Mr. R. B. Sharpens Catalogue of Accipitres. 297 



Mr. Ridgway (' Land -Birds of North America,' vol. iii. 

 p. 137) describes, under the title of " Falco communis, var. 

 pealei," two very dark young females, one from Oregon and 

 the other from Alaska, which he considers to be examples of 

 a " curious race " belonging to the " north-west coast region " 

 of America, and exhibiting '^tlie same melanistic tendency^'' 

 which is '^ apparent in birds of other species from the same 

 region.'^ Whether this race is sufficiently distinct to merit 

 subspecific separation I am unable to say *. I have examined 



coverts with the markings reduced to narrow arrow-head bars, rarely 

 extending quite to the margins of the webs, and with the lower tail- 

 coverts spotless, with only, perhaps, here and there a faint trace of where 

 a bar has been." Mr. Hume attributes this ph^se of plumage to advanced 

 age ; his valuable remarks on this subject, from which the above is an 

 extract, will be found in his '■ Rough Notes,' pp. oO— 52. 



* Since writing the above I have received further particulars from Mr. 

 Ridgway (in ejmtoM) respecting " Falco pere(/i'inus peaki;" he informs 

 me that he has only seen three specimens of this Falcon, " two young and 

 one adult;" of the latter Mr. Ridgway has been good enough to send me 

 an interesting description, which I subjoin. Mr. Ridgway adds, ''I am 

 now almost inclined to consider it a distinct species, so diiierent is it in all 

 stages from F. peregrinus ; however, it may be only a darker race, and so 

 I shall call it imtil we know more about it." 



Description o/"'' Falco peregrinus pealei. 



" Adult $ (No. G34]3,U.S. Nat. Mus.; Kyska Harbour, Aleutian Chain, 

 June 30, 1873, W. H. Dall). Prevailing colour above dull slate-black, this 

 quite uniform on the head, nape, and anterior portion of the back ; pos- 

 terior feathers of back, anterior scapulars, and wing-coverts bordered 

 terminally with plumbeous, the larger scapulars and greater wing-coverts 

 marked also with bars of this colour ; the more anterior lesser wing^coverts 

 uniform blackish, very indistinctly and narrowly margined with paler ; 

 secondaries banded with plumbeous and dusky black, the bands of the 

 latter colour about -30 to '40 of an inch wide, the plumbeous bands 

 averaging somewhat narrower ; primary coverts similarly, but much more 

 indistiuctly, marked ; primaries blackish, with indistinct indications of 

 plumbeous spots towards the base. Rump and upper taU-coverts plum- 

 beous, marked with very distinct blackish bars, which, on the posterior 

 part of the rump, measure about '20 to "30 of an inch in width. Tail 

 blackish, narrowly, but distinctly, tipped with white, and indistinctly 

 barred with plumbeous, but these bars well defiued only on about the 

 basal half, except on inner webs. Lower parts butfy white, more dis- 



SER. IV. VOL. VI. X 



