125 

 NISUS (? HIEEASPIZIAS) SUPEROILIOSUS ? 



? ? Faico supcrciliosus Linn. S. N. i, 176fi, 128 (Surinam), (=/»»'., transition-plumage?).— 

 Gmkl. S. N. i, 1788, 282.— Lath. lud. Orn. i, 1790, 45 ; Gen. Hist, i, 1821, 2M. 

 Acdpiter superciliosus Strickl. Orn. Syu. i, 18.55, 115. 

 ???Falco tintts Lath. Ind. Orn. i, 1790, 50; Gen. Hist, i, 1821, 295 (Cayenne).— 

 Daud. Tr. Orn. ii, 1800, 146.— Shaw, Zool, vii, 1812, 209. 

 Accijnter ibuts, Gray, List Ace. Br. Mus. 1848, 72 ; Gen. B. 1849, 29, pi. 10 (adult) ; 

 Hand List, i, 18G9, 33.— Salvix, P. Z. S. 1867, 158 (remarks on colora- 

 tion).— Bonap. Consp. i, 1850, 32.— Pelz. Orn. Bras. 1871, 8, 399.— SCL. & 

 Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 120.— Shakpe, Cat. Ace. Br. Mus. 1874, 139. 

 Uicraifjnzia tinus Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, 63. 

 leraspiza iiims Bonap. Rev. et Mao;. Zool. 1854, 538. 

 iSlsMS Units fBvRM. Th. Bras, ii, 1S55, 70.— ScL. Mus. P.-B. Astures, 1852, 33; Eev. 



Ace. 1873, 77.— RiDGW. Pr. Boston Soc. May, N. H. 1873, 59. 

 Tcraspiza tinus Kaup, p. Z. S. 1867, 171. 



Sparvius suhnif/er Vieill. Nouv. Diet. 1817, 319.— Pucheran, Rev. Zool. 1850, 92. 

 S^arvius minntiis Vieill. N. D. s, 1817, 328, Euc. Meth. iii, 1823, 1267.— Pucher. E. Z- 



18.50, 93. 

 Xisus malfini Less. Tr. 1831, 58.— Pucker. R. Z. 1850, 209. 

 leraspiza fontanieri Bo^xp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, 538. 



Hal). — Brazil to Guatemala. 



Wing, 5.20-6.50 ; tail, 3.90-5.50 ; culmen, 0.45-0.55 ; tarsus, 1.40-1.90; 

 middle toe, 1.00-1.35. Third or fourth quill longest ; first shortest ; 

 inner web of outer four distinctly emarginated. Lower parts, except 

 throat (and sometimes the anal region), with distinct transverse bars 

 of rufous, brown, or plumbeous, on an ocliraceous or white ground. 



Adult. — Above dusky, the iiileum nearly black, and the back with a 

 decided plumbeous cast. Tail with four to five bands of blackish and 

 plumbeous or brownish-slate (the two colors in nearly equal propor- 

 tion,) and sometimes with a narrow terminal margin of white. Ear-cov- 

 erts and sides of nape i^lumbeous, the former usually somewhat broken by 

 a faint, whitish, indistinct barring. Lower parts white, the entire sur- 

 face covered with numerous, regular, transverse bars of light slate or 

 plumbeous, these bars usually wider on the sides than along the median 

 jiortion, widest apart on the crissum, and most numerous and dense on 

 the tibife ; axillars and lining of the wing similarly barred. Inner webs 

 of primaries with transverse spots of dusky slate from base to end. 

 Gular region white, without bars. 



Young. — Broivn phase : — Above, sepia-brown, the pileum nearly black; 

 the feathers with or without rusty borders. Tail lighter, and crossed by 

 six to seven bands of dusky black. Lower parts white or i)ale ochraceous, 

 barred as in the adult, but with rusty-brown or umber, instead of slate 

 or plumbeous. Rufous iihase : — Above, bright rusty-rufous, brightest on 

 the tail, more dusky on the pileum. Tail with six to seven narrow bands 

 of black, these sometimes not reaching from the shaft to the edge of the 

 feathers. Lower parts pale ochraceous or rufescent white (the tibia? 

 quite rusty), barred as in other stages, but with deep rufous or rusty- 

 brown. 



That the rufous plumage of this species is not a i)rogressive stage, 

 but a mere individual phase, is proven by the examiuation of individ- 

 uals in the transition-state. One of this character in Mr. Salviu's col- 

 lection, from Veragua, originally an extreme example of the rufescent 

 phase, was moulting directly into the adult plumage described above, as 

 numerous new feathers iu all parts of its plumage plainly show. 

 Another, in the same collection, from Bahia, is an adult in somewhat 

 worn plumage, still retaining a few bright-rufous feathers among the 

 axillars. On the other hand, specimens which are in the sepia-browu 

 plumage, usually regarded as an intermediate stage between the rufous 



