BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 543 



Bent, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 167, 1937, 375, in text (Bahamas; coast of 

 Yucatdn and British Honduras). 



Family FALCONIDAE : True Falcons, Laughing Falcons, Pygmy Fal- 

 cons, Forest Falcons, and Caracaras 



XFalconinae Swainson, Classif. Birds, ii, 1837, 212 (includes Harpagus, 

 Baza, and Aviceda).—Bo-NAPA.B.T-E., Consp. Gen. Av., i, 1850, 22 (includes 

 Harpagus); Rev. Mag. Zool., vi, 1854, 535 (includes Harpagus). — Kaxjp, 

 in Jardine's Contr. Orn., 1850, 51 (includes Harpagus). 



XFalconidae d'Orbigny, Voy. Am6r. Merid., iv, pt. 3, 1839, 113 (includes 

 Harpagus and Falconiae). 

 <Falconinae Ptcraft, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1902, 315 (excludes Poly- 

 borinae). 



XFalcones Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, ii, Uvr. 1, 1862, 2 (includes Harpagus; 

 omits Herpetotherinae, Micrasturinae, and Polyborinae). 

 = Falconidae Hartert, Vog. pal. Fauna, ii, 1913, 1041.— Swann, Monogr. 

 Birds Prey, i, 1925, 66.— Wetmore and Miller, Auk, xliii, 1926, 342. — 

 Wetmore, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Ixxvi, art. 24, 1930, 3; Smiths. Misc. 

 Coll., Ixxxix, No. 13, 1934, 5; xcix, No. 7, 1940, 5.— Peters, Check List 

 Birds of World, i, 1931, 276. — American Ornithologists' Union, Check- 

 list, ed. 4, 1931, 73. 

 >Falcomdae Reiciienow, Die Vogel, i. 1913, 387 (includes the Accipitridae 

 and Falconidae of the present work). — Stresemann, in Kukenthal and 

 Krumbach, Handb. Zool., vii, 2nd half, 1934, 816 (includes the Falconidae 

 of the present work and Aquilinae). 



XAccipitrinae Sharp, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., i, 1874, ix, 46 {Micrastur and 

 a number of Accipitrine genera) ; Hand-list, i, 1899, xx, 244 (same gen- 

 era).— Swann, Synopt. List Accip., pt. 2, 1919, 10 (same genera). 



Nonaccipitrine Falcones with coracoids overlapping at sternum; 

 upper portion of anterior face of tarsometatarsus Vv'ithout a bony 

 ring; outer (fourth) toe not reversible; claws somewhat graduated 

 in size, that of the hallux largest, that of the outer (fourth) toe small- 

 est, the other two about equal; the bill conspicuously toothed and 

 notched; tendons of biceps not split; caeca minute; the inner hypo- 

 tarsial process forming a prominent crest extending along the mid- 

 line of the posterior aspect of the tarsometatarsus for at least two- 

 thirds of its length. 



Palate directly desmognathous; vomer expanded anteriorly, closely 

 applied to maxillopalatine process; laclirymal without superciliary 

 plate; antorbital plate (prefrontal) largely developed, the outer 

 border closely applied to or fusing with the lachrymal; squamosal 

 prominence strongly developed; ventral surface of maxilla with a 

 median bony ridge ; mandible with ramal vacuity ; nasal bones almost 

 completely ossified, the nostril with a very small circular or slitlike 

 aperture with a conspicuous central bony tubercle or else (in Micras- 

 turinae) large, broadly oval, and without any long rim or obvious 

 central tubercle; procoracoid large, articulating with the clavicle; 

 thoracic vertebrae (except the penultimate) anlcylosed (except in 



