BUTEO. 67 



reliquo cinnamomeo-rufo, rhachidibus nigris conspicuis ; praspectoris pliimis concoloribus, pectore tamen 

 et abdomine plus miiuisve albido transfasciatis ; tibiis regularitor cinnaraomeo fasciatis, sed subcaudalibus 

 vix rufo-f'asciatis, subalaribus et axillaribus pectori concoloribus et eodem modo fasciatis; tectricibus 

 primariorum inferioribus et remigibus infra albis, conspicue nigro transfasciatis. Long, tota 16-5, 

 culm. 1-25, alse 11-9, caudae 7'3, tarsi 3-05. (Descr. fern, ox Mexico occ. in Mus. Brit.) 



d feminsB similis, vix minor. 



Juv. Brunneus, rufo vel ocbraceo variegatus, remigibus rufescenti-albo late fasciatis ; Cauda brunnea, 

 rufescenti-grisea 8-9-fasoiata : subtus albidus, distincte brunneo cordatim striolata. (Descr. spec, ex 

 Zacatecas. Mus. nostr.) 



Hab. Eastern N. America to Manitoba and Nova Scotia, west to Texas and the Plains, 

 south to the Gulf States, Western United States, from W. Texas to California 

 and Oregon, south into Lower California, Sonora, and Chihuahua. — Mexico {Mus. 

 JBrit.^), city of Mexico {Le Strange ^), Orizaba {Botteri ^), Zacatecas ( W. B. 

 Michardson). 



The Red-shouldered Buzzard is aptly so-called, for the old birds have a conspicuous 

 chestnut shoulder-patch, and even the young may be distinguished by a similar rufous 

 area on the wing-coverts. The tail is distinctly banded, and has Jive (in very old birds 

 four) light bars. In young individuals the dark bars are generally seven in number, 

 the subterminal one being distinctly broader ; the light bars vary from eight to nine. 

 The white chequering of the quills is also a well-marked character. 



The western form {B. elegans) is recognized as a distinct race by American ornitho- 

 logists, on account of its uniformly rufous chest, which is less barred with buff than in 

 examples from the Northern States. Age has undoubtedly something to do with this 

 peculiarity, and we believe that the older birds lose much of the cross-barring on the 

 underparts and become entirely rufous below. We have birds from Texas answering 

 to the description of B. elegans ; but we have also in the Henshaw series both barred 

 and uniform breasted specimens from Chester Co., Pennsylvania, and examples of 

 both races from the same localities in Texas. We have failed, therefore, to find 

 valid characters for the separation of Buteo elegans from B. lineatus. The Florida 

 form, B. alleni, is said by Professor Ridgway to have a greyish head, but in our 

 series from that State many specimens are as rufous on the upper surface as typical 

 examples of B. lineatus, while, on the other hand, we have grey-headed birds from 

 New York State. The Florida bird is decidedly smaller, and the shoulder-patch 

 is rather cinnamon-rufous than chestnut, and thus we are inclined to admit B. alleni 

 as a recognizable species. 



B. lineatus is found in Sonora and Chihuahua, according to the 'A. O. U. Check-list ' ^ 

 but its recorded occurrences within our limits are very few. In the British Museum 

 there are two specimens labelled "Mexico," also one adult bird from "Western 

 Mexico," purchased many years ago from Mr. Edward Bartlett, who received it from 

 Mr. Dormant. It has been recorded from Orizaba, where Botteri obtained an example ^, 

 and Le Strange also met with the species in the Valley of Mexico ^ ; Mr. Richardson, 

 too, has sent us an immature specimen of it from Zacatecas. 



9* 



