1889. | Scorr ox Buteo brachyurus. 243 
panies as they move along. Often, in the early spring, I hear 
on soft mild evenings, faint bird calls from the sky, which are 
answered from bush and tree, and these, in my opinion, are the 
trumpeters who call together the winged armies of the air. 
ON THE SPECIFIC IDENTITY OF BUTELO BRACH?Y- 
URUS AND BUTEO FULIGINOSUS, WITH 
ADDITIONAL RECORDS OF THEIR 
OCCURRENCE IN FLORIDA. 
BY W. EH. D. SCOTT. 
On the 16th of March, 1889, near Tarpon Springs, I found a 
pair of Hawks just starting to builda nest. The locality was on 
the edge of a ‘hammock,’ and the nest, the foundation of which 
was finished, was ina gum tree some forty feet from the ground. 
Both birds were seen in the act of placing additional material on 
the structure. As the birds were rare, and I could not risk their 
being killed or driven away, with the aid of a native hunter 
both were secured, though before killing them I was certain of 
their identity. : 
The female, No. 6392 of my collection, is Buteo brachyurus 
and the male, No. 6391, is a typical example in very fine, full 
plumage of what has heretofore been called Buteo fuligénosus. 
Therefore the Buteo fuliginosus of Sclater must henceforth be 
considered as a synonym of Buteo brachyurus of Vieillot. 
It seems probable that the adult birds vary in color with sex, 
and that the bird known as B. bdrachyurus is the female, and 
that called B. faliginosus the male. I am further convinced 
of this by several facts that have come under my observation. 
Since killing the pair of birds spoken of, I have seen fwo 
fuliginosus accompanying a drachyurus and going through all 
the manoeuvres peculiar to the pairing season. Again, Mr. J. 
W. Atkins, writing me in regard to some birds he kindly secured 
for me from A. Lechevallier, says: ‘‘Unfortunately there is but 
one fulig¢nosus in the box. . . . The box also contains a Hawk 
that Lechevallier shot zz company with a black hawk, and be- 
