ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 35 



or brownish-white barred with brown.* The lower wing-coverts are 

 white, barred or spotted with dusky ; the white of the inner webs 

 of the primaries forms a conspicuous patch, contrasted with the 

 grayish black of their terminal portion. f 



"Length to end of tail, 23 inches ; wing, from flexure, 17 ; tail, 

 10£ ; bill along the ridge, 1^ ; along the edge of the upper mandi- 

 ble, l^ ; tarsus, 3^ '> hind toe, 1, its claw, 1^ ; middle toe, 1|§, its 

 claw, 1 T V" + 



From the preceding analysis of the " Falco buteo" of Audubon, 

 we can only conclude that his description was taken from a young 

 example of Buteo borealis calurus, which Mr. Townsend may have 

 obtained somewhere in the Northwest. As an exceedingly perti- 

 nent fact in this connection, it may be observed that Audubon 

 nowhere describes the young plumage of B. borealis, nor does he 

 figure it. He was, therefore, apparently unacquainted with the 

 species in this stage, and might readily have taken it for a different 

 species, and the B. vulgaris would be the one most likely to suggest 

 itself, especially in view of the circumstance that it had been 

 already given as a North American bird by Swainson and Richard- 

 son. 



So far as the text goes, there is a probability of reference to B. 

 sivainsoni only in the last sentence of the paragraph following the 

 description. This reads as follows : " The colors, however, vary, 

 and in some the upper parts are deep brown, the lower reddish- or 

 brownish-white, barred with reddish-brown." 



To those interested in this subject, descriptions of the various 

 phases of plumage in Buteo borealis may not be unacceptable in 

 this connection : we accordingly present the following, taken from 

 the series contained in the National Museum : — 



* This suits the young of B. borealis very well ; in B. vulgaris the markings 

 of the lower parts are exceedingly variable, but they are for the most part 

 rather longitudinal than transverse, unless the dusky color predominates, in 

 which case there are rather well-defined bars of white on the abdomen. 



+ Characters common to B. vulgaris and B. borealis, and often not very 

 different in B. swainsoni. 



X In a series of six specimens of B.- vulgaris, the maximum length of wing is 

 16.60, the minimum being 15.50; the tail, 8.80-10.00; culmen (including 

 cere), 1.20-1.30; tarsus, 3.00-3.50; hind toe, .70-. 85, its claw, .90 -.95 ; 

 middle toe, 1.40-1.55, its claw, .75 -.78. It will thus be observed that 

 the measurements of Aububon's bird are decidedly too great for B. vul- 

 garis, while they in every way accord with those of an average specimen of B. 

 borealis. 



