BIKD8 BUTEONINAE — BUTEO BAIKDIl. 



21 



the descriptions given above, the principal difl'erence between the specimens before us, and is 

 very probably dependent on age, and perhaps sex. 



Tiiis handsome and interesting species appears to be exclusively an inhabitant of western and 

 nortliern North America. 



The plates represent this bird in the first and third iilumages described above. 



List of specimens. 



5154 

 5IS6 

 5155 , 

 5157 

 8540 

 853!l 

 8541 

 4984 i 



MouUi ot Yellow Slone hvcr. 

 Moulh of White Earth river . 



Knife river, Missouri 



Heart river, Nebnutka 



July 14, 1856 Lieut. Warren. 



Sept. 6, 1856 do 



Sept. 10, 1856 do 



Sept. 21, 1856 do 



Cochetope Pa^s ' Lieut. Beckwith. 



do do 



San Luis valley do 



Peeos river, Texas Captain Pope .... 



Remarks. 



Measurements. 



Collected by- 



1 



24 

 35 

 13 



Gums and feet 

 yellow 



Dr. Hayden....| 20.63 



do 19.50 



do 21.35 



21.25 



Kreutzfeldt 



do 



do 



S B 



23.50 



48.51 

 4B.5i 

 50 01 

 51.2 



15.50 

 15.50 

 16.00 

 15.50 



16.50 



BUTEO BAIRDII, Hoy. 



Baird'sBuzzard. 



Butco Bairdii, Hot, Proc. Acad. Philad. VI, 451, (1853.) 

 Cassin. B. of Cal. and Texas, pi. 41. 



Entire upper parts dark brown, with a purplish bronzed lustre, especially on the wings ; plumage of the head and neck behind 

 edged and tipped with yellowish white ; upper tail coverts yellowish white, with transverse bars of brown ; tail above brownish 

 cinereous, with about ten narrow bands of brownish black, and tipped with white ; under pans pale yellowish white, or fawn 

 color, with a few ovate and sagittate spots of dark brown ; a stripe of dark brown running downwards on each side from the 

 corners of the mouth ; cere, legs, and irides yellow. 



Older 1 — Upper parts very dark brown, or nearly black, with a purplish lustre ; under parts with almost every feather having 

 a large spot of brownish black, which color predominates on the breast, presentin^r a nearly uniforn color with the upper parts ; 

 throat with narrow stripes of the sarue color; flanks and inferior wing coverts with circular and oval spots of white ; tibice dark 

 brown, with transverse bars and circular and oval spots of reddish white ; upper tail coverts reiidish white, with their outer 

 edges brown, and with transverse stripes of the same ; under tail coverts yellowish white, with transverse stripes of brown ; 

 forehead white ; cheeks yellowish white ; stripes from the corners of the mouth wide and conspicuous. 



Total length, 18 to 20 inches ; wing 15, tail 8 inches. 



Hah. — Northern and western North America. Spec, in Mus. Acad. Philadelphia and Nat. Mus. Washington. 



In the plumage, first described above, this bird bear.s some resemblance to the young of Buteo 

 Uneaius, but has a much more mature appearance, and is easily distinguished by its smaller 

 size. It resembles also in colors only the young oi Buteo pennsylvanicus, but is much larger. 

 Though discovered in the State of Wisconsin, specimens from various western localities are in 

 the collections of the expeditions. 



Specimens recently collected by Lieutenant Warren show that the upper figure of our plate, 

 as cited above, really represents the young plumage. Lieutenant Warren's specimens are 

 scarcely fully fledged, and yet agree precisely with this figure. 



