24 
ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 
Tarsi strong, feathered for nearly a third of their length beneath the joint. 
Scales in narrow, undivided (with the exception in some instances of one) 
bands, covering the front of tarsus. Toes very strong and rather long, like 
those of the species of Milvago, and much more so than in the genus Buteo. 
Hind-toe equal in length to the inner one ; but not placed quite so high on the 
Tarsus as in Polyborus. Basal joints of middle toe covered with small scales, 
with five large ones towards the extremity. Claws very strong, thick and 
long, and rather more arched, and broader than in Polyborus Brasiliensis ; 
their extremities obtuse, but not in so great a degree as in some species of 
Milvago. 
Inches. 
Total length from tip of bill to end of tail following curvature of body . . . . . 20^ 
Tail 8^ 
Wing, from elbow-joint to extremity of longest primary . . . . . . . . .15 
Bill, from tip to anterior edge of eye measured in a straight line . 
Tarsus, from soles of feet to centre of joint ........... 31 
Hind claw from tip to root, measured in straight line . . . . . . . . . 1 t l 
Claw of middle toe ............... 
Old female. 
Colour. — Nearly as in young female, but with the breast dark brown. 
Young female. 
Colour. — Head, back of neck, back, wing coverts and tertiaries barred and 
mottled, both with pale umber brown (of the same tint as in the male bird) 
and with pale fulvous orange. On head and back of neck, each feather is of 
the latter colour, with a mere patch of the brown on its tip ; but in the longer 
feathers, as in the scapulars, upper tail coverts, inner web and part of outer 
of the tertiaries, each is distinctly barred with the dark brown. Tail as in the 
old male. Primaries black as in male, with the inner webs nearly white, and 
marked with short transverse bars. Under surface and thighs of the same 
fulvous orange, but some of the feathers, especially those on the breast, 
are marked with small spots of umber brown on their tips. Some of the 
longer feathers on the flanks, on the under tail coverts, and on the linings 
of the wing, have irregular bars of the same. 
Form and Size. — Larger and more robust than the male. Total length 24 inches. 
Tail ten and a half inches long, and therefore longer in proportion to the 
wings than in the other sex. Wings from joint to end of primaries, \7\. 
Habitat, Galapagos Archipelago, {October). 
