Mr. R. B. Sharpens Catalogue 0/ Accipitres. 161 



Mr. Sharpe does not refer to the occurrence of this Merlin 

 in the West Indies ; but the Norwich Museum contains speci- 

 mens from Jamaica, and it has also been recorded from 

 Cuba^j Guadeloupe t, Martinique %, Tobago §, and Trinidad ||. 



An ample account of this species will be found in the 

 ' Land Birds of North America/ vol. iii. pp. 144 to 154, 

 including two subspecific races, neither of which has come 

 under my own observation ; one of these is a dark race, 

 separated by Mr. Ridgway as " var. suckleyi," and found in 

 " Northern California, Oregon, and Washington Territory,''^ 

 the other, a pale race, called by Mr. Ridgway " var. richard- 

 soni," inhabiting the "^ interior regions of North America 

 between the Mississippi valley and the Rocky Mountains 

 from Texas to the Arctic Regions. ^^ 



Mr. Ridgway considers that the figure of a female Merlin 

 from the plains of the Saskatchewan, given in the ' Fauna 

 Boreali-Americana," part 2, pi. 25, represents a specimen of 

 the latter subspecies. 



I feel no hesitation in adopting Bonaparte's subgenus 

 Chiquera for the Indian Toorumtee Falcon, which on this 

 footing must stand as C. typus, while its African congener 

 will be C. TuficoUis. 



Mr. Sharpe expresses a doubt as to the distinctness of 

 these two species, which I by no means share. In the adults 

 of C. ruficolUs the whole upper surface, except the head, nape, 

 and quill-feathers of the wings, is conspicuously cross-barred 

 with black, Avhilst in those of C. tijpus these transverse dark 

 bars are absent from the scapulars, interscapulars, and back, 

 and where present are decidedly fainter and less conspicuous. 

 C. rvficolUs has also a black mark behind the eye and another 

 below it, both of which are wanting in C. typus ; it has also a 



* Finsch in P. Z. S. 1870, p. 556 ; also GuncUacli, quoted by Ridgway, 

 Land Birds of N. America, vol. iii. p. 145. 



t Proc. of the U.S. Nat. Mus. vol. i. p. 450. 



X Jardine, quoted by Ridgway, Land Birds of N. America, vol. iii. 

 p. 145. 



§ Jardine, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist, xviii. p. 118 (1846). 



li Leotaud, Ois. de la Trinidad, p. 26 ; see also Finsch in P. Z. S. 1870, 

 p. 556. 



SER. IV. VOL. VI. M 



