Ill 



Buteo montamis, adult. Above, wings and tail almost precisely 

 similar to borealls, the upper tail coverts generally more rufous, and 

 the back seldom so unicolor. 



Below, with the throat and fore-neck similar to the darkest speci- 

 mens of borealis, upper part of breast sometimes exactly like indi- 

 viduals of the eastern variety, but generally with the feathers barred 

 more or less distinctly with pale fulvous. The band crossing the 

 upper part of abdomen differs in being barred, the colors varying 

 from pale fulvous, in the centre of the abdomen, to more or less dis- 

 tinct brown on the flanks, and with elongated, lanceolate-shaped spots 

 of blackish-brown at the tips of the feathers, varying much in num- 

 ber and size ; the whole band varies much in size and conspicuous- 

 ness, sometimes occupying nearly the whole breast, and at other 

 times confined entirely to the abdomen ; tibise distinctly barred with 

 rusty ; crissum with a few faint bars. 



Young. Similar to young of borealis, but somewhat more spotted 

 below, and occasionally slightly soiled with rusty. 



Specimens of B. montanus, from Cape St. Lucas, have hardly a 

 trace of black on the tail ; upper tail coverts pale rufous, without bars; 

 the whole upper part of the breast deep brown, with the edges of 

 the feathers rufous ; rest of under parts pale-rusty, darker on thighs 

 and crissum, without any trace of bars except a few almost obsolete 

 ones on the upper part of abdomen ; a few very elongated brown 

 spots running down the shafts on the upper part of abdomen, and the 

 feathers on the flanks barred, and with a central stripe of the same 

 color. 



A second specimen differs in the absence of the brown color on the 

 upper part of the breast, the feathers being mostly with a large cen- 

 tral spot of dark rufous and a brown line or spot running down the 

 shaft, which expands towards the side of the neck so as gradually to 

 occupy nearly the whole feather. One of the young birds, from the 

 same locality, resembles almost precisely the young Buteo borealis, 

 another has a much larger amount of light rufous and white on the 

 upper part, and the whole breast streaked longitudinally with dark 

 brown, the feathers of the abdomen margined and spotted on each 

 side of the shaft with white ; tibiae with very broad brown bars, 

 narrowly edged with rufous ; other young birds vary between these 

 two extremes. 



A specimen from Fort Steilacoom, No. 5,836, is very dark, almost 

 blackish-brown on the interscapular region, rather lighter towards 

 the head, with the feathers of the occiput, hind-neck and rump mar- 

 gined with rufous. Tail dull-red, obscurely banded or mottled with 

 dark-red throughout the whole length, in other respects as described 

 above. Below, the throat white, each feather with a dark stripe down 

 the centre ; fore-neck and breast white, with large lanceolate spots 



