260 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



8. Back and tail bright cinnamon-brown, barred, more or less, with black. 



Sparrow hawk, Falco sparverius sparverius, p. 291 

 Back and tail gray, dark brown, or nearly black 9 



9. Larger ; wing more than 300 mm. 



Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus anaUmt, p. 280 

 Smaller ; wing less than 290 mm., usually much less 10 



10. Breast white, or buffy white, streaked with black, or brownish black. 



Pigeon hawk, Falco columbarius, p. 288 

 Breast black, usually banded with white 11 



11. Side of head black, but with a distinct white, or buffy white superciliary. 



Aplomado falcon, Falco fetnoralis femoralis, p. 287 

 Side of head black with no light colored superciliary stripe 12 



12. Larger; wing more than 240 mm.; feet stronger, middle toe without claw 



as long as tarsus Orange-breasted falcon, Falco deiroleucus, p. 281 



Smaller ; wing less than 225 mm. ; feet weaker, middle toe without claw 

 shorter than tarsus Bat falcon, Falco rufigularis petoensis, p. 283 



HERPETOTHERES CACHINNANS CACHINNANS (Linnaeus): Laughing 



Falcon ; Vaquero 



FiGUHE 47 



Falco cachinnans Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 90. (Surinam.) 



A falcon with bushy crest, long tail, and short rounded wings, 

 that in life appears black on the side of the head and back, white 

 on the crest and lower surface. 



Description. — Length, 430-470 mm. Adult (sexes alike), sides of 

 head, back, wings, and tail fuscous-black ; the tail with 4 or 5 bands 

 of white, that in some individuals are only spots; rest of head and 

 under surface white, the bushy crest, streaked narrowly, more or less, 

 with fuscous-black; under surface of wings light buff, with dusky 

 spots on the under wing coverts, and indistinct bars on the primaries 

 and secondaries. In some the white of head and lower surface is 

 washed more or less with buff. 



Immature, feathers of back and wings, including wing coverts, 

 edged narrowly with buffy brown; some individuals with sides, 

 tibia, and under tail coverts streaked and spotted lightly with cin- 

 namon-buff and fuscous. 



Iris dark brown ; cere and gape yellow ; rest of bill black ; tarsus 

 and toes deep olive-buff ; claws black. 



Measurements (birds from Costa Rica, Panama, and Colom- 

 bia).— Males (12 specimens), wing 252-276 (265), tail 186-216 

 (200), culmen from cere 21.2-26.1 (22.4), tarsus 59.8-63.8 (61.3) 

 mm. 



Females (12 specimens), wing 255-268 (260), tail 185-207 (194), 

 culmen from cere 22.5-26.1 (23.5), tarsus 59.8-63.5 (61.2) mm. 



