FALCONID^ — THE FALCONS. 161 



Synopsis of the American Species. 



A. Back always entirely rufous (with or without black bars.) Lower parts 

 white, or only tinged with ochraceous ; front and auriculars distinctly whitish. 



a. Inner webs of primaries barred entirely across, with white and dusky ; 

 "mustache" across the cheeks conspicuous ; no conspicuous superciliary stripe 

 of white. 



1. T. sparverius." Crown bluish, with or without a patch of rufous. 

 ^. Wings and upper part of head slaty, or ashy-blue ; scapulars, back, 



rump, and tail reddish-rufous; primaries, basal half of the secondaries, 

 and a broad subterminal zone across the tail, black. 9- The bluish, 

 except that of the head, replaced by rufous, which is everywhere barred 

 with blackish, and of a less reddish cast. Hab. Entire continent of 

 America, also Lesser Antilles, north to St. Thomas. 



b. Inner webs of primaries white, merely serrated along the shaft with 

 dusky; "mustache" obsolete or wanting; a conspicuous supercihary stripe 

 of white. 



2. T. leucophrys.- Similar to sparverius, except as characterized 

 above. Hub. Cuba and Hayti. 



1 A synopsis of the geographical races of T. simrverius comes after the remarks on that 

 species, page 1486. 



2 Falco {Tinnunculus) leucophrys. Tinnunculus sparveroides (not of Vigors 1), Lawrence, 

 Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1860, p. 1 (in part; light individuals). Fa/co sjutrverius (not of Linn.!), 

 D'Orb. E. Sagra, Hist. Nat. Cuba, p. 25 (probably). Vig. Zool. Journ. I, 339 ; III, 435. 

 Tinnunculus leucophrys, Ridgway, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1870, 147. Hab. Culw and Hayti. 



Adult $ (34,244, Eemedios, Cuba, December 14, 1863 ; N. H. Bishop). Head above pure, fine 

 bluish-ash, becoming (broadly) white on forehead; the feathers with delicate shaft-lines of black. 

 Nape, back, scapulars, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail rich purplish-rufous (almost exactly as 

 in sparverius) ; no bars on dorsal region, except a very few across ends of larger posterior scapu- 

 lars. Terminal baud of tail light rufous, .30 in width ; subterminal zone of black, very regular, 

 .55 in width ; lateral feather, with outer web and end of inner, reddish-white, the black subter- 

 minal band crossing the inner web only ; inner web anterior to this, continuous rufous ; shafts 

 of tail-feathers rufous. Wings tine bluish-ash, like the crown ; middle and lower coverts with a 

 very few elliptical, longitudinal specks or touches of black on the shafts ; secondaries pa.ssing 

 terminally into white, their exposed basal half pure black ; primaries pure black, exposed edges 

 of inner webs paler. Whole under surface of wings immaculate pure white, with a faint delicate^ 

 reddish tinge ; inner webs of primaries serrated along the shaft with dusky. Forehead and super- 

 ciliary stripe (broadly and sharply defined against the bluish of the crown), whole side of the 

 head (including lores and ear-coverts), and entire lower parts, continuous, innmiculate, pure 

 white, with a delicate orange tinge, except anteriorly. The "mustache" is but just indicated 

 by some blackish touches, and in some individuals it is wanting entirely, while in all it is very 

 restiicted in width ; the other black markings of the head are, however, as in S2)arvcrius. Wing- 

 formula, 2, 3-4, 1. Wing, 7.00; tail, 5.00; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .90; culmen, .46. A 

 specimen in Mr. Lawrence's collection, which with others he has kindly lent me for examination, 

 is in beautifully high plumage. It differs from the type in having the white of the lower parts 

 tinged, or rather stained, with a beautiful, delicate rufous, oi' almost a salmon-orange. The ter- 

 minal band of the tail also inclines decidedly to this color, while the white of the under surface 

 of the wing (particularly towards ends of secondaries and primaries) is tinged with a more pinkish 

 shade of the same. Another of Mr. Lawrence's specimens diifers in the clearer white beneath 

 (that is, with less reddish tinge, — the pureness and continuity does not vary), which extends 

 entirely around the neck, giving a sharper definition to the black pattern. The "mustache," 

 however, is almost entirely absent ; the black transverse spots on larger posterior scapulars are 

 rather more conspicuous, and the terminal band of the tail is more purely white. 



$ (31,984, Cuba, J. Ackhurst). Generally similar to siMrvcnus, but rufous brighter, the bars 



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