Mr. R. B. Sharpe’s Catalogue of Accipitres. 4 77 
it is not now possible to ascertain the exact locality of either 
example. 
The next genus to which I propose to allude is Buteola. 
Mr. Ridgway, in his account of Onychotes gruberi, from which 
I have just quoted, speaks of that species as agreeing “ very 
nearly in size with Buteola minuta and hr achy ur a but Mr. 
Sharpe treats Buteola minuta as a synonym of B. brachyura; 
and in this I think he is correct, as Yon Pelzeln's original 
description of the Buteo minutus of Nattereds Brazilian Cata¬ 
logue appears to be founded on two normal immature speci¬ 
mens and one melanistic adult of B. brachyura. 
Yon PelzelA’s reason for considering Nattereds B. minutus 
to be distinct from YieilloPs B. brachyurus is that the type 
of the latter is described by Pucheran (Rev. et Mag. d^Orn. 
1850, p. 86) as being “ remarquable par la brievete de la queue 
et par suite par Pallongement des ailes, qui depassent d^un 
pouce les rectricesbut as in ordinary specimens of B. bra¬ 
chyura the wings do not reach to the tip of the tail, I think 
it probable that the peculiarity observed by Yon Pelzeln in 
the type specimen may be due to some defect in preparing 
or mounting the skin, as it often happens that the apparent 
relative length of the tail as compared with the wings is either 
unnaturally curtailed or extended through lack of care or 
skill on the part of the taxidermist. 
The “ distinct central tubercle ” in the nostril which dis¬ 
tinguishes the genus Buteola [vide Sharpens Catalogue, p. 158) 
very frequently disappears in the process of preserving the 
skin; and when this has happened it is not always very easy 
to distinguish at first sight between melanistic specimens of 
Buteo brachyura and similarly coloured examples of Buteo fu- 
liginosus*. It appears to me that the former, when newly 
moulted, are blacker than B. fuliginosus on all parts except 
the interspaces between the dark transverse bars on the tail, 
which are usually greyer, but sometimes partly white; when, 
however, the plumage has been somewhat worn, it assumes 
everywhere, but especially on the breast, abdomen, tibiae, and 
* On the subject of the specific validity of Buteo fuliginosus as distin¬ 
guished from Buteo swainsoni, vide antea, p. 235. 
