THE BIRDS OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 



Cerchneis sparverius fernandensis 



Chapman 



Native name: Cernicalo. 



Masaticrra: i ? '^'/iz 1916, i ? '7i, i ? ^cy^ 

 1917. 



The two latter of these are probably 

 young, and they display a very deep and satu- 

 rated rufous of the upper parts, especially on 

 the tail. The first is not so dark above (perhaps 

 it is bleached because its plumage is rather 

 worn), but its lower parts appear to be more 

 washed with buff below and more broadly marked 

 than C. s. cimiamominus from Chile. 



»Common on Masatierra, but entirely absent 

 on Masafuera. It feeds almost exclusively on the 

 very numerous spiders. Its absence from Ma- 

 safuera is probably due to the lack of food 

 there, i. e. the scarcity of large spiders and the 

 almost complete absence of grashoppers, which 

 constitute its main food on Masatierra. » (K. B.). 



Buteo erythronotus exsul Salvin 

 Native name: Blindado. 



Masafuera: i $ juv., i ? semiad. *^/2; i ? 

 ad. 2"/^; I ^ juv. 272 1917. 



It is of interest to state on the present ^. ^ , . , . r 



, , . , , _ , , . . ,Ti  r, Fig- V Cerchnets sparvertus fer- 



adult female that bALVIN s description (Ibis 1875, ftandensis, juv. Photo. K. Backstrom. 



p. 371) is quite correct, and that thus the diffe- 

 rence from B. erythronotus King holds good. The narrow bars on the tail- 

 feathers are, however, somewhat more numerous in this specimen, or about 

 15 in number. Lenght of wing 433 mm. 



The young birds appear to be more vividly coloured, darker and more 

 rufous than at least average specimens of B. erythronotus from Argentina. 

 Evidently it takes more than one moult between the juvenile plumage and that 

 of the adult. The two specimens termed above as »juv.» are on the way of 

 assuming an intermediate plumage. Their worn tail-feathers are f. i. without 

 the broad subapical band of the adult; the new ones, however, possess such 

 one, at least on the outer web, but they are not yet white but silvery grey. 



The female termed »semiad.> is in moult to the adult plumage, the new 

 tail-feathers being like those of the adult, and the plumage of the body mixed. 



»The buzzard, formerly said to be common on Masafuera, may now only 

 amount to about 50 pairs. During the days of the penal settlement the con- 



