BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 361 



beneath white, with a vinaceous tinge (deepest laterally); breast, 

 abdomen, and sides with large tear-shaped or cuneate spots of black; 

 thighs with numerous transverse bars of the same; iris brown; bill and 

 claws bluish black; cere and feet yellow. 



Jtivenal female. ~Sim.ila,T to the young male, but the brown averag- 

 ing lighter, and more approaching umber.^^ 



Natal down. — White, tinged with pale gray on the back and espe- 

 cially the lower back; claws and bill black; iris grayish brown; tarsi, 

 toes, and cere yellow; eyelids and lores cobalt blue. 



Adult male.— Wings 232.5-252 (244.6); tail 146-163 (155.9); 

 culmen from cere 20.9-23 (21.6); tarsus 67.5-72 (68.6); middle toe 

 without claw 34.5-38.5 (36.7 mm.).«« 



Adult female.— Wmgs 254-259 (256.7); tail 161-167 (164.3); 

 culmen from cere 24-25.5 (24.9); tarsus 72-75 (73.5); middle toe 

 without claw 40-43 (42 mm.)." 



Range: — ^Resident in southeastern Mexico, from Chiapas, Campeche, 

 Oaxaca, and Veracruz, north through Puebla, Guerrero, Hidalgo, 

 Michoacan, to Colima and Jalisco on the west, and to southern and 

 south-central Tamaulipas (Altamira, Rio Martinez, Santa Leonora, 

 Rio Cruz) on the east; and south to northern British Honduras 

 (Toledo district and to Belize River). 



Type locality. — ^ Veracruz, Mexico, 



Falco nitidus (not of Latham, 1790) Lichtenstein, Preis-Verz. Mex. Vog., 1830, S* 



Astur nitidus Gray, List Spec. Brit. Mus., pt. 1, Accip., ed. 2, 1848, 66, part 

 (Mexico). — Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, iv, 1848, 87 (Mexico). 



Asturina nitidus Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., i, 1850, 30, part (Mexico). 



Asturina nitida Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1857, 201 (Jalapa, Veracruz); 

 1859, 368 (Jalapa), 389 (Talea, Oaxaca; Playa Vicente, Veracruz); 1864, 178 

 (near City of Mexico). — Cassxn, in Baird, Rep. Pacific R. R. Surv., ix, 1858, 

 35, part. — Baird, Cat. North Amer. Birds, 1859, No. 33, part; in Cooper, 

 Orn. California, Land Birds, 1870, 486, part. — Sumichrast, Mem. Boston 

 Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1869, 560 (hot region of Veracruz). 



Morphnus nitida Sclater, Proc, Zool. Soc. London, 1857, 227 (Santecomapem, 

 Veracruz) . 



Asturina plagiaia Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, ii. No. 5, livr. 1, 1862, 1, footnote 

 (City of Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico; ex Buteo plagiaius Lichtenstein, manu- 

 script, in Berlin Mus.). — Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 

 1869, 130, part (monogr.) ; Exotic Orn., 1869, 179, pi. 90, part; Nom. Av. 

 Neotr., 1873, 118, part.— Cooper, Orn. California, Land Birds, 1870, 487, in 

 text, part. — Coues, Check List North Amer. Birds, 1873, No. 358, part. — 

 Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., i, 1874, 204, part (Mexico); Hand-list, i, 

 1899, 247, part.— Lawrence, U, S, Nat. Mus. BuU., 4, 1875, 39 (Chihuitan, 



" The Juvenal plumage fades very noticeably in the long period of its duration; 

 these descriptions are based on freshl}' plumaged birds. 



0° Twelve specimens from Veracruz, Campeche, Chiapas, Tehuantepec, Colima, 

 and Guerrero, Mexico. 



^^ Six specimens from Yucatan, Veracruz, and Campeche. 



