FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 



193 



skins, the female measuring, wing, 15.50 ; tail, 13.00. The colors of this 

 female, however, are as in American examples. The male has the plumage 

 somewhat different from anything we have seen in the small series of Ameri- 

 can specimens. The whole upper parts are a polished violaceous slaty- 

 black, this covering the back and lesser wing-coverts, as well as other upper 

 parts. AYere a large series of American specimens examined, individuals 

 might perhaps be found corresponding in all respects with the pair in ques- 

 tion. 



LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED. 



National Museum, 9 ; Philadelphia Academy, 3 ; New York Museum, 4 (Brazil) ; 

 Boston Society, 1 ; Cambridge Museum, 2 ; Cab. Gr. N. Lawrence, 3 ; Coll. R. Ridgway, 

 L Total, 23. 



Habits. The Swallow-tailed Hawk has an extended distribution in the 

 eastern portion of North America. It is irregularly distributed ; in a large 



Nauclerus forficatus. 



part of the country it occurs only occasionally and in small numbers, and 

 is probably nowhere abundant except in the southwestern Gulf States, or 

 along the rivers and inland waters. On the Atlantic coast it has been 

 traced, according to Mr. Lawrence, as far north as New Y^ork City. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Nuttall, individuals have been seen on the Mississippi as far as 

 St. Anthony's Falls, in latitude 44°. It is found more or less common along 

 the tributaries of the Ohio and Mississippi, where it is essentially a prairie 

 bird, and breeds in Southern Wisconsin, in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, and 

 throughout Illinois. It has been taken in Cuba, and occasionally also in 

 Jamaica. It is found in Central America, and in South America to North- 



VOL. III. 



2.5 



