THE AMERICAN HOUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 259 



many short ovate, and others rounded ovate. The ground color in the more 

 recently collected specimens is a pale greenish white, which appears to fade 

 out in time, leaving the egg a dull dingy white. The shell is close grained 

 and strong. There is an endless variety in the markings, both in regard to 

 size and amount, in different specimens. In some they are fairly regular in 

 shape as well as size, in others exactly the reverse. In some they are well 

 defined, evenly colored throughout; in others quite clouded and of different 

 tints. A few specimens are streaked and the markings run longitudinally from 

 end to end. The spots and blotches consist of various shades of brown, the 

 predominating tints being burnt umber and claret brown, and among these 

 are mixed lighter shades of ochraceous, clay, fawn color, and (icru-drab. Quite 

 a number of specimens show also handsome shell markings of a rich helio- 

 trope purple and pale lavender, mixed in and partly overlaid with darker 

 tints. In many eggs the blotches are large and irregular in outline, and 

 usually heaviest on the large end, but in no case do they hide the ground 

 color. Others are regularly and sparingly marked over the entire egg, with 

 fine dots of different shades of brown and lavender, giving the egg a flea-bitten 

 appearance. While some eggs are but slightly marked, none are entirely 

 unspotted. To sum it up in a few words, they show a great variety of styles. 

 Compared with the eggs of other Raptores, they perhaps resemble those of 

 Buteo lincatus in coloration more than any other species. 



The average measurement of sixty-three specimens in the U. S. National 

 Museum collection is 56.5 by 45 millimetres. The largest egg of the series 

 measures 62 by 47, the smallest 51 by 41.5, and a runt egg but 42.5 by 38 

 millimetres. 



The type specimens selected to show some of the different styles of mark- 

 ings are No. 8818 (PL 8, Fig. 10), from a set of two, taken May 23, 1863, on 

 the Anderson River, Arctic North America, by Mr. R. MacFarlane, of the 

 Hudson Bay Company; No. 8831 (PI. 8, Fig. 11), from a set of three, taken 

 June 16, 1863, on the same river and by the same collector, and No. 22393 

 (PI. 8, Fig. 12), from a set of three, taken June 10, 1883, by Mr. L. M. Turner, 

 U. S. Signal Service, near Fort Chimo, Labrador. 



88. Archibuteo ferrugineus (LICHTENSTEIN). 



FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEG. 



Fnlro ferrugineus LICHTENSTEIN, Abhandlungen der Koeniglichen Akademie Berlin, . 



1833, 428. 



.In-hihufeo ferrugineus~&RA\, Genera of Birds, fol. ed., 1849, 12. 



(B 32, C 357, R 448, C 526, U 348.) 



GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE : Western United States : east to and across the Great 

 Plains (occasionally to Illinois) ; north to Saskatchewan ; south into Mexico. 



The Ferruginous Rough-leg, a large and handsome species, is an inhab- 

 itant of the open prairie country of the West, and breeds in suitable localities 

 from eastern Colorado and Wyoming, northern Utah, central and western 



