142 jSTATUEAL history collections IX ALASKA. 



The characters upon wbidi this race are based are mainly tbe iutenslty of the dark markings 

 on the abdominal surface and tbe extension of the dark color of tbe crown over a large part of 

 the entire dorsal surface. In striatulus the under surface diifers also in tbe abundance and inten- 

 sity of the markings on tbe throat, which in tbe new race is as profusely marked as the breast; 

 tbe ashy-brown of tbe markings on the bi'east are very dark, becoming blackish-brown, and in 

 No. 85G25 the entire under surface has a dark sooty wash. On the crown the color varies from a 

 dark sooty to a glossy black, and this color extends over the nape to tbe back, covering the scap- 

 ulars and extending even to the rump in some cases, but usually shading to a dark bluisb-asby on 

 tbe posterior half of the back. The wings are very dark brown. The tail is also much darker than 

 in atricapillus. The young birds may be distinguished by their generally darker color and tbe 

 large size and intensity of the linear markings on abdouieu and breast. There is a young bird 

 from Sitka, and several from Oregon, California, and Washington Territory, all of which agree in 

 these characters. Tbe white postocular line in this form is more obscured hy dark markings, and 

 the whole may be summed up by saying that striatulus is a dark, northwest coast race of the Gos- 

 hawk, characterized, like other geographical races of that region, by the great predominance of 

 tbe dark markings as compared with birds of eastern and northern localities. The only bird 

 among the large series of atricapillus in the National Museum collection which approaches tbe new 

 race in its dark colors and intense markings is one from New Jersey, which is very dark colored. 

 This appears to be a solitary example of individual variation, as among a series of twenty-five 

 birds examined this proves to be the only exception. 



BuTEO BOREALis CALURUS (Cass.). Western Red-tail. 



The only known instance of this bird's occurrence in the Territory is recorded {loc. cit.) by 

 Dr. Beau, who secured a bird in tbe young plumage near Sitka, June 5, 1880. 



149. BUTEO SWAINSONI Bonap. Swainson's Hawk. 



During my residence in the north this bird did not fall under my notice either alive or dead. 

 Dall obtained a skin of this bird near Nulato on May 20, 1SC7, and adds that it i)refers the 

 thickets and wooded places, building a large nest of tticlis. It begins to lay tbe last of April 

 and tbe young are hatched by tbe end of May, about the time tbe ice leaves the rivers. He found 

 tbe bones of rabbits, squirrels, mice, and ducks, and even part of a whitefisb, in the vicinity of 

 their nests, showing that they are ready to i)rey upon anything that falls in their way. It is 

 a summer visitor and occurs on tbe Lower Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers, whence specimens have 

 been sent to tbe Smithsonian. The Alaskan specimen taken on the Yrrkon was in the melanistic or 

 insignatus state. This appears to be a common species in tbe middle and southern parts of British 

 America, but is rare farther north, where it arrives about tbe 1st of April or later, leaving toward 

 tbe end of September. It is not known beyond the wooded country, and there is no record of its 

 occurrence on the soirtbeastern coast of the Territory, although it is likely to be found in that 

 region. It is also unknown from the islands of Bering Sea and tbe barren coast of that sea and 

 tbe Ai'ctie. 



Akohibuteo LAGOPUS (Briinn.). Rough legged Hawk (Esk. Pl-toghi?!:). 



Several specimens from Saint Michaels and one obtained by me at Unalaska Island (the parent 

 of the eggs secured there) are indistinguishable from European birds contained in the National 

 Museum collection. On the northern coast of Alaska, inclirding the shore of Bering Sea and the 

 Arctic, and thence in the interior along the entire course of tbe Yukou, many specimens of the 

 Rough-legged Hawk have been taken, but none from this region are in the melanistic phase so 

 common among birds from the Hudson's Bay country. In fact all the specimens from Northwestern 

 Alaska appear to be referable to the Old World form, as certainly are the examples mentioned. 

 A specimen from Saint Michaels (No. 833) possesses a large amount of white upon the back and 

 head, and the purity of the light edges to the feathers on the head, unshaded by yellowish-buff, 

 gives tbe bead the appearance at a short distance of being pure white, and this is characteristic of 

 those birds which approach or are identical with the European form. 



