NVTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 5 



Speaking of primaries, Audubon says, " A greater part of 

 the inner web, with the shaft white * * * * the white of 

 the inner webs of the primaries forms a conspicuous patch, con- 

 trasted with the grayish-black of their terminal portion." This 

 is a remarkable feature not noticeable in Swainson's. Audu- 

 bon's bird had the " lower wing-coverts white barred with dus- 

 ky." Swainson's has rufous under wing-coverts. 



The above are the principal differences, and together with 

 Audubon's fine plate, which is a perfect facsimile of my bird, 

 give a most emphatic contradiction to all assertions that Audu- 

 bon was unable to distinguish the difference between Buteo vul- 

 garis and what to him would have been a new bird. This noted 

 ornithologist was constantly on the lookout for new species with 

 which to embellish his book, and it is extremely improbable 

 that he would have let such an opportunity escape him. 



The descriptive points given are enough to separate Audu- 

 bon's bird from all others, but as if to give more weight to his 

 testimony we find him saying as a final to his article : " When 

 compared with European specimens, mine have the bill somewhat 

 stronger ; but in all other respects, including the scutella and 

 scales of the feet and toes, and the structure of the wings and 

 tail, the parts are similar." 



It will be noticed that he uses the plural " mine," for before 

 this was appended hft had received another, also shot by Dr. 

 Townsend, on the plains of the Snake River. 



Swainson and Richardson, in " Fauna Boreali Americana," 

 Vol. II, page 47, also make mention of a species under the name 

 of Buteo vulgaris, and give a figure of the same. They were, 

 however, without doubt mistaken in their identification, the 

 bird which they had being really Buteo Swainsoni, as both 

 description and figure clearly indicate. Reverting once more to 

 Audubon, I will answer a query which will arise in almost 

 every one's mind, viz : — How was it that Aubudon did not find 

 the common B. Swainsoni, and yet have specimens of the rarer 

 vulgaris pass through his hands? 



First — The country inhabited by this Hawk (Swainson's) was 

 comparatively unknown at that time, and consequently not much 

 traversed by naturalists. 



Second— Audubon never noticed some of our most common 

 species, while he discovered and described many rare ones that 

 were closely allied to them. Notably among these was the 



