BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 327 



these marks sometimes so broad as to be almost conterminous, giving 

 a blackish appearance to the breast; upper abdomen whitish washed 

 with grayish or with pale tawny and sparsely barred or shaft-streaked 

 with fuscous; lower abdomen, sides, flanks, and thighs similar but more 

 abundantly barred -with fuscous, sometimes very abundantly so, in 

 which case the gray or tawny wash is also accentuated: tarsi feathered 

 to the toes; under tail coverts whitish usually immaculate, occasionally 

 very sparingly marked with fuscous; under wing coverts whitish 

 marked abundantly Avith fuscous-black; iris deep light hazel: naked 

 eyebrow plumbeous; cere and rictus light yellowish green; bill deep 

 black becoming pale blue on the basal half of the lower mandible and 

 on the base of the upper, below the cere; toes pure light lemon yellow; 

 claws deep black. Melanistic phase: General plumage fuscous- 

 black to almost solid black; the occiput and nape often streaked 

 by the whitish edges of the feathers; upper wing coverts and scapulars 

 sometimes slightly paler terminally and laterally; remiges as in light 

 phase but the secondaries darker gray; rest of upperparts fuscous- 

 black, the upper tail coverts sometimes tipped with white and the 

 lateral ones occasionally barred -with whitish and washed with cinna- 

 momeous; rectrices dark hair brown becoming whitish only on the 

 basal third or less, tipped w^th whitish, with a very broad subterminal 

 blackish bar and, anterior to this, four narrower bands of the same; 

 chin, throat, and entire underparts fuscous-black, the feathers of 

 the lower breast, abdomen, and thighs sometimes sparsely mottled 

 with mikado brown; iris burnt umber; eyebrow olivaceous; cere and 

 rictus rich chrome yellow; bill black, light blue basally, the lower 

 mandible tipped with yellow; toes rich chrome yellow; claws black. 



Immature (sexes alike). — Light phase: Similar to the adult of the 

 same phase, but with the underparts more heavily washed with buff, 

 tawny, or cinnamomeous ; the dark markings on the abdomen larger 

 and more confluent, forming a practically soUd broad fuscous-black 

 band across the abdomen; tail as in adult, but the terminal portion 

 unbarred hair brown to fuscous, sometimes shghtly mottled with 

 darker, and narrowly tipped with dull whitish; chin and middle of 

 throat usually less streaked than in adults, iris hazel; naked eyebrow 

 plumbeous; cere and rictus Hght greenish yellow; bill black, becoming 

 light grayish blue basally on the mandible; toes light lemon yellow; 

 claws black. Melanistic phase: Similar to adults of this phase, but 

 averaging shghtly more mottled with mikado brown above as well as 

 below; tail unbarred, dark hair brown to dull fuscous; all but the 

 middle pair of rectrices becoming whitish spotted with fuscous on their 

 inner webs; the middle pair and the outer webs of the lateral feathers 

 often indistinctly longitudinally mottled vnih. paler grayish; iris pale 



