38 PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



Tiew that they are referable to the Sandwich Island species, according 

 to which conclusion the synonymy of Onychotes solitarius stand as 

 follows : 



Onychotes Bolitarius (Peale) Eidgw. 



Buteo solitarius, Peale, Zool. U. S. Expl. Exp. Birds, Ist ed., 1848, 62 (Hawaii ; 

 typeinMus. Phil. Ac.).— SCL., P. Z. S., 1878, 348; Zool. "Challenger" Exp. 

 Zool., ii, pt. viii. Birds, 1881, 96, pi. xxi.— Gurney, List Diurn. B. Prey, 

 1884, 64, 141. 



Fandion solitarius, Cass., Zool. U. S. Expl. Exp., Ornithology, 2d ed., 1858, 97, 

 pi. iv. 



Polioaetus solitarius, Sharpe, Cat. B.Brit. Mus., 1, 1874, 452. 



Onychotes gruheri, EiDGW., Pr. Phil Ac., xxiii, Dec. 1870, 142, 149 ("Califor- 

 nia"); in Hist.N. Am. B., iii, 1874, 254 (figs.); Eod and Gun, vol. 6, No. 

 5, May 1, 1875, 65 (" California V) ; Bull. U. S. Geol. andGeog. Surv. Terr., 

 ii, No 2, April 1, 1870, 134; Noui. N. Am. B., 18H0, No. 446.— Coues, Am. 

 Nat., V, 1871, 238; Key, 1872, 219, 2ded., 1884, 553; Check List, 1873,^ No. 

 659; 2ded., 1881, No. 529.— Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mu8.,i, lb74, 158, foot- 

 note ("^rwe^m").— Gurney, Ibis, 1876, 476; ib. 1881, 396, pi. 12 (" grue- 

 beri"); List. Diurn. B. Prey, 1884, 71. 



The genus or subgenus Onychotes, in its new signification, while 

 closel}^ related to Buteo, is tenable, with the following diagno.sis: 



General charactbes. — Nostril nearly circular, or more properly 

 semi-circular, its upper outline being less curved than the lower, more 

 horizontal, its direction nearly parallel with the commissure of the bill; 

 a cartilaginous tubercle is seen within the nostril in its upper portion. 

 Outstretched feet reaching to or beyond end of the tail; tarsus long, 

 nearly twice the length of the middle toe; outer toe decidedly longer 

 than the inner, which reaches the second phalangeal articulation of the 

 middle toe; hind toe shorter than the inner. Scutellation of the tarsi 

 and toes as in the typical Buteones, there being a continuous single se- 

 ries of transverse plates on the posterior face of the former; those on 

 the anterior face number 11-12. Claws ijroportionally large, those of 

 the first and second toes considerably exceeding their digits in length; 

 they are much graduated in size to the outer, which is only half the 

 length of the posterior one; their shape is normally buteonine. A well- 

 developed web between outer and middle toes. Wing short and much 

 rounded, reaching to about the. middle of the tail, which is slightly 

 rounded, and more than half as long as the wing. Eemiges, 24; rec- 

 trices, 12. Third, fourth, and fifth quills longest, and nearly equal ; 

 first shorter than eighth, sometimes shortest; second about equal to 

 sixth, or a little longer; outer four with inner webs emarginated. Up- 

 per third of the tarsus densely feathered in front and on sides. Lores 

 quite densely covered with strong black bristles, these extending for- 

 ward so as to cover the entire cere beneath the nostrils. Superciliary 

 shield bare and ijrominent. 



The tarsi are proportionally longer than in Buteo, while the toes and 

 claws are much longer, compared with the tarsus, than in the long-legged 

 genera Uruhitinga, Leucopternis, Asturina, and Rupornis. 



