FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 167 



b. (J. Head above, and wings, ilark blnish-pliimbeons; several niiter tail- 

 feathers vari(!gated. 



3. Vertex withont anj' rufous. ^. Anterior portions beneath deep 

 ochraceous, without spots. Tail without indication of bars anterior to 

 the subtenninal one ; black bars above confined to larger scapulars. 

 $ . Above ferruginous, with the black bars broader and blacker than 

 in either of the preceding. H<tb. Gulf, Caribbean, and Atlantic cojwts 



of tropical continental America (Florida to Cayenne) . var. isabeUinus. 



4. Vertex with a patch of rufous. (J. Black spots beneath numerous, 

 large and circular. Tail with more or less complete black bars anterior 

 to the subtermiual band, sometimes regularly bari-ed to the base ; black 

 bars aliove covering entire rufous surlace. 9- Similar to that of 

 isabeUinus, but markings beneath more numerous, and pure black 

 instead of brown. Hab. Lesser Antilles, north to St. Thomas. 



var. d o ia i nice n s i s } 



1 Falco sparverius, var. dominicensis. Accipiler (ySsalon) domimceiisis, Brissox, Orii. I, 389, 

 pi. .x.x.xii. f. 2, 1760. Falco dominicensis, Cmelin, Syst. Nat. p. 285, 17S9. Tinnunculus 

 dominiccnsis, Stkickl. Orn. Syn. 1, 100, 1855 (in part only). Tinnunculus sparverius, var. 

 dominicensis, Ridgw.w, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. PhilaJ. Dec. 1870, 149. 



Hab. Lesser Antilles north to Porto Rico and St. Thomas. 



Adult $ (52,428, St. Bartholenii ; Professor Sundevall). Eesembling var, isabeUinus in gen- 

 eral appearance, but darker, and more heavily barred above ; beneath much more spotted. Head 

 above with blackish shaft-streaks and vertex with a patch of rufous ; this, however, some- 

 what restricted. Rufous above, with numerous broad bars of black, tliese running continuously 

 across and extending anteriorly to the neck ; rump even, with a few very small, transvci-sely 

 sagittate .specks of the same. Tail crossed by nine perfectly regular and sharply defined narrow 

 bands of pure black, anterior to the subterminal zone, which is about .80 of an inch wide ; outer 

 feather white, tinged medially with rufous, barred with black to the base. Black spotting in 

 dark cinereous of the wing very exaggerated in comparison with var. sparverius. Markings 

 beneath very numerous, the sides being thickly marked with large cordate or nearly circular spots 

 of black, these gi'owing larger toward the flanks. The mfous of the breast is about as in var. 

 isabeUinus. Wing, 6.80; tail, 5.10; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, .94; culmen, .53. Wing-for- 

 mula, 3-2-4, 5, 6-1. 



$ (52,429, St. Bartholeni ; Professor Sundevall). Black bands above exceeding in breadth 

 the nifous ones ; each feather of the head above with a sharp medial streak of black. Tail with 

 twelve bands of black ; outer feather approaching white. Markings beneath pure black, as in 

 the male ; their course longitudinal anteriorly, on the sides more circular, transverse on the 

 flanks. Wing, 6.70 ; tail, 5.00 ; tarsus, 1.30 ; middle toe, 1.00 ; culmen, .53. Wing-formula, 

 3, 2-4-1, 5. 



The male selected for the type is an extreme example ; no others have the character of the 

 variety presented in a degree ius exaggei'ated as this specimen. Nos. 362 ((f) and 170 t9) "^ the 

 Bryant Collection) from Porto Rico, and No. 36,554 (jj, St. Thomas; Robert Swift), may be taken 

 as more perfect, or rather as average representatives of the variety. These two males are almost 

 exactly similar. They have the back as sti'ongly barred as in the tyjje, and the black spots on 

 the rump are as noticeivble ; but the tail, instead of being crossed by regidar, perfectly continuous, 

 sharply delined bands, has these broader and more broken, being indicated only by spots along 

 the edge ; they also decrease in width toward the base. The Porto Rico specimen has very much 

 ashy-white between the two last black bars, this being found on the four lateral feathers ; between 

 the next two, on three feathers, etc. The other specimen, however, is destitute of this ashy- 

 white, altlio\igh the outer web of the lateral feather is pure white, — spotted, however, with 

 black. In the Porto Rico specimen the breast is as deeply ochraceous as in the isabcllinns style ; 

 but the spots are larger and raoi'e numerous even than in any examples of sparvcriiis. A female 

 from here differs from the type only in a few unmiportant points, the principal difference being 

 in the markings beneath. In this there is a general ochraceous wash on the lower parts, the 



