480 Mr. J. H. Gurney's Notes on 



The immature specimen of Buteola brachyura from Rio de 

 Janeiro^ included in the first of these tables_, agrees with Mr. 

 Sharpe's description of that species in its immature plumage ; 

 the bird from Tinta, which I believe to be an immature Buteo 

 fuliginosus, and which I have so included in the second table, 

 bears a considerable general resemblance to the immature 

 Buteola brachyura, from which, however, it differs in having 

 all the feathers of the underparts, except those of the throat 

 and crissum, which are immaculate, embellished with a con- 

 spicuous dark longitudinal shaft-mark of varying breadth, 

 these being narrowest on the upper breast and abdomen, 

 broader on the lower breast, and occupying almost the en- 

 tirety of each feather on the flanks ; on the tibiae the shaft- 

 marks are expanded into a double transverse bar across each 

 feather ; the transverse dark bars on the upper surface of the 

 tail in this specimen are ten, whereas in the immature Bu- 

 teola brachyura they are but seven. 



The genus Buteola is followed in Mr. Sharpe's work (and, 

 I think, very naturally so) by Asturina ; and I would refer my 

 readers to some valuable remarks on this genus by Messrs. 

 Sclater and Salvin in the P. Z. S. for 1869, p. 129. As there 

 pointed out, this genus " may be separated into three groups, 

 as follows : — 



^' (1) The species allied to A. nit Ida, of which there appear 

 to be two representive forms, one . . . . A. plagiata, the other 

 the true A. nitida .... 



"(2) The species allied to A. magnirostris, which is the type 

 of the genus Eupornis of Kauj) .... 



" (3) The isolated species A. leucorrhoa, which appears to be 

 a true Asturina in structure, but in plumage forcibly calls to 

 mind the Buteo [Buteola^ brachyurus, Vieill.^^ 



The similarity of plumage referred to in the last paragraph 

 of the passage just quoted is especially apparent when the 

 adult A. leucorrhoa is compared with the melanistic phase of 

 the adult B. brachyura ; and its existence will be a sufficient 

 reason for dealing first with this species in our consideration 

 of the genus Asturina. 



I suspect that the measurements given by Mr. Sharpe as 



