142 



Genus BUSARELLUS, Lafresnaye. 



Busarellus Lafr. D'Orb. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ii, 1S42, 785-6. Type, Falco nigncoUis 



Lathaji. 

 Icthyoborus Kaxtp, Contr. Orn. 1850, 76. Same type. 



Ch. — General form and appearance of Buteogcdlus (eqiiinoctiaUs. 

 Bill, feet, and claws very strong; wings large (but primaries short), 

 and outstretched feet reaching beyond the end of the rather short, 

 nearly even tail. Bill, cere, and nostril very similar to that of 

 Fandion, but tlie culmen less arched, and the top of the cere elevated 

 instead of depressed. Tarsus nearly twice the middle toe, with a 

 frontal and posterior series of transverse scutellce, these sometimes 

 fused into continuous plates. Lateral toes nearly equal (but the outer 

 perceptibly the longer), the posterior a very little shorter than the 

 inner, and the middle one only the distance of its terminal joint longer. 

 Inferior surface of the toes with acute papillae, as in Fandion. Claws 

 very strong, of normal sbape, considerably graduated, and deeply 

 grooved beneath. ]Sro trace of a web between the toes. Head normally 

 feathered ', the feathers, as well as those of the neck, lanceolate, the 

 occipital ones somewhat elongated. Secondaries much developed, and 

 very broad, fifteen in number. Primaries but little longer than the 

 secondaries; third, fourth, or fifth longest, first shorter than the eighth; 

 outer six with their inner webs very shallowly sinuated. Tail less than 

 half the wing, even, or very slightly rounded. Plumes of the outer 

 face of the tibise short and close, as in Onychotes. 



This strongly-characterized and very remarkable genus exhibits a 

 striking analogy to Fandion in the very strong and slightly-graduated 

 claws, the close feathering of the tibicTe, the general form of the bill, 

 and the sharp spicules of the toe-pads. It is said to be piscatorial in 

 its habits, hence these modifications. It differs very essentially from 

 Fandion, however, in the deep grooving of the claws, the soft texture 

 of the plumage, the buteonine scutellation of the tarsi and toes, and 

 indeed in all essential features. It is much more nearly related to the 

 haliaetine group, especially to the remarkable Australian genus Gypoic- 

 tinia, from which, however, it is widely distinct, as it is from all Ameri- 

 can genera. But one species is thus fark nown. 



BUSAEELLUS :NnGRICOLLIS. 



Falco nigricoJlis Lath. Ind. Orn. i, 1790, 35. 



Buteo nigricoUis Vieill. N. D. iv, 1816, 437.— Gray, Gen. i, 1845, 15 ; Hand List, i, 



1869, 9.^PucHER. Eev, et Mag. Zool. 1850, 85.— Burm. Th. Bras, ii, 1856, 47.— 



ScPiL. Mus. P.-B. Biiteoues, 1862, 17.— Lawk. Mem. Boston Soc. N. H. 1874, 



30.2 (N. W. Mexico ; biography). 



MorpTinus nigricoUis Gray, Gen. iii, App. 1849, 1. 



Icihyolorm nigricoUis Kaup, Contr. Orn. 1850, 76. — Pelz. Orn. Bnas. 1871, 3, 394. — 



RiDGW. Pr. Boston Soc. N. H., May, 1873, 69. 

 ButeogaUus nigricoUis Strickl. Orn. Svn. i, 1855, 43. — Cassix, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci 



I860, — (Truando, N. G.) — Scl. fe'SALV. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 119. 

 Busarellus nigricoUis Sharpe, Cat. Ace. B. M. 1874, 211. 

 Falco lusarellus Baud. Tr. ii, 1800, 168 (ex Levaill.) 

 Circus iusarellus Vieill. Enc. Meth. iii, 1823, 1212. 

 Buteo lusarellus Vig. Zool. Journ. i, 1824, 340. — Gray, Gen. i, 1845, 15. 

 ButeogaUus busarellus Boxap. Consp. i, 1850, 17. 

 Falco melanobronclios Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii, 1809, 167. 

 Circus leucoceplialus Vieill. N. D. iv, 1816, 465. 



* Second and fourth just appreciably shorter. 



