16. CIECTTS. 63 



black, the ruff plainly varied with white ; under surface of body 

 white, the breast with a few narrow spots or streaks of black, the 

 flanks and axiUaries barred across with rufous brown ; the vent and 

 thighs almost destitute of marks, and the under tail-coverts with 

 only a few rufous bars ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, 

 plentifully barred across with black ; biU black ; cere bluish ; feet 

 yeUow ; iris yellow. Total length 20 inches, culmen 1-45, wing 17, 

 tail 10, tarsus 3-2. 



Hub. The eastern side of S. America, from the Straits of Magellan 

 to Venezuela, Trinidad, and British Guiana, though not yet absolutely 

 recorded from Amazonia or Northern Brazil. 



a. Juv. sk. Maldonado. C. Darwin, Esq. [C.]. Type of C. megaspUtts. 



b. Ad. St. S. America. Purchased. 



c. Ad. st. S. America. Purchased. 



d. Juv. st. Cayenne. Purchased. 



9. Circus assimilis. 



Circus assimilis, Jard. 4' Selbr/, III. Orn. ser. 1, pi. 51 (1826); Schl. 

 Mits. P.-B. Cii-ci, p. 9 (1862) ; id. Vog. Nederl. Ind. Valkv. pp. 29, 

 67, pi. 20. figs. 2, 3 (1866) ; Wall. Ibis, 1868, p. 19; Wald. Tr. Z. S. 

 viii. p. 38(1871). 



Circus jardinii, Goidd, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 141 ; id. Syn. B. Austr. part 3 

 (1838) ; Graij, Gen. B. i. p. 32 (1845) ; Goidd, B. Austr. i. pi. 27 

 (1848) ; Sturt. Exp. C. Austr. ii. App. p. 16 (1849) ; Strickl. 

 Orn. S7/n. p. 154 (1855) ; Gould, Handb. i. p. 60 (1865) ; Grarj, 

 Hand-l. B. i. p. 37 (1869) ; Schl. Mm. P.-B. Revue Accipitr. p. 50 

 (18"3). 



Spilocircus jardinii, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 102. 



Strigiceps jardinii, Bp. Consp. i. p. 34 (1850). 



Young. Above ashy brown, the feathers broadly margined with 

 pale tawny buff ; the head and least wing-coverts deep rusty, with a 

 few central streaks of dark brown ; sides of face and of neck, as well 

 as facial ruff, similarly coloured, but with rather broader streaks of 

 brown ; primaries black, secondaries browner, with tawny buff tips ; 

 all the quills pale ashy below on inner web, washed with rufous and 

 mottled with ashy brown near base of primaries, barred with the 

 same colour on the secondaries, the primaries coppery brown under- 

 neath towards their tips ; upper tail-coverts white, washed with 

 rufous, and having dark brown centres ; tail sepia-brown, tipped with 

 tawny buff and crossed with six bands of black, the subterminal one 

 being the broadest ; under surface of body pale tawny buff, inclining 

 to white on abdomen and thighs, narrowly streaked with dark brown 

 on the breast ; the ujider wing-coverts coloured like the latter, but 

 with rather broader streaks, the lower ones barred with ashy brown 

 and pale tawny buff ; axillaries brown, margined and notched with 

 pale tawny. 



Adult male. Above pale bluish slate-colour, the dorsal feathers, 

 scapulars, and wing-coverts with margins or terminal spots of white, 

 and having also large concealed white spots on the body of the 

 feather ; crown of head, cheeks, and ear-coverts, as well as the least 



