BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 77 



acute, that of the hallux about one-and-a-half times as long as that of 

 outer toe, all rounded (not grooved) on under surface; no webs be- 

 tween basal phalanges of toes, but basal phalanx of middle toe united 

 to that of inner toe for about half its length. 



Plumage and coloration. — Plumage soft and blended, the primaries 

 and rectrices not rigid; lores rather densely feathered, the feathers, 

 like those of forehead, with bristlelike tips; a narrow, mostly con- 

 cealed, naked space above and another immediately beneath eyelids. 

 Adults plain dusky above relieved by a buff frontal patch and nuchal 

 collar of chestnut or cinnamon-rufous; underparts mostly plain white, 

 the sides of head buff or straw yellowish, a dusky patch on each side 

 of chest, the thighs, axillars, etc., ochraceous. Young essentially 

 like adults, but nuchal collar white and feathers of upperparts usually 

 with rusty margins. 



Nidification. — Nest built high up in tall trees (often several in one 

 tree); three eggs, 29.5 by 24.25 mm. in size, nearly elliptical, un- 

 glossed white with three brown blotches. 



Range. — Continental Tropical America, from Nicaragua to Para- 

 guay, southern Brazil, and Peru. (Monotypic.) 



GAMPSONYX SWAINSONII LEONAE Chubb " 



Northern Pearl Kite 



Adult (sexes alike). — -Forehead and anterior portion of crown anti- 

 mony yellow to pale honey yellow; rest of crown and occiput blackish 

 plumbeous with an ashy cast, especially at the anterior edge of this 

 color area on the crown; a narrow white nuchal band across the nape 

 connects with the white of the sides of the neck; posterior to this is 

 a slightly broader band of russet which continues in a very shallow V 

 in the middorsal line, a few millimeters on to the interscapulars; 

 interscapulars, scapulars, back, rump, upper tail coverts and upper 

 wing coverts blackish plumbeous with a slightly ashy cast, the feathers 

 whitish basally; bend of the wing white, suffused with pale buff; the 

 lower back and scapulars sometimes with a faint suggestion of dark 

 vinaceous brown in a few feathers; primaries externally blackish 



*'' Two very closely allied forms occur in southern and western South America, 

 as follows: 



Gampsonyx s. swainsonii Vigors (Gatnpsonyx Swainsonii Vigors, Zool. Journ., 

 ii, 1825, 69): from the Amazon (south bank) south to Paraguay, north- 

 western Argentina, Bolivia, and to eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru; 

 averaging paler rufescent on the flanks, sides, and thighs, and somewhat 

 smaller in size. 



Gampsonyx s. magnus Chubb {Gampsonyx swainsonii magnus Chubb, Bull. 

 Brit. Orn. Club, xxxix, 1918, 22): western Ecuador and western Peru. 

 Size slightly larger than in the nominate race, or in the northern form 

 leonae; coloration as in the nominate form. 



