131 



Genus GERANOAETUS, Kaup 



(itranoavtus Kaup, Class. Siiag. Vog. 1844, 122. Type, Spizaiitas melanolcucus Vieill. 



Geranai'tus Agass. 

 HetcrnaUtus Kaup, 184.5. — Contr. Oru. 1850, 74.— Suxd. Disp. Ace. Hemerobarp. 1874, 27. 



Hcterai'tus Kaup, Isis, 1847 (fide Suudevall).— Keiciiknb. 1850. 



Cn. — Form intermediate between that of Buteo aud Raliaetus. Wings 

 very long-, the primaries rigid, and tail very short and graduated. Bill 

 much as in Haliaetus^ the culmen being arched above the horizontal, but 

 slightly convex, upper outline of the cere, the superior tomium doubly 

 sinuated, aud the tip well produced and sharp. Nostril obliquely hori- 

 zontal. Feet typically buteouine ; tarsus, about one and a fourth 

 times the middle toe ; outer toe much longer than the inner; posterior 

 toe much shorter than the inner. Tarsus with the anterior aud pos- 

 terior series of transverse scutellte very continuous and perfect ; web 

 between the outer aud middle toes well developed. Wing large and 

 pointed ; third or fourth quill longest ; first shorter than seventh j 

 outer five with their inner webs deeply emarginated. Tail less than 

 half the wing, graduated, the feathers very rigid. Feathers of the 

 head and neck cuneate, approaching lanceolate ; tibial plumes well 

 developed ; secondaries, 17. 



Somewhat intermediate between Buteo and Haliaetus, this genus is 

 nevertheless very distinct from either. It is, perhaps, most like the 

 latter, with which it agrees in short, graduated tail, with rigid feathers, 

 deep emarginatiou of the five outer primaries, general form of the bill, 

 aud lanceolate form of the feathers of the head and neck. The feet, 

 however, are much more like those of Buteo, there being a well-developed 

 web between the outer and middle toes, of which not a trace is seen in 

 Raliaetus, while the scutellation is also that of the typical Buteones. 



But one species is at present known. 



gera:noaetus melanoleuous. 



Spizaclus meJanohticus Veill. N. D. xxxii, 1819,57. 



Haliaetus melanoleucus D'Orb. & Lafr. Syn. Av. 1838, 3.— D'Ori?. Voy. Am. 

 Merid. Ois. 1«47, 76.— Burm. Th. Bras, ii, 1855, 54.— Gray, Hand List, i, 1869, 17. 

 Fonioadtus melanoleucus Gray, Gen. i, 1845, 18. 

 Cuncuma melanoleucus Gray, List Ace. B. M. 1848, 25. 



Geranoaeius melanoleucus Steickl. Orn. Syn. i, 18.55, 55. — Burm. Keise La Plata 

 St. ii, 1861, 49.5.— Pelz. Orn. Nov. 1865, 7 (Chile) ; Orn. Bras. 1871, 49, 397.— 

 Orton, Am. Nat. 1871, 624 (Quito Valley).— Hudson, P. Z. S. 1872, 534 (Rio 

 Negro, Patag.).— Lee, Ibis, 1873, 131, 136 (Arg. Eep.).— ScL. & Salv. Ibis, 1869, 

 284 (Cape Negro, Str. Magellan, Nov. 29) ; P. Z. S. 1869, 155 CTungasnca, Peru) ; 

 Nom. Neotr. 1873, 119.— EiGW. Pr. Boston Soc. N. H. May, 1873, 68.— SCL. &, 

 Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 119. 

 Asiurina melanoleuca ScHL. Mus. P.-B. Astnrina% 1862, 5 ; Rev. Ace. 1873, 102. 

 Buico melanoleucus Sharpe, Cat. Ace. B. M. 1874, 168. 

 Sphaetus fuscesccDS Yieill. N. D. xxxii, 1819, 55. 

 Falco aguia Temm. PI. Col. i, 1824, pi. 302. 



HaUactus aguia Cuv. Reg. An. i, 1829, 327.— Less. Tr. 1831, 42. 



Geranoai'lus aguia Kaup, Contr. Oru. 1850, 74. — Bonap. Consp. i, 1850, 15. 



Buteo aguia Cahan. & TsciiUDi, Arcb. f. Naturg. 1844, 264 ; Fauna Per. 1844, 89.— 



SuxD. Av. Tent. 1873, 107. 

 Heteroai'tus aguia Kaup, Contr. Oru. 1850, 74. 

 Aquila ohscura y hlanca Azara, Pax. Par. i, 1802, 61. 

 Aquila parda Azara, I. c. 65. 



Hah. — Mountainous di.stricts of Western and Southern South America, 

 from Patagonia northward to Xew Granada and Southern Brazil. 



