BIRDS OF NORTPI AND MIDDLE AMERICA 267 



Buteo jamaicensis costaricensis Peters, Check-list Birds of World, i, 1931, 232 

 (distr.). — Griscom, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Ixxviii, 1935, 298 (mountains of 

 Veraguas, Panama). — Blake and Hanson, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., 

 zool. ser., xxii, 1942, 526 (Michoacdn; Cerro de Tancitaro, and between 

 Patzcuaro and Comanje; spec). — van Rossem, Auk, lix, 1942, 450, in text. 



Buteo jamaicensis jamaicensis Housse, El Hornero, viii, 1941, 47, in text (No. 9 

 on map). 



BUTEO HARLANI (Audubon) 



Harlan's Hawk 



Adult. — Melanistic phase (sexes alike) : Similar to the corresponding 

 phase of Buteo jamaicensis calurus, but with the tail grayish to umber, 

 terminally washed wdth cinnamomeous in some specimens, not in 

 others, longitudinally mottled with fuscous to fuscous-black, and sub- 

 terminally crossed by a fairly broad but not very definite band of 

 fuscous-black; usually with some of the w^hitish basal parts of the 

 feathers of the nape showing and with some whitish on the upper tail 

 coverts as well. Like all the plumages of this hawk, this one varies 

 greatly. The general body color ranges from deep fuscous-black to 

 purplish black, deep chocolate-black, and dark sepia; the ground color 

 of the tail may be dirty whitish, cinnamomeous, or ashy brown, and 

 the amount or extent of freckling is also very variable. It is hard to 

 find two specimens that are exactly alike. 



Adult. — Intermediate phase (sexes alike) : Prevailing color of upper 

 parts blackish brown, relieved by streaks of pure white on the head 

 and neck, where the feathers are entirely pure white beneath the 

 surface; wings clouded or mottled with lighter brown; outer webs of 

 primaries marked, anterior to their sinuations, with broad bars of 

 dusky and brownish slate, the narrower terminal portion being uniform 

 brownish black. Upper tail coverts irregularly spotted, chiefly toward 

 edges, with clear ochraceous, sometimes mixed with tawny; tail 

 whitish sparsely mottled, chiefly toward ends and along edges of 

 feathers, with hoary brow^i and dusky, wdth from scarcely any admix- 

 ture of ochraceous to a definite cinnamomeous subterminal wash, and 

 crossed near the end by a fairly well defined band of brownish black; 

 chin, throat, and whole breast pure white, marked with sharply defined 

 tear-shaped longitudinal spots of brownish black; rest of underparts 

 brownish black, more or less spotted and barred with pure white; iris 

 brown; cere and gape green; legs pale yellow. 



Adult. — Light phase (sexes alike): Head and neck above white, 

 each feather marked with a central guttate or acute-ovate spot of 

 dusky brown, the w^hole under surface of the plumage, however, pure 

 white to white with fuscous-black pear-shaped streaks on the lower 

 throat, sides of breast, and upper abdomen; the thighs lightly flecked 

 with wood brow^n; back and scapulars mixed brow^nish gray, dusky 

 brown, and white, in nearly equal proportion, the whole underlying 



