148 



NOllTII AMERK'A.N lUR-DS. 



liird ; it should then be coiisidore<l as ratlier a {ioof^rapliical race, co-equal to 

 the Fdlat ijurfulro, var. /nhmdoiv, F. jiciri/rinus, var. 2»:i(ki, and otlier f'onus, 

 and not cunlouuded with tlio individual condition of melanism, as seen in 

 certain species of Bukonc-'i. 



Second quill longest; first quill equal to, a little .shorter than, or a little longer than, 

 the fourth. 



Var. rlchardHonl, Itiixmw. 



BICHABDSON'B MEBLIN. 



Falco ccialon, Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. 11, pi. .\xv, l,s31. — Nurr. Man. Orn. 11, S.'iS. — 

 CoiTKs, P. A. N S. PliiluJ. 1860, p. 42 (in text). Falco (Iliipotriurchh) rklidnhnni, 

 RiDoWAY, P. A. N. S. Philnd. Dec. 187n, 145. Falco richardmni, CouKs, Key, 1872, 

 p. 214. 



Sp. Char. Adult male like the female and younff ? The known .stages of plumage 

 more like the adult fenude mid young of var. liihnfako (F. a:mhn, ArcT.) than like var. 

 cohimhariu.s. 



Adult male (Smithsonian, No. 5,171, mouth of the Vermilion River, near the Missoiu'i, 

 Oetober '25, 1850; Lieutenant Warren, Dr. Ilaydeu). I'pper plumage dull earth-hrown, 

 caeh feather grayish-umlier centrally, and with a coiispieuous black shaft -line. Head 

 above approaching a.shy-white anteriorly, the black shaft-streaks being very couspiiMious. 

 Secop.darie.s, primary eoverts, and piiuuiries margined terminally with dull white; the pri- 

 mary covert.s with two transver.se .series of pale ochraceous s]iots; outer webs of primaries 

 with s]iots of the same, corresponding with tlmse on the inner webs. U[)pcr tail-coverts 

 tipped, and spotted beneath the surface, with white. Tail clear drali, nmch lighter than 

 the primaries, but growing darker terminally, having ba.saljy a slightly ashy east; crossed 

 with si.K .sharply delined, iierfei'tly continuous bauds (the last terminal) of a.shy-white. 

 Head, frontally. laterally, and beneath, — a collar around the nape (interiiipting the brown 

 above), — and the entire lower parts, white, somewhat ochraceous, this most perecptilile 

 on the tibiu! ; cheeks and ear-coverts with spar.se, fine hair-like streaks of black ; nu('hal 

 collar, jugulum. breast, abdomen, sides, and llauks with a nu'dial linear stripe of clear 

 ochrc-bri)wn on each feather; the.se stri|)cs broadest on tlu; Hanks; each stripe with a 

 conspicuously blai'k shafl-strcak ; tiliiie and lower tail-coverts with fuie shaft-sl leaks of 

 brown, like the broader stripes of the other iioilions. ("liiii and throat, only, immaciilale. 

 Lining of the wing spotted with oehraceous-wliite and brown, in about e(pial ainouiit, 

 the former in spots approaching the .shaft. Inner webs of primaries with trausver.si; broad 

 liars of jtale oehraeeou.s, — eight on the longest. Wing-lormula, 2, .'! -4, 1. Wing, 7.70; 

 tail. 5.00 : ciilmen, .50 ; tarsu.s, 1.30 ; middle toe. 1.25 ; outer, .85 ; inner, .70; posterior, .50. 



Adult female (58.!>,s;5. Rerthoud's Pass, Rocky Mountains, Colorailo Territory ; Dr. F. 

 V. llavden, .lames Stevcn.soii). Differing in coloration from the male only in the points 

 of detail. Ground-color of tlie upper jiarts clear grayish-drab, the feathers with con- 

 spicuously black shafts ; all the feathers with jiairs of rather indistinct rounded ochraceous 



