oj the District of Montreal, 63 



falco sacer, especially his description of the young bird, but dif- * 

 fers from it in having the claws black; and the under part of the 

 claws are not greenish yellow, but of the same hue as the tarsus ; 

 and the general tint of the dark parts of the plumage is not 

 brown, but emphatically slate color. It also somewhat resembles 

 the description given by the same gentleman of the F. atricapillns 

 or plumbarius but differs in having greenish blue tarsi, and a 

 bluish cere, with black irides. I believe this bird to be a new 

 species, and have taken the liberty of calling it after Dr. Dawson 

 the esteemed principal of McGill College. 



v.s.p. Bill stout, strongly toothed in upper mandible, the tooth 

 corresponding with a notch in the lower one, of a bluish color, ter- 

 minating in a black tip, which is the color of the cere and irides. 

 Tarsi feathered half way to toes, of a dark greenish blue. Toes 

 long, moderately strong, claws black and much curved. Eyelids 

 dirty white this color forming a complete circle round the eyes. 



Dorsal aspect. The prevailing tint is dark slate color tipped 

 with cinereous on the back of the neck, interscapulars and second- 

 aries, and with rufous on the back, the upper tail coverts tipped 

 with dirty rufous white. Many of the secondaries have a rufous 

 white rounded spot near the end of their outer vanes. Tint of the 

 upper part of the tail of a brownish slate color, with about 1 1 to 

 14 bars of light rufous terminating in rufous white near the tip, 

 the tail tipped with the same color. The tail consists of about 11 

 feathers, the extrenjities of which are all rounded. 



Ventral aspect. Chin and upper part of throat whitish, each 

 feather having a narrow streak along its shaft of slate color. The 

 prevailing tint, like that of the back is slate color, but differing 

 from the back in that each feather has the outer vane white, with 

 an irregular long white spot on the inner vane, leaving the central 

 portion of the prevailing color. Femorals as long as the tarsals, the 

 white on the feathers here assuming almost a banded or barred 

 appearance, which in the female is distinctly so. Under tail coveiis of 

 alternate rufous white and slate colored bars. The under surface of 

 the tail exhibits a rufous tint, while the bars are more distinctly seen. 

 2nd. Primary longest; 1st shorter than the 3rd, but longer than 

 the 4th ; inner vanes of the primaries barred with white. 



The female which resembles the male in every respect except 

 the bars on the femorals, had its bill a good deal worn, thus indi- 

 cating it to be an old bird. Length of the male 23^ inches. Alar 

 expanse 38 inches. That of the female 27J inchest with an alar 

 expanse of of 42 inches. 



