_Falco_, MŒHRING, 1752. (Type, _Falco peregrinus_, GM. = _F.
communis_, GM.)
_Rhynchodon_, NITZSCH, 1840. (In part only.)
_Euhierax_, WEBB. & BERTH., 1844. (Type, _Falco_—?)
_Icthierax_, KAUP, 1844. (Type, _Falco frontalis_, DAUD.)
[Illustration: =51293=, ♂. ¼
_F. aurantius._]
[Illustration: =52814=, ♀.
_F. rufigularis_ (nat. size).]
[Illustration: =51293=, ♂. ½
_F. aurantius._]
[Illustration: =51293=, ♂. NAT. SIZE.
_F. aurantius._]
[Illustration: =52814=, ♀.
_F. rufigularis_ (nat. size).]
The following synopsis of the three American species of this subgenus
may serve to distinguish them from each other, though only two of
them (_F. aurantius_ and _F. rufigularis_) are very closely related.
The comparative characters of the several geographical races of the
other one (_F. communis_), which is cosmopolitan in its habitat, being
included under the head of that species, may explain the reasons why
they are separated from each other.
Species and Races.
=A.= First and second quills equal and longest; first with inner web
emarginated, second with inner web slightly sinuated. Young with
longitudinal stripes on the lower parts. Adult and young stages very
different.
1. =F. communis.= Wing, 11.50–14.30; tail, 7.00–8.50; culmen,
.72–.95; tarsus, 1.65–2.20; middle toe, 1.80–2.30.[52] Second
quill longest; first shorter than, equal to, or longer than third.
_Adult._ Above plumbeous, darker anteriorly, lighter and more bluish
posteriorly; anteriorly plain, posteriorly with darker transverse
bars, these growing more sharply defined towards the tail. Beneath
ochraceous-white, varying in tint from nearly pure white to deep
ochraceous, those portions posterior to the jugulum transversely
barred, more or less, with blackish or dark plumbeous; anterior
lower parts (from the breast forward) without transverse bars.
_Young._ No transverse bars on the body, above or below. Above
blackish-brown, varying to black, the feathers usually bordered
terminally with ochraceous or rusty; forehead usually more or less
washed with the same. Beneath ochraceous, varying in shade; the
whole surface with longitudinal stripes of blackish. Inner webs of
tail-feathers and primaries with numerous transverse elliptical
spots of ochraceous. _Hab._ Cosmopolitan.
_a._ Young dark brown above, the feathers bordered with rusty or
whitish. Beneath white or ochraceous, with narrow longitudinal
stripes of dusky. Inner webs of tail-feathers with transverse
bars.
Auriculars white, cutting off the black of the cheeks with a
prominent “mustache.”
Beneath pure white, the breast and middle of the abdomen
without markings. Wing, 12.75; tail, 7.30; culmen, .80;
tarsus, 2.00; middle toe, 1.80. _Hab._ Eastern Asia …
var. _orientalist_.[53]
Beneath pale ochraceous, the breast always with longitudinal
dashes, or elliptical spots, of dusky; middle of abdomen
barred. Wing, 11.50–14.30; tail, 7.00–8.50; culmen, .72–.95;
tarsus, 1.65–2.20; middle toe, 1.80–2.30. _Hab._ Europe …
var. _communis_.[54]
Beneath varying from deep ochraceous to nearly pure white,
the breast never with distinct longitudinal or other spots,
usually with none at all. Middle of abdomen barred, or not.
Wing, 11.30–14.75; tail, 6.00–9.00; culmen, .75–1.00; tarsus,
1.60–2.10; middle toe, 1.75–2.20. _Hab._ America (entire
continent) …
var. _anatum_.
Auriculars black, nearly, or quite, as far down as the lower end
of the “mustache.”
Beneath varying from deep ochraceous to white, the breast
streaked or not. Lower parts more uniformly and heavily
barred than in the other races. _Young_ with narrower streaks
beneath. Wing, 11.15–12.60; tail, 6.11–8.00; culmen, .81–.90;
tarsus, 1.60–2.05; middle toe, 1.75–2.15. _Hab_. Australia …
var. _melanogenys_.[55]
_b._ Young unvariegated brownish-black above. Beneath
brownish-black, faintly streaked with white, or nearly
unvariegated. Inner webs of tail-feathers without transverse bars.
Wing, 14.90–15.09; tail, 8.50; culmen, .95–1.00; tarsus,
2.10; middle toe, 2.15–2.21. _Hab._ Northwest coast of North
America, from Oregon to Sitka …
var. _pealei_.
=B.= Second quill longest; first with inner web emarginated, the
second with inner web not sinuated. Young without longitudinal stripes
on lower parts. Adult and young stages hardly appreciably different.
Above plumbeous or black; beneath black from the jugulum to the
tibiæ, with transverse bars of white, ochraceous, or rufous; throat
and jugulum white, white and rufous, or wholly ochraceous, with a
semicircular outline posteriorly; tibiæ, anal region, and crissum
uniform deep rufous, or spotted with black on an ochraceous or a
white and rufous ground. _Adult._ Plumbeous above, the feathers
darker centrally, and with obscure darker bars posteriorly; jugulum
immaculate. _Young._ Black above, the feathers bordered terminally
with rusty, or else dark plumbeous without transverse bars; jugulum
with longitudinal streaks.
2. =F aurantius.=[56] Wing, 9.50–12.00; tail, 5.40–6.25; culmen,
.96; tarsus, 1.50–1.60; middle toe, 1.75–2.10. Second quill
longest; first longer than third. Crissum ochraceous, or white and
rufous, with large transverse spots of black; upper tail-coverts
sharply barred with pure white or pale ash. _Adult._ Above
plumbeous-black, the feathers conspicuously bordered with
plumbeous-blue. Throat and jugulum immaculate; white centrally and
anteriorly, deep rufous laterally and posteriorly. Tibiæ plain
rufous. _Young._ Above uniform dull black, the feathers sometimes
bordered inconspicuously with rusty. Throat and jugulum varying
from white to ochraceous or rufous (this always deepest laterally
and posteriorly). Tibiæ sometimes thickly spotted transversely
with black. _Hab._ Tropical America, north to Southern Mexico.
3. =F. rufigularis.=[57] Wing, 7.20–9.00 (♂, wing, 7.70; tail,
3.95–5.50; culmen, .45–.58; tarsus, 1.20–1.55; middle toe,
1.15–1.40). Second quill longest; first longer than third. Crissum
uniform deep reddish-rufous, rarely barred with white and dusky.
Upper tail-coverts obsoletely barred with plumbeous.
_Adult._ Above plumbeous-black, the feathers lightening into
plumbeous-blue on the edges and ends, and showing obscure bars
on the posterior portions. Throat and jugulum ochraceous-white,
the ochraceous tinge deepest posteriorly and without any streaks.
_Young._ Above plumbeous-black, without lighter obscure bars, or
with a brownish cast, and with faint rusty edges to the feathers.
Throat and jugulum deep soft ochraceous, deepest laterally, the
posterior portion usually with a few longitudinal streaks of
dusky. _Hab._ Tropical America, north to Middle Mexico.
Falco communis, GMEL.
Var. =anatum=, BONAP.