18S5.J Ridgway on Buteo harlani and B. cooperi. 1 65 



other nests of this species, found at but a short distance away, 

 will complete the record of nests observed. At a point on a 

 cactus desert, about a mile from where most of the nests enu- 

 merated were taken, I found a nest of this species built on the 

 trunk or stem of a yucca about eight feet from the ground. It 

 contained young birds almost ready to leave the nest. The 

 trunks of many of the yuccas are covered with dead leaves 

 hanging downward, and this nest, which is a cup-like structure, 

 built of green grasses closely woven, is placed on the outside of 

 the dried leaves and is only attached to one of them. It is rather 

 more than three inches deep, and is attached to a single leaf 

 for this distance. No leaves cover it or conceal it, and the 

 general appearance is that of a cup resting against the trunk of 

 a tree with no apparent attachment to it. 



In the mesquite regions about Tucson the nests are frequently 

 built in the mistletoe that grows plentifully on that tree. These 

 nests are generally symmetrical, shallow cups in shape, and are 

 almost always semi-pensile. 



ON BUTEO HARLANI (AUD.) AND B. COOPERI 



CASS. 



BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. 



Since the publication in 'The Auk,' for July, 1884 (pp. 

 253, 254), of the article suggesting the possible identity of these 

 two birds, the National Museum has purchased from Mr. G. H. 

 Ragsdale, of Gainesville, Texas, a specimen which proves con- 

 clusively that B. harlani has, like B. borealis and B . swainsoni, 

 a light-colored phase, but at the same time, unfortunately, does 

 not dispose of the question of B. cooperi. The recently acquired 

 specimen, which is undoubtedly B. harlani, is even decidedly 

 lighter in color than B. cooperi, the tail being almost wholly 

 white, as are also the upper coverts, while the scapulars and 

 wing-coverts have a much greater amount of light spotting. 

 Notwithstanding its very light colors, however, the two partic- 

 ularly diagnostic characters of B. cooperi, mentioned in the 

 article above referred to, viz., the unusual length of the naked 

 portion of the tarsus, in front, and the plumbeous or almost glau- 



