BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 667 



FALCO PEREGRINUS PEALEI Ridgway 



Peale's Falcon 



Adult male. — Similar to that of Falco peregrinus anatum, the top of 

 head usually not darker than the interscapulars (often slightly more 

 dusky in anatum)', the lower throat and breast generally with small 

 tear-shaped spots of fuscous-black, these spots being the subterminal 

 enlargement of narrow dusky shaft streaks (one specimen, from For- 

 rester Island, Alaska, with the throat and breast immaculate as in 

 anatum) ; and the abdomen, sides, flanks, thighs, and under tail coverts 

 more broadly and more darldy barred. 



Adult female. — Like that of Falco peregrinus anatum, but much more 

 heavily barred on the abdomen, sides, flanks, thighs, and under tail 

 and under wing coverts; the breast and the lower throat heavily 

 spotted fuscous to fuscous-black, the spots ranging in width from 3 

 mm. (narrow, elongate spots) to 11 mm. (broad, transverse spots). 

 Above blackish plumbeous, uniform anteriorly, becoming barred 

 posteriorly with light bluish plumbeous, the bars of which are very 

 obscure on the wings and back, but on the rump and tail coverts are 

 broader than the blackish ones; tail blackish plumbeous, narrowly 

 tipped with white, and crossed with about 9 narrow bars, which are 

 obscure, and bluish plumbeous, on the outer webs, and sharply de- 

 fined, and tinged with cream color on the inner webs; primaries uni- 

 form plumbeous-black on their outer webs; inner webs with transverse 

 ovoid spots of creamy white, 14 on the outer quill; head uniform, 

 continuous plumbeous-black, except on the throat, and a small space 

 on the middle of the auriculars, the former being dull white, streaked 

 with black, and the latter obsolete!}^ streaked and suffused with 

 whitish; lower parts white, tinged with cream color on the breast, 

 and with ashy blue on the tibiae; the entire surface, including the 

 lining of the wings and tibiae, heavily barred transversely with black; 

 on the breast and lining of the wing the bars of black and white are of 

 about equal width; posteriorly, however, the black bars grow gradually 

 narrower, and become also of a more plumbeous tint; on the jugulum 

 the markings are longitudinal, inclining to a tear-shaped form; bill 

 dark horn blue; cere apparently similar; "eye brown"; tarsi and toes 

 dark yellow; claws blue-black. 



Juvenal (sexes alike). — Similar to that of Falco peregrinus anatum, 

 but the top of head with very little fulvous or buff, dark like the back; 

 the nuchal collar very poorly developed; the margins of the feathers of 

 the upperparts less ochraceous, more pale fulvous; underparts very 

 much darker due to the great increase in breadth of the chaetura black 

 streaks, which also extend up into the throat, the streaks so broad on 

 the abdomen, sides, flanks, and thighs as to reduce the buffy white 

 areas to narrow marginal borders, these edges less ochraceous than in 



