BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 99 



The three adult females taken had the tips of the rectrices mucli 

 worn, in one to such an extent that the bare shaft projected for 

 nearly 10 mm. beyond the barbs of the feathers. The bill was black ; 

 cere and gape primuline yellow; iris walnut brown; tarsus and toes 

 deep olive buflf; claws black. 



These southern birds represent the light extreme of the form de- 

 scribed as querihundus. Two females offer the following measure- 

 ments : Wing, 290-298 ; tail, 230-238 ; culmen from cere, 24-23 ; tar- 

 sus, 57-66.5 mm. (Measurements of the specimen from Formosa 

 given first in each case.) An old specimen in the collection of the 

 United States National Museum, Cat. No. 16526, collected by T. J. 

 Page, recorded by Bangs and Penard in the original description of 

 the subspecies as from Parana, in reality was secured on the Para- 

 guay River in southern Matto Grosso, between Corumba and the 

 Paraguayan border. 



MICRASTUR SEMITORQUATUS (Vieillot) 



Sparvius semitorquatus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 10, 1817, 

 p. 322. (Paraguay.) 



Critical study of names proposed for this hawk indicates that the 

 designation above is the proper one. The esparvero faxado of 

 Azara ^° is without question an immature of the present species, and 

 as such furnished the sole basis for Vieillot's epervier a demi-collier 

 roux Sparvius seinitorquatus from Paraguay. Azara's description 

 of the bird, excellent and unmistakable in its details, states that 

 " baxo de la cabeza es bianco ; pero cada pluma tiene a lo largo una 

 tirita obscura." Vieillot in translating this makes an error in ascrib- 

 ing these markings to the crown, as he says " les plumes du dessus de 

 la tete ont un trait transversal noiratre sur un fond blanc." Had 

 he written dessous instead of dessus the transcription would have 

 been correct. The remainder of Vieillot's description coincides with 

 that of Azara except that the tail is said to be 241 mm. long instead 

 of 235 mm. Vieillot, in his Encycl. Meth., follows his own statements, 

 translating them into latin. It would appear that the original tran- 

 scription was erroneous, perhaps a mere typographical error, and 

 that the name must be recognized for the present species, as it has 

 priority of pagination over /Sparvius melanoleucus (which is de- 

 scribed on page 327 of the same work) based on Azara's esparvero 

 negrihianco, the adult of the present bird. 



The single specimen obtained was shot near Kilometer 80, west of 

 Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, on September 9, 1920. The bird was 

 attracted by my squeaking to call up smaller species and flew in to 

 perch in the heavy growth a few feet away. The flight was almost 



*» Apunt. Hist. Nat. Paxaros Paraguay, vol. 1, 1802, p. 126. 



