482 
Mr. J. H. Gurney's Notes on 
northern of the South-American races, R. magnirostris, ex¬ 
tends across the continent from Columbia to Guiana. 
Many years ago I saw a specimen of Rupornis from the 
island of Martinique, which I considered to belong to this 
species; but I am not sure that it may not have been really 
referable to one or other of the two Central-American races 
to which I have now to allude, and which, at the period 
to which I refer, had not been distinguished from R. mag¬ 
nirostris. 
Mr. Sharpe gives but one North-American species of Ru¬ 
pornis, viz. R. ruficauda , of Sclater and Salvin, extending 
from Panama to Mexico; but Mr. Ridgway has separated the 
race found to the north of Guatemala under the title of c< var. 
griseocauda” mainly distinguished from R. ruficauda by the 
absence of rufous colouring from the tail. As mentioned in 
the article on R. ruficauda in f Exotic Ornithology/ p. 176, 
Panama specimens are decidedly more rufous on the tail than 
those found in Guatemala, the latter being, in this respect, 
intermediate between the phase of colouring existing in Pa¬ 
nama and that occurring in Mexico. 
The Guatemalan birds, though less rufous on the tail, are 
somewhat more rufous on the upper breast, and less grey on 
that portion of the plumage than those found in Panama*. 
As Mr. Sharpe does not describe the immature plumage of 
R. ruficauda, I may add that it is represented by the hinder 
figure on pi. 88 of f Exotic Ornithology/ where a succinct 
description is also given. 
For a description of R. griseocauda, I would refer my readers 
to Mr. Ridgway's f Catalogue of the Falconidse in the Boston 
Museum/ p. 49. 
According to De Saussure's notes on the birds of Mexico, 
published in the Rev. et Mag. de Zool. for 1859, p. 120, the 
iris in this species is yellow; but according to Sumichrast 
(Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. No. 4, p. 39) it is “ bright orange- 
* An adult specimen in the Norwich Museum, resembling the Guate¬ 
malan examples of R. rvficauda, is said to have been obtained in Hon¬ 
duras ; but I have not entire confidence in the accuracy of the ticket which 
was attached to the skin, and which assigned to it that locality. 
