FALCONID.E — BUTEONIN^: BUZZARDS. 689 



sequently better pronounced dark bars; all the feathers tipped with white; dark moustaches 

 much as in the adults. Eastern N. Am., N. to New Brunswick on the coast, to the regif»n of the 

 Saskatchewan in the interior, W. to the Great Plains of the U. S., S. in winter through Middle 

 America and in some of tlie West Indies in winter ; common on the whole, especially in wood- 

 land, but irregularly distributed; migratory from the extremes of its range. A small but stout 

 Bideo, with ample wings and tail, with only 3 primaries cut, very different from any of the 

 foregoing, easily recognized by size and proportions, aside from color. A large 9 resembles a 

 small $ lineatus in some respects, but the difference is too great to require detailed comparison. 

 The breeding range is coincident with the distribution of the bird in N. Am. ; the season for 

 eggs is May in most latitudes, but begins early in April at the South, and extends into June at 

 the North. Nest in a tree, nowise peculiar iu situation or construction ; eggs 2-5, oftenest 2 or 

 3, averaging 1.95 X 1-55, grayish or faintly greenish white, heavily marked with browns as a 

 rule, sometimes obsoletely spotted with neutral tints, rarely almost immaculate. {B. ijennayl- 

 vanicus of former eds. of the Key, as of most authors ; but Wilson had given this specific name 

 to Accipiter fuscus when he applied it also to this Biiteo, and we therefore now take latissimus, 

 given by his editor, Ord, in later copies of his work.) 



(Subgenus Buteola.) 



B. brachyu'rus. (Gr. ^paxvs, brachus, short; ovpd, oura, tail.) Short-tailed Buzzard, 

 iu melanistic plumage called the FULIGTNOUS Buzzard and Little Black Hawk. Of 

 small size, not over 16 00; wing under 13.50. Point of primaries extending beyond seconda- 

 ries less than ^ the length of wing; 3d, 4th, and 5th quills longest; 1st shorter than 8th ; 

 1st, 2d, and 3d primaries einarginate on inner web ; 4th with inner web sinuate. Tarsi bare in 

 flout fur a less distance than length of middle toe without claw. Occurs in two phases, light 

 and dark. Light phase: Ad. $ 9 • Above, blackish-brown ; ctmcealed bases of occipital featii- 

 ers pure white; forehead and most of sides of head, white; below, entirely white, except some 

 dark markings on each side of the breast, in the form of a rufous (jr grayisli-brown patch, with 

 or witliout dusky shaft-lines. Tail with black bands mostly broader than the grayish or 

 brownish interspaces, which are 5 to 7 in number, and narrowly tipped with white. Bill black 

 with bluish base; cere and feet yellow; iris brown ^, wing 10.50-12.00; tail G. 00-7. 00 ; 

 bill 0.70; tarsus 2.25; middle toe without claw 1.35. 9, wing 11.50-13.00; tail 7.00 or 

 more. Young $ 9- Above, grayish-brown, most of the feathers margined with tawny; sides 

 of head and neck streaked with the same ; whole of under parts tinged with tawny, immacu- 

 late, or streaked with brown, but no definite patches on sides of breast. Tail with bars nmre 

 numerous and less firm than in the adult. Dark 2)hase : Adult 9- Resembling ahhreviatus iu 

 being blackish or fuliginous all over, but entirely another bird, belonging to a different section 

 of the genus. Ctdor fuliginous, or dark umber-brown, nearly uniform, but barred on under 

 wing- and tail-coverts with white ; feathers of hind head and nape fleecy-white at base ; the 

 cdliir blackening on exposed surfaces of primaries, inner webs of which are extensively whi- 

 teneil, with tlie usual dark bars; little wliite, however, on secondaries, excepting inner ones, 

 most of them being simply spaced gray or light brown between their dark bars. Tail-pattern 

 as usual in young Hawks of this genus, there being numerous (6 or 8 exj)osed) blackish and 

 lighter grayish bars alternating, subterminal one of each broadest, whide tail tipped with 

 grayish-white ; inner webs of all the feathers excepting central pair whitening in the spaces 

 between the dark bars. Length 10.00; wing 1300; tail 7.00; tarsus 2.00. (Descrilu'd fnnn 

 \o. 12,117, Mus. Smiths. Inst., from Mazatlan, Mexico, agreeing with B. fuliginosus ScL. 

 I'. Z. S. 1858, p. 35(5; Tr. Z. S. 18.58, )). 2(17, \A. Ixii ; a bird once supposed to be the ijoung 

 of the same is B. oxgjiterus Cass. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1855, p. 283; both are treated as one vari- 

 ety of B. swriinsoni by HiDOW. Hist. N. A. B. iii, 1874, p. 2(i(i. See Ibis, Oct. 187(5, p. 477 : 

 Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Oct. 1881, p. 207 ; I'r. V. S. Nat. Mus. viii, 1885, p. 75; Auk, Jan. 



44 



