FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 181 



Mr. E. Owen, who fouud tliis bird breeding near San Geronimo, Guate- 

 mala, April 2 (Ibis, 1861, p. G7), states that the nest was built on the very 

 crown of a high tree in the plain. It was made of small branches twisted 

 together, and had a sliglit lining of coarse grass. It was shallow, and formed 

 a mass of considerable size. The eggs were" four in number, and are de- 

 scribed as measuring 2.15 inches by 1.60, having a liglit red ground-color, 

 and spotted and blotched all over with several shades of a darker red. 



Dr. Heermann found the nest of this species on the Medina River. It 

 was built in an oak, and constructed of coarse twigs and lined \\ ith leaves 

 and roots. It was quite recently finished, and contained no eggs. Mr. 

 Dresser states that it breeds all over the country about San Antonio, build- 

 ing a large bulky nest of sticks, lined with small roots and grass, generally 

 placed in a low mesquite or oak tree, and laying three or four roundish eggs, 

 similar to those of the Honey Buzzard of Europe. He found several nests 

 in April and tlirough May, and was told by the ranrhcros that its eggs are 

 found as late as June. The nests found in the collection of Dr. Berlandier, 

 of Matamoras, were coarse flat structures, composed of flags, reeds, and grass. 

 The nests, though usually built on the tops of trees, are occasionally found, 

 according to Darwin, on a low cliff, or even on a bush. The number of the 

 eggs is rarely, if ever, more tlian three or four. Four eggs, taken Ijy Dr. 

 Berlandier near the Eio Grande, exhibit a maximum length of 2.44 inches ; 

 least length, 2.25 ; average, 2.41. The diameter of the smallest egg is 1.75 

 inches ; that of the largest, 1.88 ; average, 1.81. These eggs not only present 

 the great and unusual variation in their length of nearly eight per cent, but 

 very striking and anomalous deviations from uniformity are also noticeable 

 in their ground-colm- and markings. Tlie ground-color varies from a nearly 

 pure white to a very deep russet or tan-color, and the markings, though 

 all of sepia-brown, differ greatly in their shades. In some, the ground- 

 color is nearly pure white with a slight pinkish tinge, nearly unspotted at 

 the smaller end, and only marked by a few light blotches of a sepia-brown. 

 These markings increase botli in size and frequency, and become of a ileeper 

 shade, as they are nearer tlie larger end, until they become almost black, and 

 around this extremity they form a large confluent ring of blotches and 

 dashes of a dark sepia. Others have a ground-color of light russet, or rather 

 white with a very slight wash of russet, and are marked over the entire sur- 

 face, in about equal proportion, \\\i\\ irregular lines and Ijroad dashes of dark 

 sepia. Again, in others the ground is of the deepest russet or tan-coLir, and 

 is marked \\\i\\ deep blotcluis of a dark sepia, almost black. The eggs are 

 mucli more oblong than those of most birds of prey, and in this respect also 

 show their relation to the Vultures, rather than to the Hawks or Eagles. 

 They are pyiiform, the smaller end tapers quite abruptly, and varies nuich 

 more, in its proportions, from the larger extremity, than tlie eggs of most 

 true Hawks. 



Lieutenant Gilliss found the South American race exceedinslv numerous 



