_Buteo swainsoni_, BONAP. Comp. List, p. 3, 1838; Consp. Av. p.
19, 1850; Proc. Ac. N. S. Phil. p. 280, 1855; Birds N. Am. 19,
1858.—HEERM. P. R. R. Rep’t, II, 32, 1855.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 30,
1855.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 324 (Texas).—GAMB. Journ. Ac. N. S. Phil.
n. δ. I, 27.—COUES, Prod. B. Ariz. 9, 1866.—BLAKIST. Ibis, III, 1861,
317 (fresh eggs).—GRAY, Hand List, I, 7, 1869. _Falco buteo_, PENN.
Arct. Zoöl. II, 207, sp. 103 (♀ Juv.), 1785.—AUD. B. Am. pl. ccclxxii,
1831; Orn. Biog. IV, 508, 1831. _Falco obsoletus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p.
268, 1789.—KERR, Trans. Gmel. II, 501, 1792.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 28,
sp. 61, 1790; Synop. Supp. I, p. 30; Gen. Hist. I, p. 254, 1821.—DAUD.
Tr. Orn. II, 104, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 152, 1812. _Buteo cinereus_,
VIEILL. Ois. Am. 1807. _Buteo vulgaris_, RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. Am.
p. 5, 1831.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 56, 1808.—BREW. (WILS.) Am.
Orn. p. 303; Synop. p. 684, 1852. _Buteo montanus_, NUTT. Man. Orn.
U. S. & Canad. I, 112, 1833. _Buteo bairdi_, HOY, Proc. Ac. Sc. Phil.
VI, 451, 1853.—CASSIN, B. of Cal. & Tex. pl. xli, 1854; Birds N. Am.
21, 1858.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 37, 1855. _Buteo insignatus_, CASS.
B. Cal. & Tex. p. 102, pl. xxxi, 1854; Birds N. Am. 23, 1858.—HEERM.
P. R. R. Rep’t, VII, 31, 1857.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 38, 1855.—COUES,
Prod. B. Ariz. 9, 1866.—BRYANT, Proc. Bost. Soc. X, 1865, 90 (=
_swainsoni_). _? Buteo gutturalis_, MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 17 (and
eggs).
SP. CHAR. Form robust and strong, like _B. borealis_; wings long
and pointed; only three outer primaries with their inner webs cut.
Feet robust, the tarsi strong. Dimensions: Wing, 14.40–17.00; tail,
8.00–9.50; culmen, .80–.95; tarsus, 2.30–2.70; middle toe, 1.50–1.70.
Weight, 1½–3½ lbs. Colors: Tail dark grayish-brown with a hoary cast,
crossed by numerous obscure narrow bands of a darker shade. _Adult_,
uniform blackish-brown above; upper tail-coverts barred with white.
Throat and lower parts posterior to the breast white or pale ochraceous;
a broad patch across the breast uniform brown,—reddish-rufous in
the male, and grayish-umber in the female,—the whole lower surface
varying to entirely uniform dull brownish-black, though intermediate
shades. _Young_, with the ground-color of the plumage soft ochraceous,
or cream-color; the head, neck, dorsal region, and sides of the
breast, with tear-shaped spots of brownish-black, with a faint purple
reflection. Upper parts purplish-black, variegated with ochraceous,
sometimes almost wholly black. Tail as in the adult, but more hoary.
_a._ _Normal plumage._
_Adult male_ (53,105, Truckee River, Nevada, July; C. King, R. Ridgway).
Head, neck, and upper parts blackish-brown; scapulars slightly
variegated with a rufous mottling; upper tail-coverts white tinged with
rufous, and with transverse bars of blackish-brown, about six on each
feather. Tail dark brown like the back, approaching black terminally,
basally with a slight hoary cast; crossed by about ten narrow, very
obscure bands of nearly black. Front and whole throat clear white,
immaculate, and sharply defined against the surrounding blackish; lores
dusky. Whole breast, cinnamon-rufous (forming a wide, sharply defined
band), marked laterally with the brown of the neck; each feather with
a shaft-line of black; rest of lower parts, including whole lining of
the wing, continuous ochraceous white, the latter region unvariegated;
sides with sparse, faint, transverse bars of rufous, and shaft-lines of
darker. Under side of primaries light slate anterior to emargination,
beyond which they are black; slaty portion crossed by very obscure bars
of darker. Fourth quill longest, third scarcely shorter; second equal
to fifth; first intermediate between seventh and eighth. Length, 19.75;
extent, 48.00; wing, 15.40; tail, 8.00; tarsus, 2.32; middle toe, 1.60.
(Weight 1½ lbs.) Bill slate-black, bluish basally; cere, and angle of
mouth, light dull lemon yellow; iris deep hazel; tarsi and toes deep
chrome yellow, claws black.
[Illustration:
=58505=, ♀. ½
=58505=, ♀. ½
_Buteo swainsoni_ (Nevada).]
_Adult female_ (58,507, Great Salt Lake City, Utah, May; C. King, R.
Ridgway). Similar to the male, but pectoral area blackish-brown, like
the back; blackish-brown of upper surface untinged with rufous, all
the feathers, however, fading on edges; bands of the tail scarcely
distinguishable on outer webs; white of forehead very restricted; lining
of the wing barred with small cordate or deltoid spots of black; under
surface of primaries plain deep slate. Abdomen and sides variegated with
a few irregular longitudinal spots, and on the latter, transverse bars
of dark brown; tibiæ with faint bars of rufous. Fourth quill longest;
third scarcely shorter; second very slightly shorter than fifth; first
intermediate between seventh and eighth. Length, 21.50; extent, 54.00;
wing, 16.50; tail, 8.50; tarsus, 2.70; middle toe, 1.70. (Weight, 2¾
lbs.)
_Young_ (10,761, Rocky Mountains, September; C. Drexler). Head, neck,
and entire lower parts fine delicate light ochraceous, or cream-color;
feathers of the crown, occiput, and neck, each with a medial stripe
of black, of less amount, however, than the ochraceous; forehead,
supraoral region, and ear-coverts, with only a few very fine hair-like
shaft-streaks; on the chin, and across the cheeks, are longitudinal
spaces of blended streaks of black, the latter forming a conspicuous
“mustache”; sides of the breast with large ovate spots of black; middle
of the breast with less numerous, smaller, and more longitudinal ones
of the same; sides, flanks, and abdomen, with broad hastate spots,
more irregular and transverse on the former; throat, tibiæ, anal
region, and lower tail-coverts immaculate. Upper surface generally,
deep black; feathers bordered with pale ochraceous, the scapulars
and middle wing-coverts much variegated with the same. Secondary
coverts, secondaries, and primaries narrowly tipped with white. Upper
tail-coverts pale ochraceous, barred with black. Tail ashy-brown, very
much lighter than the rump (more hoary than in the adult), narrowly, but
clearly, tipped with white, and crossed by ten or twelve narrow bands of
black, more distinct than in the adult. Under surface of primaries more
whitish than in the adult.
(_b._ _Melanistic condition_; = _B. insignatus_ of Cassin.)
Adult male (22,567, Onion River; R. McFarlane). Entirely brownish black,
whole under surface of wings included; lower tail-coverts equally
barred with white and black. Tail blackish slate, narrowly paler at
the tip, and crossed with numerous oblique bars of dusky black; upper
tail-coverts barred obsoletely with lighter slaty-brown. Wing, 15.00;
tail, 8.00; tarsus, 2.20; middle toe, 1.50. Fourth quill longest; third,
next; second, shorter than fifth; first, slightly shorter than eighth.
_Adult female_ (12,927, Utah Valley, July; C. S. McCarthy). Similar;
lower tail-coverts white, tinged with rusty, and barred with brown;
tibiæ tinged with chestnut. Wing, 16.50; tail, 8.80; tarsus, 2.60;
middle toe, 1.65. Third and fourth quills equal and longest; third
shorter than fifth; first equal to eighth.