BIRDS—BUTEONINAE—ICTINIA MISSISSIPPIENSIS, 
37 
EL ANUS LEUCURUS, Vieillot. 
The White-tailed Hawk; the Blaclc-shouldered Hawk. 
Milvus leucurus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XX, 563, (1818.) 
Falco dispar, Temminck, PI. Col. I, (liv. 54, about 1824.) 
“ Falco melanopterus, Daudin.” Bonap. Jour. Acad. Philada. V, 28. 
“ Falco dispar, Temm.” Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 367. 
Figures.— Bonap. Am. Orn. II, pi. 11, fig. 1 ; Temm. PL Col. 319 ; Aud. B. of Am. pi. 352; Oct. ed. I, pi. 16 ; Gay, Nat. 
Hist. Chili, Orn. pi. 2. 
Adult .—Head and tail and entire under parts white. Upper parts fine light cinereous ; lesser wing coverts glossy black, 
which forms a large oblong patch from the shoulder ; inferior wing coverts white, with a smaller black patch. Middle feathers 
of the tail light ashy, uniform with other upper parts ; bill dark ; tarsi and toes yellow. 
Total length, female, 15; to 17 inches; wing, 12 inches ; tail, 7| inches. Male smaller. 
Hub. —Southern and western States and South America. Spec, in Nat. Mus., Washington, and Mus. Acad., Philadelphia. 
Of this very handsome hawk four specimens are in the collection, two of which are from the 
neighborhood of San Francisco, California. These specimens are labelled, as having been 
collected in the winter of 1853-’5I, which fact, with others of a similar character which have 
come to our knowledge, show that this bird is one of several now known to inhabit a much 
more northern range of locality on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast of the United States. 
Though found in all the States on the southern confines of the United States, the white-tailed 
hawk has rarely, we believe, been observed north of South Carolina. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. No. 
Sex and age. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Original No. 
Collected by— 
Measurements. 
Length. 
Extent. 
Wing. 
4199 
5895 
6866 
Sm Francisco, Cal- 
Santa Clara, Cal-. 
Winter 1854-’55. 
R. D. Cutts. 
Dr. Cooper ------- 
Tulare valley, Cal.. 
Lt Williamson.... 
Dr. Heermann .. 
ICTINIA, Vieillot. 
Ictinia, Vieillot, Analyse, p.24, (1816.) 
General form short and compact. Bill short, tip emarginated ; wings long, pointed ; tail rather short, emarginated ; tarsi 
short. Contains two species only—one of North and the other of South America. 
ICTINIA MISSISSIPPIENSIS, Wilson. 
Mississippi Kite. 
Falco tnississippiensis, Wilson, Am. Orn. Ill, p. 80, (1811.) 
Falco ophiophagus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XI, 103, (1817.) 
“ Ictinia plumbea, Gm.” Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 108. 
Figures. —Wilson Am. Orn. Ill, pi. 25, fig. 1 ; Aud. B. of Am., pi. 117 : Oct. ed. 1, pi. 17. 
Adult. —Upper parts of body dark lead color, nearly black on the rump ; head and under parts cinereous, darkest on the 
abdomen ; quills and tail brownish black, the latter with a bluish or purplish lustre ; tips of secondary quills ashy white ; a 
longitudinal stripe on each web of the primaries, chestnut rufous. 
Young. —Upper parts brownish black mixed with dull rufous and white ; head and under parts dull yellowish white, with 
longitudinal stripes of reddish brown, darker and more numerous on the head, lighter and frequently clear rufous on the abdomen. 
Total length, female, about 15 inches ; wing, 11 to 11 j inches ; tail, 6j inches. Male, total length, about 14 inches ; wing, 
11 inches ; tail, 6 inches. 
Hab —Southern States, Texas, and New Mexico, (Woodhouse.) 
