22 
FALCO CYANEUS. 
of the New Dictionary of Natural History , declared it 
to be a state of the other. How far, however, it may 
be considered a compliment to change the name given 
to a species by its discoverer, in order to apply even his 
own to it, we are at a loss to imagine. 
The principal distinctive characters of the two species 
are to be found in the relative length of the wings and 
tail, and in the proportional lengths of the primaries. 
In the ash-coloured harrier, the sixth primary is shorter 
than the first, the second is much longer than the fifth, 
and the third is the longest ; the wings, when closed, 
reach to the tip of the tail. In the hen-harrier, the 
first primary is shorter than the sixth, the second sub- 
equal to the fifth, and the third equal to the fourth, the 
longest ; the wings closed, not reaching, 1 more than 
two inches, to the tip of the tail, which is also but 
slightty rounded in the latter, while in the ash-coloured 
it is cuneiform. Other minor differences are besides 
observable in the respective sexes and states of both ; 
but as those we have indicated are the only ones that 
permanently exist, and may be found at all times, we 
shall not dwell on the others, especially as Montague’s 
species appears not to inhabit America. We think 
proper to observe, however, that the adult male of j Valeo 
cineraceus has the primaries wholly black beneath, 
while that of the F. cyaneus has them black only from 
the middle to the point ; and that the tail-feathers, pure 
white in the latter, are in the former spotted beneath. 
The female in our species is larger than the correspon- 
ding sex of the other, though the males in both are 
nearly of equal size,* and the collar that surrounds the 
face is strongly marked in ours, whereas it is but little 
apparent in the other. The F. cineraceus has two white 
spots near the eyes, which are not in the F. cyaneus . 
The young of the former is beneath rusty without spots. 
Thus, slight but constant differences, are seen to repre- 
sent a species, while the most striking discrepancies in 
colour, size, and (not in this but in other instances) 
even of form, prove mere variations of sex or age ! We 
cannot wonder at the two real species having always 
