FALCONID.E DIURNAL RAPTORES. 479 



each marked with an exceedingly irregular transverse spot of black. Tail white on 

 basal two thirds, and narrowly, but sharply tipped with the same ; subterminal portion 

 pale mottled cinereous, with a very broad zone of black next the terminal white, and an- 

 terior to this three narrowed and more irregular bands of the same. Primaries blackish 

 cinereous, with indistinct darker bands. Ground color of head and lower parts dull 

 white; cheeks thickly streaked with black; ear-coverts and throat more sparsely 

 streaked; forehead and sub-orbital region plain whitish. Breast with large, longitudinal 

 but very irregular, oblong spots of dark brown, these largest and somewhat confluent 

 laterally ; lower part of breast with much less numerous and less longitudinal spots ; 

 tibiae strongly tinged with rusty, and with tarsus, abdomen, crissum.and flanks having 

 irregular transverse spots of blackish brown; lower tail-coverts unvariegated. Lining 

 of wing white, with numerous spots of black, these becoming more rusty towards the 

 axillars; a large space of continuous clear black, covering the under primary coverts and 

 the coverts immediately anterior; under surface of primaries and secondaries pure 

 white, the former becoming black at ends, the latter ashy; no bars, except toward shafts 

 of the latter. Fourth quill longest; third equal to fifth; second intermediate between 

 fifth and sixth; first equal to eighth. Wing, 16.50; tail. 9.00; tarsus,2.50; middle toe,1.30; 

 bilLfrom base of cere.1.30; culmen, .90. 



Adult female (No. 28,156, Philadelphia, Pa.: J. Krider). Generally similar to the male. 

 On head and nape, however, the yellowish white predominates, the central black being 

 much reduced; on the other hand, there is less white on the upper parts, the dull cine- 

 reous drab being much more evenly spread; darker markings less conspicuous. Tail 

 white only at the base, the remaining portion being pale cinereous drab crossed with 

 four or five distinct, very regular bands of black, the tip being very broadly ashy. Flanks 

 with ground color light umber- drab, and marked with transverse bands of black. Lower 

 surface generally as in the male; tail-coverts with two or three blackish spots, apparently 

 out of place. Fourth quill longest; fifth much shorter than third; second intermediate 

 between fifth and sixth ; first intermediate between seventh and eighth. Wing. 17.00; 

 tail. 9.00; tarsus, 2.40; middle toe, 1.30; bill from base of cere, 1.30; culmen. .85. 



Young (No. 25,934. United States). Upper surface generally light umber, becoming 

 lighter on scapulars and middle wing-coverts, but showing nowhere any trace of spots 

 or bands; wings, scapulars, and back with blackish shaft- streaks, primaries approaching 

 black toward ends, becoming white basally; upper tail-coverts white, with a hastate 

 stripe of brown along shaft; tail, basal half white, terminal half plain drab, becoming 

 darker terminally, the tip narrowly white. Head.neck.and lower plumage in general, 

 white stained with ochraceous.this deepest on tibiae and tarsi; head and neck streaked 

 with dark brown, ear-coverts almost immaculate; breast with oblong spots of clear 

 brown; flanks, abdomen, and anal region continuous uniform rich purplish vandyke- 

 brown, forming conspicuous transverse belt; tibiae and tarsi scarcely varied, the few 

 markings longitudinal; lower tail-coverts immaculate. Under side of wing much as in 

 adult; black area, however, more extended; lining much tinged with rufous, and with 

 longitudinal streaks of dark brown. 



b. Melanistic phase. 



Adult male (No. 28.153, Philadelphia: J. Krider). General plumage blackish brown, 

 the head streaked by whitish edges of the feathers; wing-coverts, secondaries, pri- 

 maries, and tibial plumes paler terminally ; tarsi mottled with whitish ; upper and lower 

 tail-coverts tipped indistinctly with white. Tail narrowly tipped with dull white, and 

 with about five nearly obsolete pale ashy bands. Lining of wing black, spotted with 

 white near edge; whole under surface of the primaries pure white anterior to their 

 emargination, beyond which they are black. Third and fourth quills equal and longest; 

 second intermediate between fifth and sixth ; first shorter than seventh. Wing, 16.00; 

 tail, 8.85; tarsus, 2.45; middle toe, 1.25. 



Adult female (No. 12,008, Philadelphia: C. Drexler). Continuous pure coal-black; 

 forehead white; occiput same beneath surface. Tail paler at tip, and crossed with four 

 ill-defined though continuous bands of ashy white, the last of which is distant over two 

 and a half inches from the tip ; lower tail-coverts with a few white spots. Whole lining 



