FALCONIBM—BUTEONIN^: BUZZARDS. 551 



/aint clouding, to creamy-white boldly variegated with blotches and washes of dark brown on 

 the surface, with neutral-tint markings in the substance of the shell. 



526. A. ferrugi'neus. (Lat. ferrugo, iron-rust.) Pbeeuginous Kough-leggbd Buzzard. 

 " California Squirrel Hawk." Adult ^ ? : Below, pure white from bill to end of tail, 

 the legs rich rufous or bright chestnut barred with black, in marked contrast ; usually a few 

 chestnut bars or arrow-heads on the belly and ilanks, and the breast with sharp shaft lines of 

 black. The older the bird the purer white below, with more perfect contrast of the chestnut 

 legs ; the ? retaining marks of immaturity longer than the $ ; these consisting in extension 

 of the black-barred chestnut markings on to the belly, flanks, and even more of the under parts, 

 and spreading of the fine shaft lines on the breast into ordinary streaks. Tail sUvery-white 

 below, above white at base and extreme tip, in most of its extent clouded with silvery-ash and 

 more or less tinged with ferruginous. Back, rump, and wing-coverts mixed blackish and 

 bright chestnut in varying but about equal amounts, the former color making central markings 

 on the exposed portion of each feather, the chestnut yielding to white at the bases of the 

 feathers. Top, back, and sides of head streaked with blackish and white in about equal 

 amounts, the feathers being cottony -white, with dark streaks or spaces on their exposed por- 

 tions. Primaries blackish, vdth a glaucous bloom on their outer webs, their shafts almost 

 entirely white, several outer ones witli extensive pure white areation on their inner webs; 

 inner primaries and secondaries continuing this pattern, but with more or less evident ashy 

 spacing between blackish bars, as usual in buteonine hawks. Length of (J, 23.50 ; extent 54.- 

 50 ; wing 16.75 ; tail 9.25 ; tarsus 2.75 ; length of ? , 23.50 ; extent 56.50 ; wing 17.25 ; tail 

 9.75. Iris pale brownish to light yellow; cere and feet bright yellow; bill dark bluish horn- 

 color ; month purplish flesh-color. Third and 4th quills subequal and longest ; 2d between 5th 

 and 6th ; 1st about equal to 8th ; lst-4th abruptly emarginate on iuner webs ; 2d-5th sinuate 

 on outer webs. The foregoing is from a flne pair I procured in Arizona in 1864. A younger 

 bird is described as less rufous above, and almost entirely white below, the flags scarcely varie- 

 gated or contrasted. The first plumage does not seem to be described; I have seen it in 

 Dakota, but have no specimen at hand, and cannot trust my memory. One of the largest, 

 handsomest and most distinctively marked hawks of N. Am., somewhat recalling Buteo albo- 

 caudatUfS; common in the west, from the region of the lied Eiver of the North and of the Sas- 

 katchewan to Texas and into Mexico, and from the Plains to the Pacific ; sometimes even E. 

 of the Mississippi, as in Iowa. Nesting and habits in no wise peculiar, as compared with 

 those of other large hawks ; nest in trees, on ledges and banks, composed of sticks, with mat- 

 ted lining of various softer materials; eggs not characteristic, but large, averaging 2.50 X 1.95. 

 182. ASTUBI'NA. (Modified from Lat. astur, a hawk.) Star Buzzards. General chars, of 

 Buteo, in proportions, but system of coloration as in Astwr : sexes ahke ; adults ashy, with 

 black, white-barred tail, the under parts closely barred crosswise with ashy and white ; young 

 difierent, the under parts marked lengthwise with blackish on a whitish ground. Wings short 

 for this subfamily ; 3d, 4th, and 5th quills longest, 1st very short ; outer 4 emarginate on inner 

 webs ; 2d-5th cut on outer webs. Tail even, long, about f the wing. Legs longer than usual 

 in Buteonince, more nearly as in AccipitriniB ; feet stout ; tarsus scutellate before and half-way 

 up behind, shortly feathered above in fi-ont, elsewhere strongly reticulate. A small group of 

 handsome under-sized hawks, peculiar to America. 



^ggl. A. plaga'ta. (Lat. plagata, striped.) Gray Star Buzzard. Adult $ $ : Upper parts 

 nearly uniform cinereous, or light plumbeous, the feathers dark-shafted, and with nearly obso- 

 lete undulations of lighter ash ; upper tail-coverts in part white. Tail black, with several 

 white zones, sometimes broken, and white or whitish tip. Under parts, including tibise, white, 

 beautifully and closely cross-barred with dark ash, except upon the throat and crissum ; some 

 of the feathers also dark-shafted. Lining of vidngs white, less closely barred with ashy. 

 Primaries darkening from the color of the back, their inner webs spaced lighter and darker, and 



