166 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



About two hundred and fifty specimens form the basis of the following 

 synopsis. 



A. Tail tipped with white ; outer tail-feathers (one or more) variegated. 



a. (J. Head above, and wings, fine bluish-ash ; usually one tail-feather only 

 (the outer) variegated. 



1. Vertex with a conspicuous patch of rufous. ^. Black zone of the 

 tail 1.00 in width; breast strongly tinged with ochraceous ; spots of 

 black on the breast or sides circular. 9 • Above fulvous-rufous, the 

 whole breast and sides with longitudinal dashes of a lighter tint of the 

 same. Hah. Continent of North America north of Panama (except 

 Caribbean and Gulf coast) ...... var. sparv eritis. 



2. Vertex with only a trace of rufous, or none at all. ^. Black zone 

 of tail only .60 in width; breast nearly pure white; spots of black 

 usually only on the sides, elliptical. 9- Above vinaceous-rufous; longi- 

 tudinal mai'kings beneath deeper brown. Hab. Continent of South 

 America (except North Atlantic and Caribbean coast) . var. aust ralis? 



1 Faico sparverms, var. australis. Falco gracilis (not of Lesson !), Swaixs. Ah. Menag. p. 

 281, 1838. Falco sparverius (not of Linnaeus !), Tschudi, Faun. Per. An. p. 110. Thimmculm 

 sparverius (not of Vieillot !), Darw. Zool. Beag. pt. hi, 29. Bidcns sparverius, Spix, Av. Bras. 

 I, 16. Bidcns dominiccnsis (not F. dominicensis of GMELrx !), Spix, Av. Bras. I, 16. Tinnun- 

 cidus dominicensis, Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 100, 1855 (in part). T. simrvcrius, var. australis, 

 RiDGWAY, P. A. N. S. Phil. Dec. 1870, 149. ' 



Hab. Most of continental South America, except the North Atlantic and the Caribbean 

 coasts, where replaced by the var. isabellinus. In Chile and Western Brazil, mixed with, but 

 not replaced by, var.? cinnamominus. 



Adult ^ (20,937, Parana; Coll. of the U. S. Paraguay Exp.). Similar to var. sparverius. 

 Head above with the rufous entirely wanting ; rufous of the plumage more vinaceous ; black 

 bars of the scapulars almost transversely cordate, and nearer the end of the feather ; black zone 

 of the tail only .60 of an inch wide. Beneath continuously white, with elliptical spots or streaks 

 of pure black on sides, becoming somewhat circular on the flanks. Wing, 7.70 ; tail, 5.30 ; tar- 

 sus, 1.40 ; middle toe, .92 ; culnien, .48. In all respects, except the points described, resembling 

 the true sparverius of North America, of which it is nothing more than a geographical race, and 

 a not Very strongly marked one, though the differences indicated are very constant. 



9 (50,942, Brazil; Sr. Don Fred. Alburpierque). Very similar to sparverius; the rufous, 

 equally pale, is, however, more vinaceous ; the tail decidedly less rufescent. The black bars are 

 about the same, but on the tail there ai-e thirteen, and the subterminal one is scarcely broader 

 than the rest ; the lateral tail-feather has the bars only on iiuier web, and here almost wanting. 

 Head above as in the male, being without the rufous tinge on tlie vertex. 'Beneath yellowish- 

 white, about like sparverius; the whole breast and side with numerous longitudinal dashes of 

 deep brown, similar in form to sparverius, but of much deeper tint. Inner web of longest 

 primary with twelve transverse bars of white, these scarcely exceeding the dusky ones. Wing- 

 formula, 2, 3-4-1. Wing, 7.80 ; tail, 5.20 ; tarsus, 1.30 ; middle toe, .95 ; culmen, .55. 



Juv. $ (16,570, Bogota ; AV. Evans). Differing from the adult in deeper rufous and broader 

 black bars ; those on the tail twelve in number, more than doubling in width those of the adult ; 

 markings beneath more blended, darker brown. Differs from young of var. sparverius in much 

 lighter rufous above ; less purely black bars ; entire absence of rufous on crown, and narrower 

 shaft-streaks here ; less ochraceous-white beneath, and less blended markings. 



List of Specimens examined. — Nat. Mus., 16 ; Bost. Soc, 3 ; Philad. Acad., 16 ; N. Y. Mus., 

 4 ; Mus. Comp. Zool., 2 ; R. Ridgway, 1. Total, 42. 



Measurements. — g. Wing, 6.80-7.90; tail, 4.75-5.90; culmen, .48 - .50 ; tarsus, 1.40- 

 1.50; middle toe, .90-1.00. Specimens, 17. 9. Wing, 7.20-8.15; tail, 5.10-5.80; cul- 

 men, .48 -.52; tarsus, 1.20-1.52; middle toe, .90. Specimens, 25. 



