FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 203 



primaries with more or less rufous. Young. Beneath whitish, striped longitu- 

 dinally with brownish ; above much variegated ; tail with several narrow whitish 

 bands. 



1. I. mississippiensis. Adult. Wings lighter than the tail, the secon- 

 daries hoaiy whitish ; inner webs of primaries with only obscure spots of 

 rufous, the outer webs with a very obscure stripe of the same. Tail wholly 

 black. Young. Stripes beneath reddish-uniber ; lower tail-coverts with 

 longitudinal shaft-streaks of the same. Second to thii-d quills longest ; first 

 shorter than seventh and longer than sixth. Wing, 10.60-12 30; tail, 

 6.00-7.00; culnien, .60 -.65; tarsus, 1.30-1.55; middle toe, 1.00-1.10. 

 Hab. Prairies and savannas of the southern United States and Northern 

 Mexico, from Wisconsin and G-eorgia to Mirador. 



2. I. plumbea.* Adult. Wing concolor with the tail, the secondaries 

 black ; inner webs of the primaries almost wholly rufous ; outer webs with 

 only a trace of rufous. Tail with about three bands of pure white, formed 

 by transverse spots on the inner webs. Young. Stripes beneath brownish- 

 black : lower tail-coverts transversely spotted with the same ; upper parts 

 darker. Third quill longest ; first shorter or longer than the seventh. Tail 

 more nearly square. Wing, 10.50- 12.20; tail, 5.60-6.80; culmen, .62- 

 .70; tarsus, 1.15-1.50; middle toe, 1.00-1.05. Hab. Tropical America, 

 from Paraguay to Southern Mexico. 



Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). 



MISSISSIPPI KITE; BLUE KITE. 



Falco mississipjnensis, Wils. Am. Oni. pi. 25, f. ], 1808. — Lath. Gen. Hist. I, 275. — 

 James. (Wils.) Atn. Orn. 1, 72, 1831. Nertus mississippiensis, Bote, Isis, 1828, 314. 

 Milvus ■/nississippioisis, Cuv. Reg. An. (ed. 2), I, 335, 1829. Ictinia viississippiensis, 

 GiiAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 2 ; List B. Brit. Mas. p. 48, 1844 ; Gen. & Sub-Gen. Brit. Mus. 

 p. 6, 1855. —Cass. B. Cal. & Tex. p. lOG, 1854. — Kaup, Ueb. Falk. Mus. Senck. 

 p. 258, 1845 ; Monog. Falc. Gont. Orn. 1850, p. 57. — Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 140, 1855. 

 — Brewer, Oology, I, 1857, 41. — Coues, Prod. Orn. Ariz. p. 13, 1866. — Dresser, 

 Ibis, 1865, 327 (Texas). — Gray, Hand List, I, 28, 1869. Falco j)hmiheus, AuD. Orn. 

 Biog. II, 108, pi. cxvii ; V, ]>. 374, 1831. Ictinia pluvibca,, Bonap. Eur. & N. Am. 

 B. p. 4, 1838; Ann. N. Y. Lye. II, 30; Isis, 18.32, p. 1137. — Jard. (Wils.) Am. 

 Orn. I, 368, pi. 25, f. 1, 1832. — Brev/. (Wils.) Synop. 685, 1852. — AuD. Synop. B. 

 Am. p. 14, 1839. — WooDii. (Sitgr.) Exji. Zuiii & Colorad. p. 61, 1853. — Nutt. Man. 

 92, 1833. 



Sp. Char. Adult male (No. 1,486, Coll. R. Ridgway, Richland Co., 111., August 19, 

 1871). Head, neck, secondaries, and entire lower parts plumbeous-ash, becoming, by a 

 gradual transition, lighter on the head and secondaries, where the shade is pale cinereous ; 

 the head anteriorly, and the tips of the secondaries, being silvery-white. Lores and eye- 

 lids black. Rest of the plumage dark plumbeous, approaching plumbeous-black on the 



1 Ictinia plumbea (Gmel. ). Falco phimbeus, Gmel. S. N. 1789, 283. Ictinia phmibea, 

 ViEiLL. 1816, 24. — Gray, Hand List, I. Nertus plumhcus, Boie, Isis, 1828, 314. Pcecilo})- 

 tcryx plumbevs, Kaup, Ueb. Falk. Mus. Senck. 1845, 258. Milvus cenchris, Vieill. Ois. Am. 

 Sept. 1807, pi. X. Buteo cenchris, Cuv. Reg. An. (ed. 2), I, 1829, 337. 



Specimens examined. — Xational Museum, 4 ; Philadel[)hia Academy, 4 ; New York Museum, 

 4 ; Boston Society, 4 ; Museum Coinp. Zool., 1 ; Cab. G. N. Lawrence, 2 ; Coll. R. Ridgway, 

 1. Total, 20. 



