678 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — A CCIPITRES. 



body, wings, and tail of the South Aineriran bird being inuhitudinously rayed across, while in 

 Texas and Florida specimens the body and wing-coverts are mostly uniform, the barring being 

 restricted to neck and fore half of body, and to primaries and tail-feathers. The bird is cer- 

 tainly different from P. thariis. P- lutosus is barred throughout, and otherwise different again. 

 S. border of U. S., Florida to Lower California and southward, common, in some places abun- 

 dant, gregarious like a Turkey Buzzard where offal is exposed. Nest bulky, in trees and 

 bushes, as palmettos, yuccas, mesquites, cactuses, etc., of sticks and leaves; eggs commonly 2, 

 often 3, broadly oval or subspherical, heavily colored with blotches and clusters of rich reddish- 

 brown and smaller blackish over-spots, usually obscuring the creamy white ground-color; size 

 2.20 to 2.40 by about 1.85; with us laid mostly in March and April, sometimes in February, 

 The long neck and legs of this bird, its terrestrial habits and walking powers, give it peculiar 

 character, almost suggesting Gi/por/eramis. Like our Vultures, it is a constant feature of the 

 scene in some southerly localities. (F. cheriwai/ Jacquin, Beitr. 1784, p. 17, pi. 4. P. cheri- 

 way Cab. 1848; A. 0. U. No. 362. P. hrasiliensis Aud. folio pi. 161 and 8vo pi. 4 ; not ot 

 Gm. 1788. P. tharus Cass. B. Cal. i, 1854, p. 113, and in Bd. B. N. A. 1858, p. 45; not of 

 MoLiNE, 1782. P. auduboni Cass. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1865, p. 2. P. tharus var. audubonii 

 CouKS, Key, 1872, p. 220. P. auduboni of 2d-4th eds. 1884-90, p. 540.) 

 P. luto'sus. (Lat. lutosus, dirty, muddy; so called from the sordid coloration.) Guadalupe 

 Caracara. As stated in Key, 2d ed. p. 540, this species is quite distinct, nearly the whole 

 plumage being barred. " Scapulars plain dusky brown. Tibia? and flanks light isabella-color, 

 barred with dark brown. Wing-coverts (middle and greater) marked with wide bars of brown 

 and pale isabella-color, of equal width. Tail- coverts and rump with broad bars of light 

 isabella-color and grayish-brown. Tail with broad bars of pale isabella-color and grayish- 

 brown, separated by zigzag lines of dusky. Abdomen isabella-color, with small sagittate bars 

 of dark-brown." Wing 15.00-16.50; tail 10.50-11-50; bill 1.25-1.35; tarsus 3.50-3.75. 

 Guadalupe Island, Lower California. Ridgw. Bull. U. S. Geog. & Geol. Surv. 2d ser. No. 6, 

 Feb. 1876, p. 459; Man. 1887, p. 254; Coues, Key, 3d ed. 1887, p. 882, Lower California 

 and its islands having been meanwhile annexed ornithologically; A. 0. U. No. 363. 



Subfamily BUTEONIN/E : Buzzards and Eagles. 



Bill variable in size and shape, but without the toothing and notching of that of FalconincB 

 (with rare exceptions) ; cutting edge variously lobed or festooned, or simple. Nostrils not cir- 

 cular, nor with a central tubercle : nasal septum incompletely ossified. Superciliary shield 

 more or less prominent, usually consisting of two pieces. Scapular process of coracoid not 

 produced to meet clavicle. Wings and tail variable, but not pi-esenting special characters 

 noted under Falconince, nor relative lengths of those oi Accipitrince. Tarsus obviously shorter 

 than tibia, generally scutellate before and behind, sometimes feathered to toes. The Buzzards 

 form a large group, not easy to define except by exclusion ; though quite distinct from Falco- 

 ninte and Pohjborince, they grade into each of the (jther subfamilies here presented. They are 

 Hawks of medium and rather large size, heavy-bodied, of strong but measured flight, inferior 

 in spirit to the true Hawks and Falcons, and as a rule feed upon humble game, which they 

 rather snatch stealthily than capture in open piracy. The extensive genus Buteo with its sub- 

 divisions, and its companion Archibuteo, typify Buzzards; they include, however, a great 

 variety of forms. With them must be associated Eagles ; for popular estimate of these famous 

 great birds as something remarkably different from ordinary Hawks is not confirmed by exam- 

 ination of their structure, which is the same as that of other Buzzards. Altliough usually of 

 large size and powerful physique, they are far below the smallest Falcons in raptorial charac- 

 ter, prey like Buzzards, and ()ften stoop to carrion. The genus Aquila may stand as the type 

 of an Eagle ; its several species are confined to the Old World, with one exception. Haliaetus 



