_Falco hudsonius_, LINN. Syst. Nat. p. 128, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. p.
277, 1789.—LATH. Syn. I, 91, sp. 76, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, p. 97, sp.
C. 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 173, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 165, 1809.
_Circus hudsonius_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. ix, 1807.—CASS. B.
Cal. & Tex. p. 108, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 38.—HEERM. P. R. R.
Rep’t, II, 33, 1855.—KENNERLY, P. R. R. Rep’t, III, 19, 1856.—NEWB.
P. R. R. Rep’t, VI, 74, 1857.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R. Rep’t, XII, ii,
150, 1860.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 150, 1855.—COUES, Prod. B. Ariz.
13, 1866.—BLAKIST. Ibis, 1861, 319.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, 1864, 110
(Brit. Coll.). _Circus cyaneus hudsonius_, SCHLEG. Mus. Pays-Bas,
_Circi_, 2, 1862. _Circus cyaneus_, var. _hudsonius_, (RIDGWAY) COUES,
Key, 1872, 210.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 37, 1869. _Strigiceps hudsonius_,
BONAP. Consp. Av. p. 35, 1850. _Falco spadicens_, GMEL. Syst. Nat.
p. 273, 1789.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII, 383, 1772. _Falco buffoni_,
GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 277, 1789.—LATH. Gen. Hist. I, 98, D, 1821. _Falco
uliginosus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 278, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 40,
179; Syn. I, 90, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 271, 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II,
173, 1800.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. li, f. 2, 1808.—SAB. App. Frankl. Exp.
p. 671. _Circus uliginosus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 37, 1807.—DE
KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 20, pl. iii, figs. 5, 6, 1844.—JAMES. (WILS.)
Am. Orn. I, 88, 1831.—MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 20. _Strigiceps
uliginosus_, BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 5, 1838.—KAUP, Monog. Falc.
Cont. Orn. 1850, p. 58. _Falco cyaneus_ & β. LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 40,
1790; Syn. I, 91, 7 sp. 6 A.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 164, 1809. _Falco
cyaneus_, AUD. B. Am. pl. ccclvi, 1831.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. IV,
21, 1831.—BONAP. Am. Orn. pl. 12; Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 33; Isis, 1832,
p. 1538.—PEAB. B. Mass. p. 82, 1841. _Circus cyaneus_, BONAP. Ann.
Lyc. N. Y. p. 33.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 391.—RICH.
_Measurements._—♂. Wing, 12.50–13.25; tail, 9.00–9.30; culmen, .60–.70;
tarsus, 2.75–2.90; middle toe, 1.10–1.25. Specimens, 8. ♀. Wing,
13.50–15.00; tail, 9.50–10.70; culmen, .75; tarsus, 2.70–2.85; middle
toe, 1.25–1.35. Specimens, 4.
_Observations._—The adult female of _cyaneus_ is distinguishable from
that of _hudsonius_ by lighter colors and less distinct ochraceous
blotches on the shoulders. & SWAINS. Faun. Bor. Am. pl. xxix, 1831.—AUD.
Synop. p. 19, 1839.—BREW. (WILS.) N. Am. Orn. Syn. 685, 1852.—PEAB.
U. S. Expl. Exp. p. 63, 1848.—WOODH. in Sitgr. Rep’t, Exp. Zuñi &
Colorad. p. 61, 1853.—NUTT. Man. Orn. U. S. & Can. p. 109, 1833.—GIRAUD.
B. Long Isl’d, p. 21, 1844.—GRAY, List B. Brit. Mus. p. 78, 1844.
SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (10,764, Washington, D. C., December). Head,
neck, breast, and upper parts light cinereous, palest anteriorly where
it is uninterruptedly continuous; occiput somewhat darker, with a
transverse series of longitudinal dashes of white, somewhat tinged
with reddish. Back, scapulars, and terminal third of secondaries, with
a dusky wash, the latter fading at tips; five outer primaries nearly
black, somewhat hoary on outer webs beyond their emargination; lesser
wing-coverts faintly mottled with paler, or with obsolete dusky spots.
Upper tail-coverts immaculate pure white. Tail bluish-cinereous, mottled
with white toward base; crossed near the end with a distinct band of
black, and with about five narrower, very obscurely indicated ones
anterior to this; tip beyond the subterminal zone fading terminally
into whitish. Whole under side of wing (except terminal third or
more of primaries) pure white; immaculate, excepting a few scattered
transverse dusky spots on larger coverts. Rest of under parts pure white
everywhere, with rather sparse transverse cordate spots of rufous. Wing,
14.00; tail, 9.20; tarsus, 2.80; middle toe, 1.30. Third and fourth
quills equal, and longest; second intermediate between fifth and sixth;
first 5.81 inches shorter than longest.
Another specimen differs as follows: The fine cinereous above is
replaced by a darker and more brownish shade of the same, the head
and breast much tinged with rusty. Tail much darker, the last black
band twice as broad and near the tip; other bands more numerous (seven
instead of five), and although still very obscure on middle feathers are
better defined than in the one described; inner webs of tail-feathers
(especially the outer ones) tinged with cream-color; white of lower
parts tinged with rufous; the deep rufous transverse bars on the breast
and sides broader, larger, and more numerous than in No. 16,764;
abdomen and tibiæ with numerous smaller cordate spots of rufous; lower
tail-coverts with large cordate spots of the same, and a deep stain of
paler rufous; lining of wings more variegated. Wing, 14.10; tail, 9.00;
tarsus, 2.90; middle toe, 1.30.
_Adult female_ (16,758, Hudson’s Bay Territory; Captain Blakiston).
Umber-brown above; feathers of the head and neck edged laterally with
pale rufous; lores, and superciliary and suborbital stripes dull
yellowish-white, leaving a dusky stripe between them, running back from
the posterior angle of the eye. Lesser wing-coverts spattered with pale
rufous, this irregularly bordering and indenting the feathers; feathers
of the rump bordered with dull ferruginous. Tail deep umber, faintly
fading at the tip, and crossed by six or seven very regular, sharply
defined, but obscure, bands of blackish; the alternating light bars
become paler and more rufous toward the edge of the tail, the lateral
feathers being almost wholly pale cream-color or ochraceous, darker
terminally; this tint is more or less prevalent on the inner webs of
nearly all the feathers. Ear-coverts dull dark rufous, obsoletely
streaked with dark brown; the feathers of the facial disk are fine
pale cream-color, each with a middle stripe of dark brown; throat and
chin immaculate dirty-white, like the supraorbital and suborbital
stripes. Beneath dull white, with numerous broad longitudinal stripes
of umber-brown; these broadest on the breast, growing gradually smaller
posteriorly. Under surface of primaries dull white, crossed at wide
intervals with dark-brown irregular bars, of which there are five
(besides the terminal dark space) on the longest quill.
_Juv._ (♀, 15,585, Bridger’s Pass, Rocky Mountains, August; W. S.
Wood). Upper parts very dark rich clove-brown, approaching sepia-black;
feathers of the head bordered with deep ferruginous, and lesser
wing-coverts much spotted with the same, the edges of the feathers being
broadly of this color; secondaries and inner primaries fading terminally
into whitish; upper tail-coverts tinged with delicate cream-color
(immaculate). Tail with four very broad bands of black, the intervening
spaces being dark umber on the two middle feathers, on the others fine
cinnamon-ochre; the tip also (broadly) of this color. Ear-coverts
uniform rich dark snuff-brown, feathers of a satiny texture; feathers
of facial disk the same centrally, edged with fine deep rufous. Entire
lower parts deep reddish-ochraceous or fulvous-rufous, growing gradually
paler posteriorly; immaculate, with the exception of a few faint
longitudinal stripes on the breast and sides. Under side of wing as in
the last, but much tinged with rufous.
HAB. Entire continent of North America, south to Panama; Cuba, and
Bahamas.
Localities: Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 390); Orizaba (SCL. 1857, 211);
Guatemala, winter (SCL. Ibis, I, 221); Cuba (CAB. Journ. II, lxxxiii;
GUNDLACH, Repert. 1865, 222, winter); City of Mexico (SCL. 1864, 178);
E. Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 328, resident); W. Arizona (COUES);
Bahamas (BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 65); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 134).