Mr. R. B. Sharpe's Catalogue of Accipitres. 375 



the scapulars are slightly paler thau the rest of the plumage, 

 and show dark shaft-marks, which are not visible elsewhere ; 

 the lesser and middle wing-coverts, on the side which I was 

 able to examine, each showed a solitary feather of the pre- 

 vious year still unraoulted, and decidedly paler than the sur- 

 rounding plumage; the second, third, and fourth primaries also 

 appear not to have been moulted, and are tinged with grey, the 

 others being almost black ; the lower portion of the abdomen 

 and the tibiae are also nearly black, being perceptibly darker 

 than the general colour of the body ; the under tail-coverts 

 have a few white spots on them, wedge-shaped, with the nar- 

 row end of the wedge pointing downwards ; these spots, and 

 a slight tinge of white on the lores and on the extreme front 

 of the forehead, are the only white portions of the plumage 

 which I was able to detect ; on the upper surface of the tail 

 three irregular transverse grey bars are \dsible, which are 

 especially apparent on the four central rectrices, the remainder 

 of the tail being a dark brown ; these bars are rather more 

 than half an inch in breadth, and about twice as broad as the 

 brown interspaces between them"^ ; the under surface of the 

 tail is greyish white, slightly mottled with a darker tint, and 

 crossed by an irregular subterrainal band of dark greyish 

 brown. 



Archibuteo sancti-johannis, which is the representative of 

 A. lagopus in the North- American continent, approaches so 

 closely to the European race, that I can only consider it a 

 subspecies of A. lagopus. 



Comparing non-melanistic specimens of A. sancti-johannis 

 with normal examples of A. lagopus, I find them on the 

 average slightly darker, and decidedly more rufous, the ex- 

 cess of rufous colouring in the American race being especially 

 apparent on the tibial feathers ; no appreciable difference in 

 size or measurements exists between the two species. 



Mr. Sharpe gives full descriptions of the different phases 

 of plumage incident to A. sancti-johannis ; and more detailed 



• I may remark that in the melanisms of A. sancti-Johaimis which I 

 have examined this proportion is reversed, the brown bars on the tail in 

 these specimens being broad and the grey narrow. 



