30 
U. S JP. R. R EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
white at their bases. Throat white, with longitudinal lines of brown, and with a patch of brown on each side running from the 
base of the lower mandible ; breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and sagittate spots, and transverse bands of 
reddish ferruginous tinged with ashy ; other under parts white, with numerous sagittate spots of reddish on the flanks, abdomen, 
and tibise. In some specimens the ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the under tail coverts, and all 
the feathers have large circular or ovate spots of white on both edges, under tail coverts white. Quills brownish black, widely 
bordered with white on their inner webs ; tail dark brown, narrowly tipped with white, and with one wide band of white and 
several narrower bands near the base. 
Young .—Upper parts dull umber brown, many feathers edged with fulvous and ashy white ; upper tail coverts spotted with 
white. Under parts white, generally tinged with yellowish, and having longitudinal stripes and oblong and lanceolate spots cf 
brownish black ; a stripe of dark brown on each side of the neck from the base of the under mandible. Tail brown, with several 
bands of a darker shade of the same color, and of white on the inner webs and narrowly tipped with white. 
Total length, female, 17 to 18 inches ; wing, 11 ; tail, 6| to 7 inches. Male, total length, 16 to 16| inches; wing, 10 inches ; 
tail 6 to inches. ' 
Hab .—Eastern North America. Spec, in Nat. Mus., Washington, and Mus. Acad., Philadelphia. 
In adult plumage this is a very handsome little hawk, and quite different in its color from 
any other American species. It appears to he restricted to the States on the Atlantic slope, 
more abundant in the north. 
List of specimens. 
Catalogue No. 
Sex and age. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Original No. 
Collected by— 
Measurements. 
Length. 
Extent. 
Carpal 
joint. 
5574 
3844 
Saranac lake, N. Y. 
Prairie Mer Rouge, 
Louisiana. 
August, 1855 _ 
S. F. Baird . 
s 
J. Fairie__ 
BUTEO OXYPTERUS, C as sin. 
Buteo oxypterus, Cassin., Proc. Acad. P ilad. VII, p. §82, (1855.) 
About the size of Buteo pennsylvanicus, Wilson. Bill rather long and compressed, edge of upper mandible slightly waved in 
its outline, but scarcely lobed ; wing long, pointed, third quill longest; tail moderate or rather short; legs rather long, tarsus 
feathered in front for about one-third of its length, naked behind, naked portion in front having about fourteen narrow trans¬ 
verse scales ; claws large, strong, fully curved. 
Young bird .—Sex unknown. Entire plumage above dark brown, nearly black on the back. Feathers of the head white at base, 
and edged laterally with the same ; upper plumage with partially concealed spots and transverse bands of white. Quills nearly 
black, with the inner webs dark cinereous barred with brown ; tail above ashy brown, white at base and having about ten trans¬ 
verse bands of dark brown, outer feathers ashy white on their inner webs; tail beneath silky, ashy white, with a bronzed 
yellowish olive lustre. 
Behind and under the eye a stripe of rufous brown. Under parts pale yellowish white ; throat with lines and narrow stripes 
of brownish black, and on other under parts every feather with a large lanceolate, cordate, or circular spot of dark brown, some 
feathers on the flanks and sides having also some irregular bands of the same color. Nearly all the feathers on the under parts 
with lines of dark brown on their shafts. Quills, with their inner webs on the under surface grayish or dark ashy, and near the 
shafts with a bronzed olive lustre ; shafts white, (on the under surface.) Inferior coverts of the wing white, with sagittate spots 
of dark brown. Tibial feathers yellowish white tinged with rufous, and having irregular transverse bars of dark brown. 
Dimensions .—Total length (sex unknown) about 16 inches ; wing, 13| inches ; tail, 7 inches. 
The adult of this bird is unknown, and the only specimen that we have ever seen is that now 
described. It is about the size of Buteo pennsylvanicus , and bears some resemblance to the 
young of that species, but has the wings and legs much longer and the bill also longer. The 
colors, too, are different, and in the present bird the dark cinereous of the inner webs of the 
