36 
BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL 
Buteo vulgaris: Sp. Ch. — Wing, 15.50-16.60; tail, 8.80-10.00; 
culmen, .85 -.95; tarsus, 3.00-3.50; middle toe, 1.40-1.55. Four 
outer primaries with inner webs emarginated ; third, fourth, or fifth quill 
longest (usually the third and fourth) ; first shorter than seventh, eighth, 
or ninth (usually intermediate between seventh and eighth). Tail even or 
very slightly rounded. Tail brownish, in some examples touched with 
rufous, sometimes with a narrow whitish tip, crossed by an indefinite num- 
ber (about 10-13) bands of dusky, more or less indistinct basally ; the 
inner webs lighter than the outer, sometimes whitish, the bars more dis- 
tinct. Inner webs of the primaries usually plain white anterior to their 
emargination, in marked contrast with their dusky tips, the white some- 
times immaculate, oftener with indications of bars, especially next the 
shaft, and rarely broken by a sprinkling or clouding of grayish ; outer 
webs grayish-brown, with indistinct darker bars, which become gradually 
obsolete towards the ends of the quills. Plumage generally a mixture of 
sooty-brown and white, in varying proportionate amount, in some speci- 
mens with occasional touches of rufous. 
In this species there appear to be no well-marked growth stages, 
nor does there seem to be much if any difference in plumage be- 
tween the sexes ; on the other hand, the range of individual varia- 
tion is very great, fully equalling that of either B. horealis or B. 
swainsoni. It is believed that the specimens contained in the Na- 
tional Museum illustrate the main variations, and as no two of these 
examples are alike, we will describe each one in detail : — 
Adult Males. 
Light Phase (No. 56,105, Germany). — Above grayish broAvn, broken 
by whitish edges of the feathers, these most distinct on the scapulars and 
middle wing-coverts ; lesser wing-coverts much spotted with deep buff, 
and scapulars irregularly marked with the same ; rump distinctly spotted 
with deeper buff ; remiges plain brown, very indistinctly banded with 
darker, the primaries with a decided hoary cast, the secondaries and inner 
primaries narrowly tipped with whitish. Outer upper tail-coverts white, 
with a few brownish spots. Tail grayish-brown, of the same shade as the 
secondaries, the inner webs whitish with well-defined bars towards their 
ends, the outer webs with just appreciably darker narrow bands. Head, 
neck, and lower parts white ; crown and nape streaked with grayish- 
brown, the streaks widest on the crown ; a rictal stripe of blended streaks, 
and a narrower and less distinct longitudinal series of streaks on the mid- 
dle of the throat ; jugulum with a wide collar of large cordate or broadly 
ovate spots of brown, with black shafts, the patch interrupted in the mid- 
dle portion ; abdomen with irregular bars and transverse spots of brown, 
and flanks with larger and more irregular spots of the same ; other, por- 
