I'AI.CONID.K TIIK I'AiroNS. 153 



Fdiro oshIuh, were fimnil "scvcriil I'lill-sizrd wliitc ru^'s, I'loiidcd nt mic ctid 

 hy a lew liioii/c-cdloivil spdts." A iR'si was lniiud I')' Mr. ('liciu-y nt (iniiid 

 Mt'iiaii, tViini wliiili lie slmt wliat lin prosiiiiuid lo lie tlic pari'iil l)ird nl' this 

 Mpouiiis. Jts I'diir cjins aj;ivcil witli llic dcscriplioiis j,'iv('ii liy lliitrliiiis and 

 llicliardsdii iinicli iiiurc nearly than with th.- t-.n^s nt' this species. The ej,',i,'s 

 luMiid iiy Mr. CI KM ley may have heon very small oh;,i;s of J. nKifin-i, in which 

 ease the jiresunuu i)l' thu roh(,nh(iriiis on tlu^ nest eunnol ho so easily ex- 

 plained. 



Three pu^s, two from Anderson Iliver and one rrmn (Jreat Siavt' Lake, 

 i'anj,'e liom 1.".:! to !.(!(» inches in leiijith, and from l.-'O to 1.22 in hreadth, 

 their average measurements liein;; Lot; l)y 1.21. They liave a j,'rimii(l-u()lor 

 of a rich reddish-eri'am, very <j;enerally covered with blotches and liner 

 niaikinji's of veddish-lirown, d(.H4)eninj,' in places almost into blackness, and 

 varyin,L;' ^really in the depth of its shadin.i,', with a fiiw lines of black. In 

 one the red-brown is lar.t,'ely rcyilaeed by very tine markinj;s of a yi.'lhnvish 

 sei)ia-l)rown, so jjenerally dilfwsed as to conceal the yronnd and <;ive to it 

 the apiicavance of a li.udit bull'. Mr. Uid^'way, after a careful analysis of the 

 varying markings and sizes of twenty-one- eggs, has kindly given the fol- 

 lowing : — 



" Extremes of twenty-one eggs (mainly from Forts Yukon, Anderson, Reso- 

 lution, and Maclvenzie rivers): largest (!(l,t'(S7, Yukon, June), l.To X 1.28 ; 

 smallest (8,,S().S, Anderson Iliver, June), l.'u> X 1 •2<». The ground-color varies 

 from creamy-white to deep i)urplish-rufous, there being one egg (4,01)0, Great 

 Slave Lake, June G, 18(10) entirely and uniformly of the latter color; the 

 lightest egg (normally marked, 2,(J(j:>, Saskatchewan) is ereamy-white, thickly 

 sprinkled with dilute and deep .shades of sepia-brown, thickly on large end, 

 and sparsely, as well as more finely, on the smaller end. The markings vary 

 in color from dilute indian-red to blackish-chestnut. 



"7/. ricluu'daoni is larger than c()/ii>iih(irii(s, and jn'obably has a larger egg. 

 There are no eggs such as liicliardson describes in the series of coltunharias 

 in the Smithsonian Collection." 



The var. i-ichnrthimi was recognized by I'ichardson as distinct from the 

 more common vulnmbariiDi ; and a single .specimen, killed at Carlton House, 

 and sul)initted to Swiiinson, was ]>ronounced by him, beyond doubt, identical 

 with the common Merlin of Europe. Other si)ecimens have since been 

 procured, and are now in the Smithsonian Collection. They are recognized 

 by Mr. IJidgway as identical with Iiicliard.son's bird, but quite distinct fnjm 

 i\\(iyEmloii of authors, lie has named the si)ecics in honor of its first dis- 

 coverer. Of its history and habits little is known. A single pair were 

 seen by llichard.son in the neighborhood of Carlton House, in May, 1827, 

 and the female was shot. In the oviduct there Avere several full-sized white 

 eggs, I louded fit one end with a few bronze-colored spots. Another sjjeci- 

 men, probably also a female, was shot at the Sault St. Marie, between T^kes 

 Huron and Superior, but this was not preserved. 



vol.. HI. 20 



