1 



218 FALCONID^E, DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. GEN. 160. 



Obs. I camiot admit Buteo oa-yjyterus (Cass., Proc. Phila. Acad. 1855, 282, and 

 in Bd., 30 ; Fort Fillmore, N. M.) as a valid species, although I am not prepared 

 to assign it as a synonjan of any one of the foregoing. The tj'pe and only recog- 

 nized specimen is apparentlj' a young bird, very near sivainsonn, if not the same. 

 (Compare B. fuliginosus Scl., Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 356.) 



160. Genus AECHIBUTEO Brehm. 



*.^* Large hawks with the tarsi feathered in front to the toes ; upward of 2 feet 

 long; wing 16-18 ; tail 8-10. Four outer primaries emarginate on inner web. 

 1 1,' '■'' Hough-legged JBuzzard. Below, vphito, variously dark-marked, and often 

 with a broad black abdominal zone ; but generally no ferriigineous. North 

 America; abundant. The black hawk, ^. sancH-Jo/iann{.<<, is a melanotic 

 state, in which the whole plumage is nearly uniform blackish. This does 

 not appear to have been observed in the European bird, of which ours is a 

 variety. The name adopted, it must be observed, is not intended to 

 discriminate this black plumage, but to distinguish the American bird fi-om 

 the European lagojpus, as a geographical race. JFalco lagojnts WiLS., iv, 59, 

 pi. 33, f. 1 ; v, 216, pi. 53, f. 1, 2 ; F. niger WiLS., vi, 82 ; Buteo lagojpus 

 Sw. and Rich., F. B.-A. ii, 52, pi. 28 ; Nutt., i, 97, 98 ; Aud., i, 46, pi. 

 11. Cass, in Bd., 32, 33 ; Coop., 483. . lagopus var. sancti-johannis. 

 Ferriigineous Buzzard. Below, pure white, scarcely or not marked, 

 excepting that the legs are rich rufous with black bars, in marked contrast ; 

 above, varied with dark brown, rufous, and white ; quills brown, with much 

 white; tail silvery-ash, clouded with brown or rufous. Young duller above, 

 more marked below, tibiaj not so strongly contrasted in color. Our hand- 

 somest and one of our largest hawks, inhabiting Western U. S., especially 

 California, Arizona and New Mexico. Cass., 111. 159, pi. 26, and in Bd., 

 34; CouES, Proc. Phiia. Acad. 1866, 46; Coop., 482. . ferrugineus. 



leObis. Genus ASTUBINA Vieillot. 



r. cX Gray Haivh. Nostrils horizontal, without tubercle, upper outline straight, 

 '-' lower semicircular; 4 outer primaries emarginate on inner web. Adult 

 above cinereous, darkening on the rump ; below closely barred with cinere- 

 ous and white ; tail blackish, with about three white bars, its upper and 

 under coverts white ; quills ashy-brown, with darker bars and much wdiite 

 edging on inner webs ; crown with a lateral white stripe ; cere and feet 

 yellow; $ 18; wing 10; tail 7^; <J less. Young above umber-brown, 

 below white with longitudinal brown stripes ; tail light brown with numerous 

 dark bands ; tibipe barred. A handsome species, resembling a goshawk, but 

 belonging to the buteonine gTOup ; admitted to our fauna in 1858 {A. nitida 

 Cass, in Bd., 35; Coop., 486) upon the strength of its occurrence in 

 Northern Mexico, but only lately detected in the United States. Illinois, 

 Ridgway, Am. Nat. 1872, 430. S. Arizona, breeding (Bendire, in epist.). 

 A. 2^lagia(ci' Schl., Mus. P.-B. Af^lurinai, 1 ; Scl. and Salv., Proc. Zoo!.' 

 Soc. 1869, 130. (Not in the Key.) plagiata. 



