_Falco borealis_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 266, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p.
25, 1790; Syn. I, p. 50, 1780; Supp. II, 34, 1787; Gen. Hist. I,
p. 265, 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 157, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 112,
1812.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. lii, fig. 1, 1808.—SAB. Frankl. Exp. p.
670.—WAGL. Isis, p. 517, 1831.—BONAP. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. II, pp. 32,
434; Isis, p. 1138, 1832.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. li, 1831; Orn. Biog. I,
p. 265, 1831; Syn. VI.—GRAY, Genera, 1840.—RICH. F. B. A. II, 50,
1831.—NUTT. Man. I, 102, 1840.—GOSSE, Birds Jam. II, 1847.—DOUGH.
Cab. I, 229, pl. xxx, 1830. _Buteo borealis_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict.
Hist. Nat. IV, p. 478, 1819; Enc. Méth. III, p. 1222, 1823.—VIG.
Zoöl. Journ. I, p. 340; Zoöl. Beech. Voy. p. 15.—STEPH. Zoöl. XIII,
pt. 2, p. 47, 1826.—LESS. Tr. Orn. p. 79, 1831.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am.
Orn. I, pp. 82, 84, 1808.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, pp. 280, 282,
1808.—BREW. (WILS.) Am. Orn. p. 450; Synop. p. 684.—BONAP. Eur. & N.
Am. B. p. 3, 1838; Consp. Av. p. 19.—AUD. Synop. p. 6, 1839.—GRAY,
Gen. B. fol. sp. 6, 1844; List B. Brit. Mus. p. 34, 1844.—PUCHER.
Rev. Zoöl. p. 214, 1850.—GOSSE, B. Jam. p. 11, pl. ii, 1847.—CASS.
B. Cal. & Tex. Syn. p. 97, 1854; Proc. Ac. Sc. Philad. p. 279,
1855.—GAMB. Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. N. S. I, p. 26.—NUTT. Man.
Orn. U. S. & Canad. p. 102, 1833.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, p. 9, pl.
viii, f. 17 (Juv.), 1844.—PEAB. Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. III, p. 80,
1837.—THOMP. Hist. Verm. App. p. 63, 1853.—PEALE, U. S. Expl. Exp. p.
62, 1848.—TOWNS. Sit. Exp. Zuñi & Color. p. 59.—KAUP, Ueb. Falk. Mus.
Senck. p. 261, 1845.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 29, 1855.—MAX. Cab. Journ.
VI, 1858, 17.—BLAKIST. Ibis, III, 1861, 318.—WOOD, Am. Nat. III,
1869, 393.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 1869, 7. _Astur borealis_, CUV. Règ.
An. (ed. 2), I, 332, 1829.—SWAINS. Class. B. I, 316; II, 215, 1837,
_Pœcilopternis borealis_, KAUP, Isis, Mon. Falc. Cont. Orn. 1850, p.
76. _Falco leverianus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. 266, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn.
p. 181, 1790; Syn. Supp. I, 31, 1787; Gen. Hist. I, 620, 1821.—DAUD.
Tr. Orn. II, 126, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 151, 1812.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl.
lii (Juv.), 1808.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 265. _Buteo leverianus_, VIG.
Zoöl. Journ. I, 340.—STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, pt. 2, p. 47, 1815. _Falco
aquilinus_, BARTR. Tran. p. 390, 1791. _Accipiter ruficaudus_, VIEILL.
Ois. Am. Sept. pl. xiv, bis. 1807. _Buteo fulvus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am.
Sept. p. 34; Nouv. Dict. Hist. IV, p. 468 (quot. _F. jamaicensis_),
1819. _Buteo ferrugineocaudus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. vi,
1807.—CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 337. _Buteo americanus_, VIEILL. Nouv.
Dict. Nat. IV, 477 (quot.), Ois. Am. Merid. pl. vi, Enc. Méth. III,
1224, 1823. _? Buteo gallinivorus_, VIEILL. Ois. _Buteo borealis_,
BREWER, N. A. Oölogy, 1857.
SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Upper parts rich blackish-brown, approaching black
on the back; scapulars and middle wing-coverts edged and barred beneath
the surface with dull white, and tinged along edges with ochraceous.
Wings generally of a paler shade than the back; secondaries fading into
nearly white at tips, and, with the greater coverts, obscurely barred
with darker; primaries nearly black, tips edged with pale brown, this
passing into whitish. Rump uniform blackish-brown, feathers obscurely
bordered with rusty. Upper tail-coverts ochraceous-white, nearly pure
terminally, and with about two distinct transverse bars of deep rufous.
Tail rich uniform lateritious-rufous, passing narrowly into white at
the tip, and about an inch (or less) from the end crossed by a narrow
band of black. Head and neck with the feathers medially blackish-brown,
their edges rusty-rufous, causing a streaked appearance; the rufous
prevailing on the sides of the occiput, the ear-coverts, and neck. The
blackish almost uniform on the forehead and on the cheeks, over which it
forms a broad “mustache”; lores and sides of frontlet whitish. Throat
white, with broad stripes of pure slaty-brown; lower parts in general
ochraceous-white; tibiæ and lower tail-coverts immaculate; across the
abdomen and flanks (immediately in front of the tibiæ) is a broad
interrupted belt of longitudinal black blotches, those on the abdomen
tear-shaped, on the flanks larger and more irregular, throwing off bars
toward the edge of the feathers; whole pectoral area variegated only
with a few shaft-streaks of black (these growing broader laterally), and
sometimes washed with rusty. Lining of the wing ochraceous-white, with
sparse diamond-shaped spots of pale rufous, and shaft-streaks of darker;
under surface of primaries white anterior to their emargination, beyond
which they gradually deepen into black; the innermost ones are finely
mottled with slaty, and with imperfect transverse bars of the same.
_Male._ Wing, 13.50–16.50; tail, 8.50–10.00; culmen, .95–1.08; tarsus,
1.40–3.20; middle toe, 1.60–1.70. Weight, 2½–3 lbs.
_Female._ Wing, 15.25–17.75; tail, 9.50–10.50; culmen, 1.00–1.15;
tarsus, 3.15–3.40; middle toe, 1.70–1.80. Weight, 3–4 lbs.
_Young_ (28,154, Philadelphia; J. Krider). Above similar to the adult,
but lacking entirely any rufous tinge, the scapulars and wing-coverts
more variegated with whitish. Tail light grayish-brown (very much
lighter than the rump), tinged, especially basally, with rufous,
narrowly tipped with white, and crossed with nine or ten narrow, curved
bands of black; upper tail-coverts white, with broad bars of black.
Head as in the adult, but the rufous wanting, leaving the streaks black
and white; forehead more broadly white; chin and throat wholly white,
the latter with a collar of dusky streaks across the lower part; whole
pectoral region entirely immaculate, pure white; abdominal band as in
the adult; tibiæ somewhat tinged with ochraceous, unvariegated.
HAB. Eastern North America; not in West Indies, nor west of the
Missouri.
Localities: (?) Bahamas (BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 64).