. Sumichrast. 



In colors, as well as in size and form, this very handsome little Falcon closely resendjles the 

 F. sevcrus, Horsf., of Manilla and the neighboring East Indian Islands ; the main difference is 

 that in that species the lower surface is wholly deep rufous, instead of partly black. 



List of Specimeiis examined. — National Mu.seum, 11; Boston Society, 6; Philadel|ihia 

 Academy, 7 ; New York Museum, 3 ; G. N. Lawrence, 3 ; 11. Ridgway, 2. Total, 32. 



Measurements.— $. Wing, 7.20-8.80; tail, 4.20-5.10; culmen, .45 -.55; tarsus, 1.25- 

 1.50; middle toe, 1.15-1.30. Specimens, 13. ?. Wing, 8.50-9.00; tail, 5.00-5.50; 

 cidmen, .58 ; tarsus, 1.48-1.55 ; middle toe, 1.30-1.40. Specimens, 8. 



Had. Tropical America, northward through Central America and Mi'xico almost to southern 

 border of United States. 



Localities: Veragua, ScL. & S.\lv. 1869, 252. 



