FALCONID^ — POLYBORIN^: C ABAC ABAS. 539 



the above species in dark rufous lower parts, and dusky, mottled inner webs of primaries." 

 (Ridgway.) Cuba; Florida. 



P. fustiooerules'cens. (Lat. fuscus, dark; ccerulescens, bluish.) Femoral Falcon. 

 Aplomado Falcon. Quite different from any of the foregoing species, though belonging to 

 the sparrow hawk group {Tinnunculus) ; it has been made a separate subgenus {Bhyiicho- 

 falco). Bill robust, with large cere; irregular scutellation of tarsus continuous on the toes; 

 tarsus a little longer than middle toe without daw ; 2d and 3d quills longest ; 1st about equal 

 to 4th ; 1st and 2d emarginate on inner webs ; 2d and 3d sinuate on outer webs. Size 

 medium (among the smaller falcons); form slender; sexes alike. Adult (J 9 = Above, uniform 

 plumbeous ; tail with about 8 narrow white bars, and tipped with white, as are the secondaries ; 

 primaries with numerous narrow white bars on inner webs, mostly being isolated transverse 

 spots, reaching neither shaft nor inner edge of the feathers ; the satne pattern less definitely 

 continued on to the secondaries. Side of head with a broad white or tawny postocular stripe, 

 continuous with the narrowly white forehead, shading into orange-brown on the nape, where 

 confluent with its fellow ; auriculars mostly white, set in the black of the side of the head, but 

 continuous with the. white of the throat, so that a black supra-auricular stripe meets a black 

 mystacial stripe under the eye. Sides of body and a broad belly-baud black, with or without 

 numerous narrow white bars ; the extent of this black very variable ; it usually leaves the 

 breast white or tawny, but in younger specimens the whole breast is streaked with black on a 

 tawny ground. Throat usually white. Lining of wings blackish, spotted with white, the 

 border mostly white or tawny. Flanks, flags, and crissum uniform tawny or orange-brown. 

 Young sufficiently similar, but upper parts rather dark brown than plumbeous. Length 15.00 

 or more ; wing 10.00-11.00 ; tail 7.00-8.00 ; tarsus 1.75 ; middle toe without claw 1.50. A 

 handsome hawk, well-known and wide-ranging in S. and C. Am., reaching just over our Mex- 

 ican border. Nest in trees or bushes; eggs 1.80 X 1.65, white, finely dotted with light brown, 

 overlaid with blotches of dark brown. 



46. Subfamily POLYBORIN/E: Caracaras. 



Anatomical characters of Falconince proper, in the scapular arrangement by which a pro- 

 cess of the coracoid reaches the clavicle, the central tubercle of the extensively ossified nasal 

 bones, the anterior keel of the palate, and the superorbital shield in a single piece ; external 

 characters very unlike those of Falconing, and general aspect vulturine. Bill toothless. 

 Sternum single-notched on each side behind. Three or more primaries sinuate-emarginate on 

 inner webs ; 3d or 4th longest ; 1st shorter than 5th. A small but remarkable group, com- 

 bining some of the essential characters of falcons with others more vulture-like ; the species are 

 chiefly terrestrial, rather sluggish, and feed much on carrion. The genera are Polyhorus, 

 Phnlcobcenns, Senex, Milvago, Ibijcter, and Daptrius, all confined to America. 

 POLY'BORUS. (Gr. irokv^opo^, imlyhoros, very voracious. Fig. 379.) Caracaras. Bill 

 long, high, much compressed, little hooked, the commissure nearly straight to the deflected 

 end ; cere ending anteriorly in a nearly straight vertical line ; nostril high in the front upper 

 comer of the cere, linear, oblique, its posterior end uppermost, its tubercle concealed. Chin 

 and sides of head bristly, extensively denuded; a naked pectoral area; an occipital crest. 

 Tibia? shortly flagged. Tarsus nearly twice as long as middle toe without claw, almost 

 entirely naked, chiefly reticulate, but in front broadly seutellate in single or double row; 

 lateral toes of about equal lengths ; hind toe much the shortest ; claws long and little curved. 

 Wings very long, with 3d and 4th quills longest, 2d and 5th next, 1st shorter than 6th or 7th ; 

 outer 4 or 5 emarginate. Tail rounded, about f as long as wing. Comprising two or three 

 species of large vulture-like carrion hawks, of ten-estrial habits, and ambulatorial, not salta- 

 torial, gait, P. cherivay, P. auduboni, and P. lutosus, of the warmer parts of America. 

 P. au'duboni. (To J. J. Audubon.) Common Caracara. Ad. ^J 9 : General color blackish. 



