FALCOXID^K — THE FALCONS. 245 



Species and Races. 



A. nitida. Wing-, O.SO- 11.50; tail, G.70- 8.00; oulmen, .80 - 1.00 ; tarsus, 

 2..J0 -'J..'iO; middle toe, I.-IO - 1.75. Adult. Above clear sisli, paler on the 

 head and darker on the rump ; the general .surfaee with more or less appreci- 

 able transverse bars, or indications of bars, of a paler shade, and with darker 

 shafts. Upper tail-coverts immaculate white. Tail deep black, fading into 

 pale grayish-brown at the end, narrowly tipped with white, and crossed by 

 two to three white bands. Lower parts, including the tibiic, axillars, and 

 throat, regularly barreil with deep asli and white, the two colors about 

 equal in extent; chin and crissum immaculate white. Young. Above 

 blackish-brown, variegated with pinkish-oehraoeous. Tail umljcr, tipped 

 with pinkish-brown or dull whitish, and crossed by six to seven narrow 

 bauds of black. Beneath white, sometimes tinged with ochraceous; the 

 breast, abdomen, and sides with longitudinal tear-shaped spots of black. 

 Adult. Upper surface distinctly barred, the lighter bars predomi- 

 nating ; the top of the head as distinctly barred as the lower parts. 

 Young. Tibi:e immaculate white or pale ochraceous. Culmen, .80 - .90. 

 Hab. South America, from S. E. Brazil and "VV. Ecuador, to Panama. 



var. n Hid n .' 

 Adult. Upper surface only obsoletely barred, or almost uniform ; the 

 top of the head without any bars. Young. Tibiae transversely barred 

 with dusky. Culmen, .75 - .80. Sab. Middle America, north to the 

 southern border of the United States; .straying northward in the Mis- 

 sissippi VaUey, to Southern Ihinois vs.r. plagiata. 



1 Asturina nitida, var. nitida (Lath.). Falco nitidus. Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 40. — Daud. — 

 Temm. — Spix. Astur n., D'Orb. Voy. Ois. p. 95. — Bukm. Syst. Keb. II, 68. — Leotaud, 

 Ois. Trin. p. 46. — Gray. — Vig. — Stei'HENs. — Less. — D'Orb. Asturina n., Bonap. Cousp. 

 p. 30. — Cab.an. m ScHOMB. C4uian. Ill, 737. — Pelz. Orn. Bras. p. 3. — ScL. & Salv. P. Z. 

 S. 1864, 369; 1867, 589; 1868, 173; 1860, 288; 1869, 130. — Kaup. — Lawr. Ami. N. Y. 

 Lye. VII, 316. Dccdalion n., Less. Tr. Orn. p. 65. Asturina. cincrea, Vieill. Anal. 24, 

 68 ; Nouv. Diet. Ill, 41 ; Enc. Meth. Ill, 1260 ; Gal. Ois. pi. xx. —Vig. Zool. J. I, 324, 327. 

 — Stepii. Zool. XIII, pt. ii. C'ymindisc, Less. Man. Orn. 1,91. Astur striolatiis, Cuv. Reg. 

 An. (ed. 2), I, 332. 



Specimens examined. —Philadelphia Academy, 8 ; New York Museum, 1 ; Cab. 6. N. Law- 

 rence, 3 ; Boston Society, 4 (Brazil) ; Museum, Cambridge, 2 (Panama). Total, 18. 



Meas7iremcnts.—Sex not indicated. Wing, 9.80-10.20 ; tail, 7.00-8.00 ; cuhncn, .80- .90 ; 

 tarsus, 2.55-2.78; middle toe, 1.60-165. 



