664 



5 YS TEMA TIC S YNOPSIS. — RAP TORES — A CCIPI TRES. 



Gyrfalcons : Tarsus feathered fully ^ way down iu front and on sides, leaving but a narrow strip bare be- 

 hind ; longer than middle toe without claw ; 1st quill shorter than 3d. Sexes alike. Very large : about 

 2 feet long. 



Prevailing color white. Arctic isla7idus 



Prevailing color dark ; head and neck lighter than back. Arctic and Subarctic rusticolus 



Prevailing color dark ; head and neck darker than back. Arctic and Subarctic .... r. gyrjaleo 



Prevailing color blackish. Labrador and Southward r. ob.wletus 



Lanners : Tarsus feathered J way down in front, broadly bare behind ; longer than middle toe without claw : 



1st quill shorter than 3d. Medium ; grayish-brown above ; sexes alike mexicanus 



Peregrines : Tarsus feathered but a little way down in front, broadly bare behind ; not longer than middle 

 toe without claw ; 1st quill not shorter than 3d. Medium: slaty-bluish above ; sexes alike. (Rhynchodon.) 



The ordinary Duck Hawk of N. Am. peregrinus anatum 



The dark N. W. Coast form p. peatei 



Tarsus scarcely feathered above, with the plates in front enlarged, like a double row of alternating scutella (and 

 often with a few true scutella at base) ; 2d or 3d primary longest ; 1st not longer than 4th ; 1st and 2d emargmate 

 on inner webs. (Merlins, Kestrels, and Hobbies.) 



Merlins : Tarsus scarcely longer than middle toe without claw. Sexes unlike ; young of both like adult $ . 

 Small ; wing 7.50-8.50. (jEsalon.I 

 Tail of cf with not more than 4 dark bands, the subterminal one broad, or 5 light ones. 



The ordinary Pigeon Hawk of N. Am columbnrius 



The dark N. W Coast form c. suckleyi 



Tail of (f with 5 dark and 6 light bands. Interior N. Am richardsoni 



Tail of (f with more numerous bands. Straggler from Europe regulus 



Kestrels : Tarsus decidedly longer than middle toe without claw. Sexes very unlike at all ages. Smallest : 

 wing 7.00-7.50. (Tinnunculus.) 

 Under parts white or tawny , back rufous, barred $ or plain (f. 



The ordinary Sparrow Hawk of N. Am sparverius 



The pale desert form from the Southwest s. deserticolus 



The depauperate peninsular form of Lower California y. pemnsularis 



Under parts bulf ; back rufous, barred $ or spotted (f with black. Straggler from Europe tinnunculus 



Under parts rufous. Florida, a straggler from the West Indies dominxcensis 



Hobbies: Tarsus longer than middle toe without claw. Sexes alike ; young little different 



Medium; wing 10.00 or more. (Rhynchofalco.) Juscicwrulescens 



(Subgenus Hierofalco : Gyrfalcons or Jerfalcons.) 



F. (H.) islan'dus. (Lat. 



also islandicus, Icelaudic or 

 Icelandish ; the word does not 

 mean "of an island, insular," 

 but "of Iceland," in Skandi- 

 naviau Islandsk, in Icelandic 

 Islenskr ; from the name of 

 the island, iu Skandinavian 

 and German called Island, in 

 Dutch Ijsland, from iss, ice, 

 and land, land.) White 

 Gyrfalcox. Iceland Ger- 

 falcon (in part). Green- 

 land Gyrfalcon. One of 

 the largest and most powerful 

 of the Falconince. Feet very 

 stout; tarsus rather longer 

 than middle toe and claw, 

 Fig. 456. —Prairie Falcon, § nat. size. (From life, by H. W. EUiott.) feathered fully half-way down 



in front and on the sides, with only a narrow bare strip behind overlaid by the feathers; the bare 

 parts reticulate (not scutellate). Lateral toes of about equal lengths, without the claws, one 

 of which is larger than the other. Wing pointed by 2d quill, supported nearly to the end by 



