National Museum, 19; Philadelphia Academy, 14; Boston Society, 8; Mus.
Cambridge, 16; Cab. G. N. Lawrence, 4; Coll. R. Ridgway, 4. Total, 65.
_Measurements._
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+------------+
|Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. | Middle | Specimens. |
| | | | | | Toe. | |
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+------------+
| ♂ |11.25–13.50| 8.00–9.70| .75–.90|2.70–3.25|1.30–1.50|20 Northern.|
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+------------+
| ♀ |13.35–14.25| 9.00–10.00| .80–.90|3.10–3.20|1.35–1.50| 7 Northern.|
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+------------+
This specimen may possibly indicate a mere individual variation, rather
than a progressive stage of plumage.
A male (25,198, Washington, D. C., February) is as strongly barred
beneath as described in the female; thus it would appear that any
differences in plumage in the sexes are nothing more than individual
discrepancies.
The yellowish outer webs of the primaries constitute a feature which
will serve to distinguish the young of the _Buteo lineatus_ from that of
every other North American species.
A series of twelve specimens from Florida, in the Museum of Comparative
Zoölogy, at Cambridge, shows that the birds of this species from that
peninsula are very much smaller than northern ones; and though that of
the adults does not differ appreciably, the plumage of the young birds
is considerably darker than in northern specimens, and occasionally
approaches quite nearly to that of the young of var. _elegans_, the
markings on the lower parts, including the tibiæ, being often in the
form of transverse spots.
The extreme measurements of this series are as follows: Wing,
10.90–12.75; tail, 7.70–8.50; culmen, .80–.90; tarsus, 2.90–3.20; middle
toe, 1.25–1.45. Specimens, 12.
Var. elegans, CASSIN.