Mr. R. B. Sharpe's Catalogue of Accipitres. 481 



those of the adult female have^ in fact, been taken from a 

 large male, as a female fi'om Venezuela in the Norwich Mu- 

 seum is considerably larger in the wing, measuring 10*2 inches 

 from the carpal joint. 



This female is nearly adult, but retains some interesting 

 remains of immature plumage, the axillary feathers being alter- 

 nately barred transversely with white and blackish brown, 

 whilst the tips of these feathers exhibit a guttate shaft-mark 

 of the latter colour, surrounded by an edging of yellowish 

 white ; the tibiae are almost entirely black on their external 

 face, but on the opposite side of the limb are transversely 

 barred with irregular alternate markings of blackish brown 

 and buff; a slight tinge of rufous is just appearing at the lowest 

 extremity of the tibial feathers ; the upper surface of the tail 

 still shows two ashy brown bars ; and the lining of the wing 

 near its external edge exhibits a greater proportion of black 

 than is to be found in older birds. With these exceptions, 

 and that of a slight fulvous tint upon some of the feathers of 

 the breast, the specimen has completed the assumption of the 

 adult dress. 



The next group to which I would refer, and to which I 

 would restrict Kaup^s subgeneric name of Rupornis, consists 

 of the following species, or, as they may perhaps be more ap- 

 propriately termed, geographical races : — 



The most southern of these is R. pucherani*, inhabiting 

 S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, and the Argentine 

 Republic. 



Mr. Sharpe has included Bolivia in the localities which he 

 gives for this species ; but the Bolivian race appears to be di- 

 stinct, and, subsequently to the publication of Mr. Sharpens 

 volume, has been so described by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin 

 under the name of " Asturina saturata" in the P. Z. S. 1876, 

 p. 357. 



A somewhat more northerly range characterizes R, nat- 

 tereri, which appears to be very generally distributed through- 

 out Brazil, extending westward to Peru; whilst the most 



* The iris in this species has been recorded by Mr. Lee as being of a 

 " very pale amber-colour " {vide Ibis, 1873, p. 136). 



