Mr. R. B. Sharpens Catalogue of Accipitres, 549 



naure, near Santa Marta, in Colombia, on 27th May 1878*, 

 and but for its having been obtained so late in the spring, 

 might be supposed to have been an individual of the small 

 race of Lower California whieh had migrated to a more 

 southern region during the winter months ; its having been 

 obtained in Colombia so late as the 27th May, however, is a 

 circumstance very adverse to this supposition. The mea- 

 surements of this specimen I have given, with those of some 

 others, at the end of my remarks on this species. 



Mr. Sharpe has followed Brissonf in his statement that 

 the iris of T. sparverius is yellow; but this is at variance with 

 the subjoined records : — 



Adult male, from the banks of the Saskatchewan, "iris 

 dark brown '^ {Richardson) %> 



Adult male. United States, "iris brown" {Audubon) §. 



Male, United States, "iris dark, almost black;" female. 

 United States, '^iris deep dusky" {Wilson) [|. 



Specimen from Tehuantepec, " iris dark brown " {Sumi- 

 chrast) ^. 



Adult male, Manaure, Colombia, " iris dark brown " 

 {Simons) ^■^. 



I have not seen a young male of T. sparverius killed at a 

 sufficiently early stage to retain any portion of its nestling- 

 down ; but I believe that the first dress of the young males, as 

 stated by Mr. Sharpe, " resembles the old female ;" this 

 agrees with the following statement in the ' Fauna Boreali- 



* A younger male of small dimensious, and still in female dress, also 

 obtained at Manaure, and killed on June 1, 1878, is likewise in the col- 

 lection of Messrs. Salvin and Godman, and, I think, is probably referable 

 to T. sparverius, as it has a considerable amount of rufous on the crown 

 of the head. The British Museum also contains an adult mal^ from 

 Caracas, in Venezuela, which I think should also be referred to T. spar- 

 verms ; but the Kestrel usually found in Venezuela is T. isabellinus. 



t Ornithologia, vol. i. p. 387. 



X Fauna Boreali-Americana, pt. 2, p. 34. 



§ Ornithological Biography, vol. ii. p. 251. 



II American Ornithology, vol. ii. p. 112. 

 H Bidl. U.S. Nat. Mus. No. 4, p. 39. 

 •* Ibis, 1879, p. 206. 



SER. IV. VOL. V. 2 P 



