178 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Adult. Transverse bars confined to the breast and interscapulars; 

 rest of body continuous black; tail-coverts without bars; wing- 

 coverts unvariegated. Terminal zone of tail about 2.50 wide. 

 Young. Longitudinal stripes confined to the breast and inter- 

 scapulars ; rest of the body continuous brown. Tail-coverts with- 

 out bars. Hah. Middle America, and southern border of United 

 States, from Florida to Cape St. Lucas . . . var. auduboni. 



Polyborus tharus, var. auduboni, Cassin. 



CARACARA EAGLE; "KING BUZZARD" OF FLORIDA. 



Polyiorus auduboni, Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1865, p. 2. Polyborus vulgaris 

 ("ViElLL."), AuD. Orn. Biog. II, 350, 1834 (not ofViElLLOT !). Polyborus brasiliensis 

 ("Gmel."), Aud. Birds Am. Oct. ed. I, 21, 1840 (not of Gmelin !). Polyborus tharus 

 ("MoL.") C.issiN, Birds of Cal. & Tex. 1, 113; 1854 (not of Mouna !) ; Brewer, 

 Oology, 1857, p. 58, pi. xi, figs. 18 & 19 ; Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 45. — Heerm. 

 P. R. R. Rept. VII, 31, 1857. — Coue,s, Prod. Orn. Ariz. p. 13, 1866. — Owen, Ibis, 

 III, 67. — GuRNEY, Cat. Rapt. B. 1864, 17. — Dre.s.ser, Ibis, 1865, 329 (Texas). 



Sp. Char. Adult male (12,016, Texas ; Capt. McCall). Forehead, crown, occiput, and 

 nape, wings, scapulars, rump, belly, thighs, and anal region continuous deep dull black ; 

 chin, neck, jugulum, breast, and tail-coverts (upper and lower), soiled white. Breast 

 with numerous cordate spots of black, these growing larger posteriorly, and running in 

 transverse series ; back with transverse bars of white, which become narrower and less 

 distinct posteriorly. Basal two-thirds of tail white, crossed by thirteen or fourteen 

 narrow transverse bands of black, which become narrower and more faint basally ; outer 

 web of lateral feather almost entirely black ; broad terminal band of the tail uniform 

 black (2.40 inches in width) ; third, fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries grayish just beyond 

 the coverts, this portion with three or four transverse bars of white. Middle portion of 

 primaries beneath, faintly barred with white and ashy; the barred portion extending 

 obliquely across. Third quill longest, fourth a little shorter, second shorter than fifth ; first 

 3.60 inches shorter than longest. Wing, 16.70 ; tail, 9.60; tarsus, 3.40; middle toe, 2.10. 



Adult female. Plumage similar ; white more brownish; abdomen with indication of 

 bars. Wing, 15.50; tail, 8.70; tarsus, 3.30; middle toe, 2.20. 



shorter ; second intermediate between fifth and sixth ; first a little longer than seventh. Wing, 

 16.00 ; tail, 6.50 ; tarsus, 3.50 ; middle toe, 1.75. 



Young (13,923, South America ; T. R. Peale). Forehead, crown, occiput, nape, back, wings, and 

 lower parts dark sepia-brown ; feathers of the breast, sides, and abdomen marked centrally with 

 a broad longitudinal stripe of soiled fulvous-white ; those of nape and back more obsoletely 

 striped, and variegated irregularly at ends witli the same ; wing-coverts passing terminally into 

 pale brownish ; .secondaries obscurely barred with the .same. Cheek.s, chin, and throat unvarie- 

 gated soiled white ; tibial feathers with shaft-stripes of pale fulvous. Rump, tail-coverts, and tail 

 as in adult. Several specimens from Buenos Ayres (Conchitas ; Wm. H. Hudson), and one from 

 Paraguay (59,236 ; T. J. Page, U. S. N.), have the black of the lower part of the abdomen and 

 flanks quite continuous. There is never, however, in South American specimens, an approach to 

 the peculiar characters of auduboni, as defined. 



List of Specimens examined. — Nat. Mus., 7 ; Bost. Soc, 4 ; Philad. Acad., 3 ; N. Y. Mus., 3. 

 Total, 17. 



Measurements.—^. Wing, 16.00-17.20; tail, 10.00 - 11.00 ; culmen, 1.20 - 1.30 ; tarsus, 

 3.70-3.90; middle toe, 1.75-2.15. Specimens, 2. ^. Wing, 17.70 ; tail, 10.00 ; culmen, 

 1.41 ; tarsus, 4.20 ; middle toe, 2.30. Specimens, 1. Sex i Wing, 15.50 ; tail, 10.00 ; culmen, 

 1.30 ; tar.sus, 3.65 ; middle toe, 1.90. Smallest of 4. 



