APPENDIX. 477 



It is an interesting fact that all the Swainson's Hawks thus far 

 met with in New England have been more or less typical representa- 

 tives of the dark phase of this species. I am also now inclined to 

 refer to this phase a specimen from New York State which I once 

 reported (Auk, Vol. X, 1893, p. 83) as a light-colored bird. 



Elanoides foeficatus. Swallow-tailed Kite. 



Among other treasures of a similar kind, the Essex County Col- 

 lection of the Peabody Academy contains the only known New Eng- 

 land specimen of the Swallow-tailed Kite, taken at West Newbury, 

 " on the last of September, 1882," and mounted by Mr. R. L. 

 Newcomb (cf. Coues, Bull. N. 0. C, Vol. VIII, 1883, p. 61). The 

 species has been seen, however, on several other occasions : in Massa- 

 chusetts, at Whateley, about 1868 (Allen, Am. Nat., Vol. Ill, 1870, 

 p. 645) ; in Connecticut, at Lyme, July 2, 1877, by Mr. Josiah H. 

 Ely, and at Portland, during the summer of 1861, by Mr. W. W. 

 Coe (Merriam, Rev. Birds Comi., 1877, p. 77). 



GYRFALCONS. 



The Gyrfalcons are a puzzling group of birds. They vary ex- 

 cessively in c(^or, some individuals being almost uniformly dark 

 sooty brown, while others are pure white with a few black or black- 

 ish markings on the upper parts ; and these extremes appear to be 

 connected by nicely graduated and almost perfect series of inter- 

 grades. Hence it is not surprising that the exact number of species 

 or subspecies into which the group should be divided, the characters 

 by which these may be respectively distinguished and the names 

 which they should bear have furnished subject for endless discussion 

 and disagreement. At present four forms are very generally recog- 

 nized ; but it is doubtful if any one of these is specifically distinct 

 from its nearest ally or allies, although each is believed to be in the 

 main characteristic of, if not peculiar to, a certain geographical area, 

 — at least during the breeding-season. In autumn and winter all 

 four forms wander and intermingle more or less freely ; but even 

 at the latter seasons their respective ranges do not perfectly coincide. 

 Thus, the Gray Gyrfalcon is said never to occur in the Scandina- 

 vian Peninsula, and in America the White Gyrfalcon rarely passes 

 south of the northern boundary of the United States. 



It is difficult to define and circumscribe the characters by which 

 the forms just mentioned may be respectively distinguished, for the 

 range of individual variation to which each is subject is not as yet 



