130 



stacea, as I now think the specimen in one of Salle's Mexican col- 

 lections called Morphnus schistaceus, juv. (P. Z. S. 1857, p. 227) 

 does not really belong here ; but the other two species in their im- 

 mature state are both irregularly flammulated on the lower surface 

 and back, and have numerous buffy-wbite cross-bars on the tail and 

 under tail-coverts. Specimens of U. zonura in this state are in the 

 British Museum, and we have a fine example of a similar bird now 

 alive in our Gardens. 



I have hitherto used for these birds the generic term Morphnus, 

 following Mr. Gray and other writers ; but on considering that 

 the true type of Morphnus is the Faho guianensis of Daudin — a bird 

 of different structure and more nearly allied to Thrasctetus — I think 

 they stand better disconnected. But the Falco unicinctus of Tem- 

 minck and Falco meridionalis of Latham — two allied species — for 

 which Kaup's term Spizigeranus may be employed subgenerically — 

 ought, as M. de Lafresnaye* has observed, to come close to the true 

 Urubitingce ; and Buteogallus with its two species (cequihoctialis and 

 nigricollis) follows next. A bird more closely corresponding to the 

 Urubitingce in its changes of colouring is Urubitornis solitaria, of 

 which M. Jules Verreaux has described the several stages of plu- 

 mage in these ' Proceedings t; ' but it is distinguishable by its shorter 

 and much more robust tarsi. 



2. Buteo zonocercus, sp. nov. 



Schistacescenti-niger unicolor, alis extus brunnescente tinetis : 

 remigum pogoniis interioribus albo obsolete transfasciatis : 

 cauda nigra ; vitta inferiore lata, et alteris duabus superiori- 

 bus angustioribus et imperfectis cum margine apicali albis : 

 rostro nigro, cera aurantia, pedibusflavis. 

 Long, tota 17*0, alse 14*7, caudse 7*5, rostri a rictu 1-3, tarsi 2*9. 

 Hab. Guatemala. 



In plumage this bird is very much like the typical Urubitingce, 

 being of a nearly uniform ashy-black, tinged with brown on the sca- 

 pularies and secondaries, and with a broad white band across the 

 tail. Above this are two other bands, much narrower and not quite 

 complete, and the tail is likewise tipped with white. The colour of 

 these bands is pure white on the under surface ; on the upper sur- 

 face it is cinereous on the outer webs of the lateral rectrices, and on 

 both webs of the medial pair, but pure white on the inner webs of 

 the lateral tail-feathers. The lowest band is about If inch in 

 breadth, the second not half an inch, and the highest is quite nar- 

 row. There are distinct traces of white cross-bands on the inner 

 webs of the wing-feathers. The wings are, however, much more 

 elongated tban in the Urubitingce, the third primary (which is 

 longest) extending 4 inches beyond the secondaries. The fourth 

 and fifth primaries are only slightly shorter than the third, the first 

 being nearly of the same length as the longest secondary. The 

 general form seems to be that of the Buteones appertaining to the 



* Rev. Zool. 1848, p. 240. f See P. Z. S. 1856, p. 145. 



