FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 215 



& Swains. Faun. Bor. Am. pi. xxi.v, 1831. — Atjd. Sj'nop. p. 19, 1839. — Brew. 

 (WiLS.) N. Am. Oni. Syn. 685, 1852. — Peab. U. S. Expl. Exp. p. 63, 1848.— Woodh. 

 in Sitgr. Rep't, Exp. Zuni & Colorad. p. 61, 1853. —Nutt. Man. Orn. U. S. & Can. p. 

 109, 1833. — GiRAUD. B. Long Isl'd, p. 21, 1844. —Gray, List B. Brit. Mus. p. 78, 

 1844. 



Sp. Char. Adult male (10,7G4, Washington, D. C, December). Head, neck, breast, 

 and upper parts light cinereous, palest anteriorly where it is uninterruptedly continuous; 

 occiput somewhat darker, with a transverse series of longitudinal dasiies of white, some- 

 what tinged with reddish. Back, scapulars, and terminal third of secondaries, witli a 

 dusky wash, the latter fading at tips ; five outer primaries nearly black, somewhat hoary 

 on outer webs beyond their emargination ; lesser wing-coverts faintly mottled with paler, 

 or with obsolete dusky spots. Upper tail-coverts immaculate pure white. Tail bluish- 

 cinereous, mottled with Avhite toward base ; crossed near the end with a distinct band of 

 black, and with about five narrower, very obscurely indicated ones anterior to this ; tip 

 beyond the subterminal zone fading terminally into whitish. Whole underside of wing 

 (except terminal third or more of primaries) piu'e white ; immaculate, excepting a few 

 scattered transverse dusky spots on larger coverts. Eest of under parts pure white 

 everywhere, with rather sparse transverse^cordate spots of rufous. Wing, 14.00 ; tail, 

 9.20; tarsus, 2.80; middle toe, 1.30. Third and fourth quills equal, and longest; second 

 intermediate between fifth and sixth ; first 5.81 inches shorter than longest. 



Another specimen differs as follows: The fine cinei-eous above is replaced by a darker 

 and more brownish shade of the same, the head and breast much tmged with rusty. 

 Tail much darker, the last black band twice as broad and near the tip ; other bands more 

 numerous (seven instead of five), and although still very obscure on middle feathers are 

 better defined than in the one described ; inner webs of tail-feathers (especially the outer 

 ones) tinged with cream-color; white of lower parts tinged with rufous; the deep rufous 

 transverse bars on the breast and sides broader, larger, and more numerous than in No. 

 16,764; abdomen and tibife with numerous smaller cordate spots of rufous; lower tail- 

 coverts with large cordate spots of the same, and a deep stain of paler rufous ; lining of 

 wings more variegated. Wing, 14.10 ; tail, 9.00 ; tarsus, 2.90 ; middle toe, 1.30. 



Adult female (16,758, Hudson's Bay Territory ; Captain Blakiston). Umber-brown 

 above ; feathers of the head and neck edged laterally with pale rufous ; lores, and supercil- 

 iary and suborbital stripes dull yellowish-white, leaving a dusky stripe between thera, 

 nmning back from the posterior angle of the eye. Lesser wing-coverts spattered with pale 

 rufous, this irregularly bordering and indenting the feathers; feathers of the rump 

 bordered with dull ferruginous. Tail deep umber, faintly fading at the tip, and cro.ssed by 

 six or seven very regular, sharply defined, but obscure, bands of blackish ; the alternating 

 light bars become paler and more I'ufous toward the edge of the tail, the lateral feathers 

 being almost wholly pale cream-color or ochraceous, darker terminally ; this tint is more 

 or less prevalent on the inner webs of nearly all the feathers. Ear-coverts dull dark 

 rufous, obsoletely streaked with dark brown ; the feathers of the facial disk are fine pale 

 cream-color, each with a middle stripe of dark brown ; throat and chin immaculate dirty- 

 white, like the supraorbital and suborbital stripes. Beneath dull white, with numerous 

 broad longitudinal stripes of umber-brown ; these broadest on the breast, growing gradu- 

 ally smaller posteriorly. Under surface of primaries dull white, crossed at wide intervals 

 with dark-brown irregular bars, of which there are five (besides the terminal dark space) 

 on the longest quill. 



Juv. {$, 15,585, Bridger's Pass, Rocky Mountains, August; W. S.Wood). Upper 

 parts very dark rich clove-brown, approaching sepia-black ; feathers of the head bordered 

 with deep ferruginous, and lesser wing-coverts much spotted with the same, the edges of 

 the feathers being broadly of this color ; secondaries and inner primaries fading terminally 



