12 
FALCO COOPERII. 
more so tlian the secondaries ; the second is equal to 
the sixth, the third to the fifth, these two last mentioned 
being- hardly shorter than the fourth, which, as in all 
Astures , is longest. The tail is full eight inches long, 
reaching five beyond the wings ; its colour is ashy 
brown, much paler beneath, tipped with whitish, and 
crossed by four equidistant blackish bands, nearly one 
inch in breadth ; the tail-coverts at their very base are 
whitish ; the lateral feathers are lighter, and with some 
white on the inner webs. The legs and feet are yellow, 
slender, and elongated, but still do not reach, when 
extended, to the tip of the tail; the tarsus, feathered 
in front for a short space, is two and three quarter 
inches long; as in other Astures , the middle toe is 
much the longest, and the inner, without the nail, is 
shorter than the outer, but taken with its much longer 
nail, is longer. The talons are black, and extremely 
sharp, the inner and the hind ones subequal, and much 
the largest, while the outer is the most delicate. 
The female is larger, and measures two inches more 
in length, but in plumage is perfectly similar to the 
male. As the male we have described is evidently a 
young bird, it is very probable that the adult, after 
undergoing the changes usual in this group, obtains a 
much darker and more uniform plumage above, and is 
beneath lineated transversely with reddish. That in 
this supposed plumage, the bird has not yet been found, 
is no reason to doubt its existence, as the species is 
comparatively rare. Even of the common Falcofuscus , 
though constantly receiving numerous specimens of the 
young, we have only been able to procure a single one 
in adult plumage, during a period of four years. 
We regret that this is all that is in our power to offer 
of the history of this species, which, as will be seen 
from the description, possesses in an eminent degree 
the characters of the group. From the circumstance 
of its being found here in autumn and winter, we are 
led to infer, that it comes to us from the north. 
