224 ■ NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Young. Above grayish umber-brown, the feathers bordered more or less dis- 

 tinctly with rusty ; scapulars with large white spots, mostly concealed ; tail- 

 bands more distinct than in the adult. Beneath white, longitudinally striped 

 with dusk^^-brown. 



1. N. fuscus. Middle toe shorter than the bare portion of the tarsus, in 

 front ; tarsal scutelte fused into a continuous plate in the adult male. Tail 

 nearly even. Top of head concolor with the back; tail merely fading into 

 whitish at the tip. Concealed white spots of the scapulars very large and 

 conspicuous. Wing, 0.45 - 8.80 ; tail, 570 - 8.20 ; culmen, .40 - .60 ; tarsus, 

 1.85-2.25; middle toe, 1.10-1.55. Hah. Whole of North America and 

 Mexico. 



2. N. cooperi. Middle toe longer than the bare portion of the tarsus, iu 

 front ; tarsal scutellje never fused. Tail much rounded. Top of the head 

 much darker than the back ; tail distinctly tipped with white ; concealed 

 white spots of the scapulars very small, or obsolete. Wing, 8.50-11.00; 

 tail, 7.50-10..50; culmen, .60-. 80; tarsus, 2.10-2.75; middle toe, 1.30-1.85. 

 Hob. Whole of North America and Mexico. 



Adult. Rufous markings beneath, in form of detached bars, not 

 exceeding the white ones in width ; dark slate of the pileum and 

 nape abruptly contrasted with the bluish-plumbeous of the back ; 

 upper tail-coverts narrowly tipped with white ; scapulars with con- 

 cealed spots of wliite. Young. White beneath pure ; tibiie with 

 narrow longitudinal spots of brown. Wing, 9.00-11.00; tail, 

 8.00-9.80; culmen, .65 -.80; tarsus, 2.45-2.75; middle toe, 

 1.55 - 1.85. Hah. Eastern region of North America ; Eastern 

 Mexico .......... var. cooperi. 



Adult. Rufous markings beneath, in form of broader bars, con- 

 nected along the shaft, almost uniform on the breast ; black of the 

 pileum and nape fading gradually into the dusky plumbeous of the 

 back; upper tail-coverts not tipped witli white, and scapulars 

 "Without concealed spots of the same. Young. White beneath 

 strongly tinged with ochraceous; tibite with broad transverse spots 

 of brown. Wing, 8.50-10.00: tail, 7.50-10.50; culmen, .60- 

 .75; tarsus, 2.10-2.75; middle toe, 1.30-1.75. Hah. Western 

 region of North America ; Western Mexico . . var. mexicanus. 



Nisus fuscus (Gmel.) Kaup. 



SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 



Falco fuscus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. p. 283, 1789. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 43, 1790 ; Syn. I, 98, 

 1781 ; Gen. Hist. I, 283, 1821. — Mill. Cim. Pliy.s. pi. xviii, 1796. — Daud. Tr. Orn. 

 11, 86, 1800. —Shaw, Zool. VII, 161, 1809. — Aud. B. Am. pi. ccclxxiii, 1821 ; Orn. 

 Biog. IV. 522, 1831. — BiiEW. (Wils.) Am. Orn. 685, 1852. — Peab. B. Mass. Ill, 78, 

 1841. — Thomp. Nat. Hist. Verm. p. 61, 1842. — Nutt. Man. 87,1833. Accipiter 

 fuscus, Bonap. Eur. & N. Am. B. ]>. 5, 1838 ; Consp. Av. 32, 1850. — Gray, List B. 

 Brit. Mus. 38, 1844 ; Gen. B. fol. sji. 4, 1844. — C'a.ss. B. Cal. & Tex. 95, 1854 ; Proc. 

 Ac. Nat. So. Phil. 1855, 279 ; Birds N. Am. 1858, 18. — Stp.ickl. Orn. Syn. I, 108, 

 1855. — WooDH. Sitgr. Exp. Zuni & Colorad. p. 61, 1853. — Cooper & Suckley, P. 

 R. R. Rep't, VII, ii, 146, I860. — Heerm. Williamson's Rep. 33. — Newb. Williamson's 

 Rep. 74. — CouEs, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. Jan. 1866, p. 7. — Blakist. Ibis, III, 1861, 

 317 (fresh eggs). — Gray, Hand List, 1, 32, 1869. Astur fuscus, De Kay, N. Y. 



