FALCONID^E — THE FALCONS. 237 



tarsus, 2.80-3.15; middle toe, 1.80-2.20. Hah. Northern portions 



of the Old World \&v. palumbarius} 



Adult. Above bluish slate-color, with conspicuous darker shaft-streaks; 

 top of the head deep black ; markings on the lower parts in the form 

 of irregularly defined, narrow, zigzag bars, or fine lines, of a bluish-slaty 

 tint ; throat not barred. Tail with only about four indistinct bands of 

 blackish. Wing, 12 00-14.70; tail, 9.50-12.75; culmen, .80-1.00; 

 tarsus, 2.70-3.20; middle toe, 1.70-2.00. Hab. Northern portions 

 of North America . var. atricapillus . 



Astur palumbarius, var. atricapillus (Wils.). 



AMERICAN GOSHAWK. 



Falco atricapillus, Wils. Am. Orn. 1808, pi. Ill, f. 3. — Boxap. Nouv. Giorn. Pisa, XXV, 

 pt. ii, ]). 55. Astur atricapillus, F>().nai'. Os. Cuv. Reg. An. p. 33. — Ib. List, 1838, 

 5 ; Consp. 31. —Wils. Am. Orn. 11, 284. — Kaup, Monog. Falc. Jardine's Contr. Orn. 

 1850, 66. -De Kay, Zool. N. Y. II, 19, pi. ii, tig. 4 (ad.), f. 5 {$ juv.). — Nutt. 

 Man. 85. — Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 118.— Newb. P. E. Rep. VI, iv, 74. — Coop. & 

 Suck. P. R. Rei). XII, ii, 144. — Lord, Pr. R. A. I. IV, 1860, 110. — Blakistox, 

 Ibis, III, 1861, 316. —Gray, Hand List, I, 1869, 29. — Brewer, Oology, 1857, 17. 

 Falco palumbarius. Sab. Frankl. Exp. 670. — Boxap. Ann. N. Y. Lye. II, 28. — Aud. 

 Edinb. J. Nat. Geog. Sc. Ill, 145. — In. B. Am. pi. cxli ; Orn. Biog. II, 241.— Gi- 

 RAUD, B. Long Isl'd, 18. — Peab. B. Mass. Ill, 77. Astur palumbarius, Sw. & Rich. 

 F. B. a. II, pi. xxvi. — James. Wils. Am. Orn. I, 63. — Aud. Syn. B. Am. 18. — 

 Brewer, Wils. Am. Orn. 685, pi. i, fig. 5. — Gray, List B. Brit. Mus. 63. 



Sp. Char. AduU male (44,940, Boston, Mass. ; E. A. Samuels). Above continuous 

 bluish-slate, shafts of the feather inconspicuously black ; tail darker and less bluish, tipped 

 with white (about .25 of an inch wide) and cro.ssed by five broad, faintly defined bars of 

 blackish, these most distinct on inner webs (the first concealed by the upper coverts, the 

 second partially so ; the last, or subterminal one, which is about twice as broad as the rest, 

 measuring about one inch in width). Primaries darker than the tail (but not approaching 

 oiack). Forehead, crown, occiput, and ear-coverts pure plumbeous-black ; feathers snowy- 

 white beneath the surface, much exposed on the occiput ; a broad conspicuous supra- 

 oral stripe originating above the posterior angle of the eye, running back over the ear- 

 coverts to the occiput, pure white, with finerstreaks of black; lores and cheeks grayish- 

 white. Lower parts white; the whole surface (except throat and lower tail-coverts) 

 covered with numerous narrow transverse bars of slate ; on the breast these are much 

 broken and irregular, forming fine transverse zigzags ; postei-iorly they are more regular, 

 and about .10 of an inch wide, the white a very little more. Chin, throat, and cheeks 

 without transverse bars, but with very sharp sliaft-lines of black ; breast, sides, and abdo- 

 men, a medial longitudinal broad streak of slate on each feather, the shaft black ; on the 

 tibife, where the transverse bars are narrower and more regular, the shaft-streaks are also 



1 Astur palumbarius, var. pahirnbarius (Lixx.). Falco palumbarius, Lixx. S. N. 1766, 130. 

 Astur p., Cuv. Rfeg. An. (ed. 1), 1, 320 ; et AucT. . Hab. Europe and Asia. 



Specimens examined. — National Museum, 2 ; Philadelphia Academy, 10 ; Boston Society, 5 ; 

 Museum Comp. Zool., Cambridge, 1 ; New York Mu.seum, 1. Total, 19. 



Measurements. — $ . Wing, 12.25-13.70; tail, 9.40-10.00; culmen, .80; tarsus, 3.00; 

 middle toe, 1.80. 9. Wing, 13.80-14.50; tail, 10.10-10.90; culmen, .90-. 95; tarsus, 

 2.80-3.15 ; middle toe, 2.05-2.20. 



