244 



NORTH AMEiaCAX' BIRDS. 



the eggs Of this Hawk in Montana; that their number in a set is usually 

 two, and an unspotted white. 



Genus ASTURINA, Vieillot. 

 Mtiinna, Vieili,. 181(t. (Type, Fa/,-o inllilns, Latham.) 



no. C.iAn. Somewhat ..iniila,. to .1,,/.,-. In.t of ,„„cl, h.-avicr an.l more rob„st bnil.I • 

 tars, longer and stouter, tail .shorter and le,..s ro„n,Je.l. winjrs longer, etc. Bill more 

 elongate, than in Aslur, the eere longer, and the festoon on the commissure more 

 < oveloped; nostril oval, horizontal. Wings rather short, but less concaN-c beneath than in 

 Antur; thu'd to fourth quill longest; first .shorter than eighth or ninth ; four outer quills 



34003,.f 



Asturina pla^ata. 



with their inner webs sinuated. Tail considerably shorter than the wing, slightly emar-i- 

 natcd, the lateral pair of feathers longest. Feet large and robust, when outstretched 

 reachmg almost to the end of the tail ; tarsi very robust compared to the toes, about one 

 and a half times as long as the middle toe, the frontal and posterior rows of transverse 

 scutelke very distmct and regular; outer toe longer than inner; claws strong, well curved 

 but not vt / acute. Sexes alike in color ; old and young plumages very different. 



Tiiis genus is peculiar to tropical America, and contains but a single 

 species, the A. nitida, with its two climatic races, nitida of South AmerLa 

 nnAplagiata of Middle America. The species of Rupornis, Kaup {R. may- 

 nirostru and R. kucorrhou), have been associated with the species of the 

 present genus, but they are very distinct. The genem (or. more properly 

 subgenera) most nearly related to Asturina are Lcucopterinis, Kaup of' 

 tropical America, and Kanpifalco, Bonap., of Western Africa. The former 

 differs mainly in more or less rounded, instead of emarginated, tail, and in 

 having the old and young i.liimages similar ; the latter in having the poste- 

 rior face of the tarsus without a well-defined row of transverse scutellte. 



