142 
Genus BUSARELLUS, Lafresnaye. 
Busarellus fiAFR. D'Orb. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. ii, 1842, 785-6. Type, Falco nigricollis 
Latham. 
Icthyoborus Kattp, Contr. Oru. 1850, 76. Same type. 
Cn.—Geueral form and appearance of Buteogallus cequinoctialis. 
Bill, feet, and claws very strong; wings large (but primaries short), 
and outstretched feet reaching beyond the end of the rather short, 
nearly even tail. Bill, cere, and nostril very similar to that of 
Pandion , but the culmen less arched, and the top of the cere elevated 
instead of depressed. Tarsus nearly twice the middle toe, with a 
frontal and posterior series of transverse scutellm, these sometimes 
fused into continuous plates. Lateral toes nearly equal (but the outer 
perceptibly the longer), the posterior a very little shorter than the 
inner, and the middle one only the distance of its terminal joint longer. 
Inferior surface of the toes with acute papillse, as in Pandion. Claws 
very strong, of normal shape, considerably graduated, and deeply 
# grooved beneath. No trace of a web between the toes. Head normally 
feathered; the feathers, as well as those of the neck, lanceolate, the 
occipital ones somewhat elongated. Secondaries much developed, and 
very broad, fifteen in number. Primaries but little longer than the 
secondaries; third, fourth, or fifth longest, first shorter than the eighth; 
outer six with their inner webs very shallowly sinuated. Tail less than 
half the wing, even, or very slightly rounded. Plumes of the outer 
face of the tibire short and close, as in Onychotes. 
This strongly-characterized and very remarkable genus exhibits a 
striking analogy to Pandion in the very strong and slightly-graduated 
claws, the close feathering of the tibite, the general form of the bill, 
and the sharp spicules of the toe-pads. It is said to be piscatorial in 
its habits, hence these modifications. It differs very essentially from 
Pandion , however, in the deep grooving of the claws, the soft texture 
of the plumage, the buteonine scutellation of the tarsi and toes, and 
indeed in all essential features. It is much more nearly related to the 
haliaetine group, especially to the remarkable Australian genus Gypoic - 
tinia, from which, however, it is widely distinct, as it is from all Ameri¬ 
can genera. But one species is thus fark nown. 
BUSARELLUS NIGRICOLLIS. 
Falco nigricollis Lath. Ind. Oru. i, 1790, 35. 
Buteo nigricollis Vieill. N. D. iv, 1816, 437.— Gray, Gen. i, 1845, 15; Hand List, i, 
1869, 9.— Pucher. Rev. et Mag. Zool. 1850,-85.— Burm. Th. Bras, ii, 1856, 47.— 
Sciil. Mns. P.-B. Bnteoues, 1862, 17.— Lawr. Mem. Boston Soc. N. H. 1874, 
302 (N. W. Mexico; biography). 
Morjphnus nigricollis Gray, Gen. iii, App. 1849, 1. 
Icthyoborus nigricollis Kaup, Contr. OrnTlSSO, 76.— Pelz. Orn. Bras. 1871, 3, 394. — 
Ridgw. Pr. Boston Soc. N. H., May, 1873, 69. 
Buteogallus nigricollis Strickl. Oru. Syn. i, 1855, 43. — Cassin, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci 
1860, — (Truando, N. G.) — Scl. & Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 119. 
Busarellus nigricollis Sharpe, Cat. Acc. B. M. 1874, 211. 
Falco busarellus Daud. Tr. ii, 1800, 168 (ex Levaill.) 
Circus busarellus Vieill. Enc. Metb. iii, 1823,1212. 
Buteo busarellus Vig. Zool. Journ. i, 1824, 340. — Gray, Gen. i, 1815, 15. 
Buteogallus busarellus Bonap. Consp. i, 1850, 17. 
Falco melanobronclios Shaw, Geu. Zool. vii, 1809, 167. 
Circtis leucocephalus Vieill. N. D. iv, 1816, 465. 
Second and fourth just appreciably shorter. 
