88 FALCONID^. 



Saturate schistaceus unicolor, cristas plumis ad basin albis, tectricibus supraeandalibus stricte albo terminatis, 

 remigibus subtus adbasiu griseo variegatis ; cauda nigra albo terminata, fascia mediana et altera subtus ad 

 basin albis ; rostro corneo, cera, mandibulffi basi et pedibus flavis. Long, tota circa 23-0, alae 20-0, 

 caudje 10-5, tarsi 4-3. (Descr. exempl. ex Chiguinda, Ecuador. Mus. nostr.) 



Juv. Supra nigricanti-brunneus, cervicis plumis late cervino marginatis, superciliis cervinis : subtus brunneus, 

 pectore et tibiis fere unicoloribus, gutture cervino-brnnneo striate, abdomine quoque cervino, plumis 

 omnibus medialiter brunneis ; tectricibus subcaudalibus cers-inis brunneo trausfasoiatis, remigibus nigri- 

 cantibus ad basin cervino-albidis nigricante punctatis. (Descr. jut. ex Tehuantepec, Mexico. Mus. 

 nostr.) 



Hah. Mexico [Mus. Norv.^), Tehuantepec (Sumichrast) ; Guatemala, San Gerdnimo 

 {fide Ourney ^); Pasajia, Calobre {Arce *).— South America, Colombia ^, Venezuela, 

 Ecuador, Peru i ^, Chile «. 



This species is evidently rare in all parts of its range, and we have but few examples. 

 Gumey records one in the Norwich Museum said to have come from South Mexico, 

 and we possess an immature bird procured in Tehuantepec by Sumichrast. The former 

 also mentions a specimen from San Gerdnimo ^, though we never met with it in 

 Guatemala. Arce forwarded an immature example from Calobre in Veraguas*, and 

 its range extends from Colombia and Venezuela to Ecuador and apparently even to 

 Chile. Its ally, H. coronatus, is said by d'Orbigny to frequent the banks of rivers and 

 to resemble in habits the species of JJrubitinga. In Patagonia it is stated that it eats 

 skunks, a food which few animals will touch, and also armadillos, taking both into the 

 air and letting them fall to the ground in order to kill them. 



MORPHNUS. 



Morphnus, Cuvier, Regne Anim. i. p. 318 (1817) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 222 ; Ridgw. 

 Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. ii. p. 146. 



Compared with both Harpyhaliaetus and Thraaaetus, the members of the genus 

 Morphnus are slender and graceful in form, having a very long tail, nearly equallLog 

 the wing. The crest is long and pendent, composed of narrow feathers fully four 

 inches in length. Mr. Ridgway points out that the tarsus is more than twice the 

 length of the middle toe, whUe the nostril is of peculiar shape, " broadly oval, obliquely 

 vertical, with the anterior side gradually bevelled off to the edge of the cere." The 

 wing is rounded, and the primaries scarcely exceed the secondaries in length. 



Two species are known — M. guianensis inhabiting Amazonia, Guiana, and Colombia, 

 just occurring within our limits, while M. tceniatm is known only from Ecuador. 



1. Morphnus guianensis. (Tab. LXIII.) 



Falco guianensis, Daud. Traits, ii. p. 78'. 



Morphnus guianensis, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 132'; v. Pelz. Orn. Bras. p. 4'; Sol. & Salv. 



P. Z. S. 1873, p. 302* : Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 222 = ; Ridgw. Bull. U. S. Geol. 



Surv. ii. p. 149 ; Sharpe, Hand-1. Birds, i. p. 259'. 



Ad. Supra nigricans, capite summo griseo ; cristae plumis elongatis nigro terminatis, alis extus griseo variegatis : 



