iSq^-] Mearns oil the American Spdiro-v /A^iiX.s-. ZOC) 



oiiterniost tail-feather is unspotted, the one next to it has only faint indi" 

 cations of spots near the inner edge of the inner web, and the third 

 has small spots on both inner and outer webs, while the black on the 

 middle feathers amounts only to serrations along the edges. There arc 

 indications of rufous on the feathers of the centre of the crown, as often 

 seen in females o( anstralis. 



Remarks. — A male (No. 48,820, Smithsonian collection) from Santiago, 

 Chile, taken in November, 1863, has the dark, sharply streaked crown of 

 ciiinainominus,\\\\.\\ the coarser spotting of sides, and the tail with a white 

 tip, variegated outer feathers, and broader black zone, of australis, and a 

 very imperfect specimen from Peru (No. 39,952, Smiths. Inst.), seem to 

 indicate its intergradation with the following subspecies. 



Measurements. — Average of two adult males from Chile: wing, 194.0; 

 tail, 141. o; culmen, 12.5; width of bill, 11. o; tarsus, 37.5; middle toe, 

 25.0 mm. Measurements of No. 48,819, ? ad.: wing, 200.0; tail, 147.0; 

 chord of culmen, 13.0; width of bill at base, 11.3; tarsus, 38.5; middle toe, 

 36.0 mm. 



Falco sparverius aequatorialis subsp. nov. 



ECUADOR SPARROW HAWK. 



Habitat. Ecuador. 



General characters. — Size, largest. Crown slate-color, streaked with 

 black, with or without indications of a rufous crown patch ; outer tail- 

 feathers variegated; underparts deeply suffused with tawny ochraceous 

 \yv\^ in both sexes. Female deep rufous above, sparsely barred, with the 

 upper tail coverts and hinder part of rump immaculate. 



Types., No. 101,309, $ ad., Guayaquil, Ecuador, Dr. Wm. H. Jones, U. 

 S. N., and No. 67,349, $ ad., Ecuador, both in the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. 



Description of male type. — Crown dark slate-color, with black centres 

 to the feathers, only one of which shows a trace of rufous ; dusky of crown 

 continuous behind with the large black patch of nape. Back and scapu- 

 lars vinaceous cinnamon rufous, becoming more castaneous on rump and 

 tail. Scapulars, and hinder and middle portion of back, heavily barred 

 with black. Wings darker plumbeous than in the other subspecies, with 

 large black spots on the coverts. Tail with a broad subterminal zone of 

 black as in sparverius, with the tip white, tinged with rufous, and plum- 

 beous on the tips of the central feathers; two outer tail feathers varie- 

 gated, the outer being cinereous and white, with six heavy black spots 

 on the inner web. Underparts, including crissum, ochraceous buff, deep- 

 est on the chest; lining of wings stained with ochraceous; sides with 

 several rows of black spots, varying from elliptical to oval. 



Measurements. — Wing, 196.0; tail, 149.0; culmen (chord), 12.8; width 

 of bill at base, 9.0; tarsus, 42.0; middle toe, 25.0 mm. 



