FALCONID^ — THE FALCONS. 167 



b. ^. Head above, and wings, dark blnish-plumbeous; several outer tail- 

 feathers variegated. 



3. Vertex without any rufous. $. Anterior portions beneath deep 

 ochraceous, without spots. Tail without indication of bars anterior to 

 the subterminal one ; black bars above confined to larger scapulars. 

 9 . Above ferruginous, with the black bars broader and blacker than 

 in either of the preceding. Hah. Gulf, Caribbean, and Atlantic coasts 



of tropical continental America (Florida to Cayenne) . var. isah ellinn s. 



4. Vertex with a patch of rufous. ^. Black spots beneath numerous, 

 large and circular. Tail with moi'e or less complete black bars anterior 

 to the subterminal band, sometimes regularly barred to the base ; black 

 bars above covering entire rufous surface. 9- Similar to that of 

 isabellinus, but markings beneath more numerous, and pure black 

 instead of brown. Hob. Lesser Antilles, north to St. Thomas. 



var. dominie en sis } 



1 Falco sjoarverius, var. chminicensis. Accipiter {^salon) dominicensis , Brissox, Orn. I, 389, 

 pi. xxxii. f. 2, 1760. Falco dominicensis, Gmelix, Syst. Nat. p. 285, 1789. Tinnunculus 

 dominicensis, Strickl. Oni. Syn. I, 100, 1855 (in part only). Tinnunculus sparverius, var. 

 dominicensis, Ridgway, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. Dec. 1870, 149. 



Hab. Lesser Antilles north to Porto Rico and St. Thomas. 



Adult $ (52,428, St. Bartholenii ; Professor Sundevall). Resembling var. isabellinus in gen- 

 eral appearance, but darkei', and more heavily barred above ; beneath nuich more spotted. Head 

 above with blackish shaft-streaks and vertex with a patch of rufous ; this, however, some- 

 wliat restricted. Rufous above, with numerous broad bars of black, these running continuously 

 across and extending anteriorly to the neck ; rump even, with a few very small, transversely 

 sagittate specks of the same. Tail crossed by nine perfectly regular and sharply defined narrow 

 bands of pure black, anterior to the subterminal zone, which is about .80 of an inch wide ; outer 

 feather white, tinged medially with rufous, barred with black to the base. Black spotting in 

 dark cinereous of the wing very exaggerated in comparison ^\■itll var. sparverius. Markings 

 beneath very numerous, the sides being thickly marked with large cordate or nearly circular spots 

 of black, these growing larger toward the flanks. The rufous of the breast is about as in var. 

 isabellinus. Wing, 6.80; tail, 5.10; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, .94; culmen, .53. Wing-for- 

 mula, 3-2-4, 5, 6-1. 



9 (52,429, St. Bartholenii; Professor Sundevall). Black bands above exceeding in breadth 

 the rufous ones ; each featlier of the head above with a sharp medial streak of black. Tail with 

 twelve bands of black ; outer feather approaching white. Markings beneath pure black, as in 

 the male ; their course longitudinal anteriorly, on the sides more circular, transverse on the 

 flanks. Wing, 6.70 ; tail, 5.00 ; tarsus, 1.30 ; middle toe, 1.00 ; culmen, .53. Wing-formula, 

 3, 2-4-1, 5. 



The male selected for the type is an extreme example ; no others have the character of the 

 variety presented in a degree as exaggerated as this specimen. Nos. 362 ($) and 170 (9^ of the 

 Br3^ant Collection) from Porto Rico, and No. 36,554 {^ , St. Thomas ; Robert Swift), may be taken 

 as more perfect, or rather as average representatives of the variety. These two males are almost 

 exactly similar. They have the back as strongly barred as in the type, and the black spots on 

 the rumji are as noticeable ; but the tail, instead of being crossed by regular, perfectly continuous, 

 sharply defined bands, has these broader and more broken, being indicated only by spots along 

 the edge ; they also decrease in width toward the base. The Porto Rico specimen has very much 

 ashy-white between the two last black bars, this being found on the four lateral featliers ; between 

 the next two, on three feathers, etc. The other specimen, however, is destitute of this ashy- 

 white, althougli the outer web of the lateral feather is pure white, — spotted, however, with 

 black. In the Porto Rico specimen the breast is as deeply ochraceous as in the isabellinus style ; 

 but the spots are larger and more numerous even than in any examples of sparverius. A female 

 from here differs from the type only in a few unimportant points, the principal difference being 

 in the markings beneath. In this there is a general ochraceous wash on the lower j^arts, the 



