BIRDS OF KANSAS. 311 



HABITAT. Western North America; north to or a little be- 

 yond the northern boundary of the United States; south to 

 Guatemala; east to middle Texas and Nebraska; occasionally 

 straggle eastward. A specimen captured in New York city, 

 and one in Massachusetts, I think cage birds rather than strag- 

 glers, as reported. (The birds in Florida are variety Jtoridana.) 



SP. CHAR. ''Adult: Above, earth browii, the whole surface covered with 

 numerous spots of dull white, those on the scapulars roundish and in pairs (on 

 both webs); of similar form, but larger and more sparse, on the wings. Ante- 

 riorly they become more longitudinal (nearly linear) and medial; on the rump 

 and upper tail coverts they are nearly obsolete. Secondaries crossed by four 

 distinct bands of dull white, the last terminal; primaries with five to six trans- 

 verse series of semi-rounded spots of ochraceous white on their outer webs; 

 primary coverts with about three transverse series of whitish spots. Tail with 

 five to six bands of dull white or pale ochraceous (the last terminal), composed 

 of transverse oval spots, those on the middle pair of feathers not touching either 

 the shaft or the edge. Ear coverts uniform brown, becoming gradually paler 

 beneath the eye and on the cheeks; eyebrows, a transverse chin patch (covering 

 the whole chin and jaw and reaching back beneath the auriculars), and another 

 across the jugulum, immaculate cottony white; shafts of the loral bristles black- 

 ish; a broad, well-defined collar across the throat, between the white malar and 

 jugular bauds, deep brown, mixed with paler spots. Beneath, whitish with an 

 ochraceous tinge, deepest on the legs; the breast, abdomen and sides with trans- 

 verse spots of brown, this often predominating on the breast; legs, anal region 

 and crissum immaculate. Whole lining of the wing immaculate creamy white, 

 the primary coverts, however, with large terminal spots of dusky; under surface 

 of the primaries grayish brown (deeper terminally), and with large transversely- 

 ovate spots of ochraceous white (about five in number on the longest quill), and 

 growing larger basally. Young: Upper surface earth brown, as in the adult, but 

 entirely uniform (except the wings and tail ); upper tail coverts and a large oval 

 patch on the wing (covering the middle coverts and the posterior half of the 

 lesser covert region) plain Isabella white; the anterior portion of the lesser cov- 

 ert region darker brown than the back. Gular region well-defined pure white; 

 jugular collar conspicuous and unspotted. Whole lower parts immaculate Isa- 

 bella white." 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. Cere. 



Male 9.50 24.00 7.00 3.40 1.80 .65 .20 



Female... 9.25 23.50 6.80 3.30 1.80 .65 .20 



Iris yellow; bill light greenish yellow; cere and claws black- 

 ish; feet dull brown. The above dimensions are from a pair 

 in "The Goss Ornithological Collection." From the measure- 

 ments I have taken of many others, I do not think the sexes dif- 

 fer in size. In all other birds of prey the female is decidedly 

 the larger bird. 



