_Falco ferrugineus_, LICHT, Berl. Trans. 1838, p. 429. _Lagopus
ferrugineus_, FRASER, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. 1844, p. 37. _Archibuteo
ferrugineus_, GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 3, 1844.—CASS. B. of Cal. &
Tex. 1854, p. 104; Birds N. Am. 1858, 34.—BONAP. Consp. Av. p.
18.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 41, 1855.—HEERM. P. R. R. Rept. VII, 31,
1857.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R. Rept. XII, ii, 149, 1860.—COUES, Prod.
Orn. Ariz. p. 10, 1866 (anatomical notes).—BLAKIST. Ibis, III, 1861,
318 (Saskatchewan; eggs).—FRASER, Pr. Z. S. 1844, 37.—GRAY, Hand List,
I, 10, 1869. _Archibuteo regalis_, GRAY, List B. Brit. Mus. p. 39,
1844; Gen. B. fol. pl. vi.
SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (41,719, Fort Whipple, Arizona, Dec. 2, 1864;
Dr. Coues). Ground-color of head and neck white; each feather with a
medial streak of black, these growing broader posteriorly, and along
the upper border of the ear-coverts are so blended as to form an
indistinct stripe back from the eye. Entire lower parts (except tibia)
and whole under surface of the wing continuous pure white; breast with
a faint tinge of delicate ochraceous; tibia and tarsus reddish-white,
tinged with or inclining to deep ferruginous on upper portion, and with
numerous transverse bars of darker ferruginous and blackish; sides of
the breast with a very few hair-like shaft-streaks of black; flanks
with a few distant, dark ferruginous bars; axillars with two or three
cordate spots of ferruginous near ends; feathers of the lining next the
body, with blended irregularly hastate spots of rufous; under primary
coverts shading into cinereous on terminal half, and with obscure
broadly hastate spots of a darker shade of the same; primaries slaty
beyond their emargination, deepening gradually toward their tips. Back,
scapulars, and lesser and middle wing-coverts fine rufous, each feather
with a broad median, longitudinal spot of brownish plumbeous-black,
these on the back rather exceeding the rufous; longer wing-coverts and
secondaries ashy-umber, with very obsolete transverse bands of darker;
primary coverts more ashy, and more distinctly banded; primaries fine
chalky cinereous, this lightest on outer four; shafts pure white. Rump
nearly uniform brownish-black,—posterior feathers rufous with medial
black blotches; upper tail-coverts snowy white on outer webs, inner webs
more rufous; a few concealed blackish transverse spots. Tail pale pearly
ash, becoming white basally, and with a wash of dilute rufous along
the edge of outer webs; inner webs white, with an ashy tinge thrown in
longitudinal washes; outer feathers nearly white, with faint pale ashy
longitudinal mottlings; shafts of tail-feathers pure white. Fourth quill
longest; third but little shorter; second very much shorter than fifth;
first intermediate between seventh and eighth. Wing, 16.75; tail, 9.20;
tarsus, 2.95; middle toe, 1.35.
“Length, 22.50; extent, 54.50. Iris clear light yellow; cere, edges of
commissure, and feet bright yellow; bill very dark bluish horn; mouth,
purplish flesh-color, livid bluish along edges.”
_Adult female_ (41,720, Fort Whipple; Dr. Coues). Almost exactly like
the male, but black spots on rufous portions of upper parts much
restricted, forming oblong spots in the middle of each feather; rump
almost entirely rufous, variegated, however, with black. Longitudinal
lines on breast more distinct; transverse bars on flanks and abdomen
more numerous; tibial and tarsal feathers wholly deep rufous or
ferruginous, the bars more blackish. Third and fourth quills equal
and longest; second intermediate between fifth and sixth; first equal
to eighth. Wing, 17.25; tail, 9.75; tarsus, 2.95; middle toe, 1.40.
“Length, 23.25; extent, 56.50. Iris light ochraceous-brown.”
_Young female_ (6,883, Los Angeles, California; Dr. Heermann). General
plumage above, grayish-brown; interscapulars, scapulars, lesser and
middle wing-coverts, and feathers of head and neck, edged laterally
with light rufous; secondaries passing broadly into pale ashy at
ends; primaries slaty-brown, with obscure darker bands; no appearance
of these, however, on secondaries; rump entirely blackish-brown;
upper tail-coverts wholly white. Tail hoary slate, basal third (or
more) white, the junction of the two colors irregular and broken; tip
obscurely paler; feathers obscurely blackish along edges, and with
obsolete transverse spots of the same; white prevailing on inner webs.
Beneath entirely pure white, scarcely variegated; tibiæ and tarsi with
a few scattered small transverse spots of blackish; flanks with larger,
more cordate spots of the same. (Breeds in this plumage.)
HAB. Western North America from California to the Missouri, and from the
Saskatchewan to Texas.
Localities: Texas (Fort Stockton), (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 325); Western
Arizona (COUES. Pr. A. N. S., 1866, 40).