_Falco sancti-johannis_, PENN. Arct. Zoöl. pl. ix, 1785.—GMEL.
Syst. Nat. p. 273, 1789.—LATH. Index Orn. p. 34, 1790; Syn. I, 77;
Gen. Hist. I, 276.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 105, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII,
150, 1809.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 32.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 381,
1831.—GIRAUD, B. Long Island, p. 6, 1844.—KERR, Trans. Gmel. II,
507, 1792. _Buteo sancti-johannis_, JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 287,
288, 1832.—NUTT. Man. Orn. U. S. & Canad. p. 98, 1833.—DE KAY, Zoöl.
N. Y. II, 7, pl. ii, fig. 3, 1844. _Butaëtes sancti-johannis_, CUV.
Règ. An. (ed. 1), i, 323, 1829.—BONAP. List, p. 3, 1838. _Archibuteo
sancti-johannis_, GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 2, 1844; List B. Brit. Mus.
p. 39, 1844.—BONAP. Consp. Av. p. 18, 1850.—CASS. Birds Calif. & Tex.
p. 103, 1854.—BLAKIST. Ibis, III, 1861, 318 (eggs).—KAUP, Monog.
Falc. Cont. Orn. 1850, p. 75.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 40, 1855.—BREWER,
Oölogy, 1857, 34, pl. iii, f. 28.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 33.—GRAY,
Hand List, I, 10, 1869. _Falco spadiceus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 273,
1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 27, 1790; Gen. Hist. I, 279.—DAUD. Tr. Orn.
II, 109, 1800. _Buteo spadiceus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 34, 1807.
_Falco lagopus_, WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxiii, f. 1, 1808.—BREW. (WILS.)
Am. Orn. Syn. 648, 1852.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 32; Isis, 1852,
1138.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. clxvi, 422, 1831; Orn. Biog. II, 377; V,
217. _Buteo lagopus_, RICH. Faun. Bor. Am. II, pl. xxviii, 1831.—AUD.
Synop. p. 8, 1839.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 77, 1831.—JARD. (WILS.)
Am. Orn. II, p. 54, 1832.—NUTT. Man. Orn. p. 97, 1833.—PEAB. B.
Mass. p. 79, 1841. _Archibuteo lagopus_, CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, p.
32.—BREWER, Oölogy, 1857, 36, pl. iii, f. 29.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R.
Rept. VII, ii, 148, 1860.—COUES, Prod. Orn. Ariz. p. 16, 1866. _Falco
niger_, WILS. Am. Orn. pl. liii, figs. 1 and 2, 1808.—LATH. Gen. Hist.
pp. 256, 257, 1821. _Buteo niger_, STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, pt. ii, p. 47,
1815.—VIG. Zoöl. Journ. I, 340.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, pp. 79, 80,
1831.—CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2), i, 326, 1829. _Buteo ater_, VIEILL. Nouv.
Dict. Nat. Hist. IV, 482, 1866; Enc. Meth. III, 1227.
_a._ _Normal plumage._
SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (43,073, Fort Resolution, June; J. Lockhart).
Ground-color of the upper parts dull umber-cinereous, this more
rufous on the shoulders, and dull white on nape, scapulars, inner
secondaries, and upper tail-coverts; rump entirely black, feathers
bordered with whitish. All the feathers above with central oblong or
irregular spots of black, this color predominating on top of head, and
forming transverse bands across the wing-coverts and secondaries; upper
tail-coverts pure white, each marked with an exceedingly irregular
transverse spot of black. Tail white on basal two thirds, and narrowly,
but sharply, tipped with the same; subterminal portion pale mottled
cinereous, with a very broad zone of black next the terminal white, and
anterior to this three narrower and more irregular bands of the same.
Primaries blackish-cinereous, with obsolete darker bands. Ground-color
of head and lower parts dull white; cheeks thickly streaked with
black; ear-coverts and throat more sparsely streaked; forehead and
sub-orbital region plain whitish. Breast with large, longitudinal but
very irregular, oblong spots of dark brown, these largest and somewhat
confluent laterally; lower part of breast with much less numerous and
less longitudinal spots; tibiæ strongly tinged with rusty, and with
tarsus, abdomen, crissum, and flanks having irregular transverse spots
of blackish-brown; lower tail-coverts unvariegated. Lining of wing
white, with numerous spots of black, these becoming more rusty towards
the axillars; a large space of continuous clear black, covering the
under primary coverts and the coverts immediately anterior; under
surface of primaries and secondaries pure white, the former becoming
black at ends, the latter ashy; no bars, except toward shafts, of the
latter. Fourth quill longest; third equal to fifth; second intermediate
between fifth and sixth; first equal to eighth. Wing, 16.50; tail, 9.00;
tarsus, 2.50; middle toe, 1.30; bill, 1.30 and .90.
_Adult female_ (28,156, Philadelphia, Pa.; J. Krider). Generally
similar to the male. On head and nape, however, the yellowish-white
predominates, the central black being much reduced; on the other hand,
there is less white on the upper parts, the dull cinereous-drab being
much more evenly spread; darker markings less conspicuous. Tail white
only at the base, the remaining portion being pale cinereous-drab
crossed with four or five distinct, very regular bands of black, the tip
being very broadly ashy. Flanks with ground-color light umber-drab, and
marked with transverse bands of black. Lower surface generally as in
the male; tail-coverts with two or three blackish spots, apparently out
of place. Fourth quill longest; fifth much shorter than third; second
intermediate between fifth and sixth; first intermediate between seventh
and eighth. Wing, 17.00; tail, 9.00; tarsus, 2.40; middle toe, 1.30;
bill, 1.30 and .85.
_Young_ (25,934, United States). Upper surface generally light umber,
becoming lighter on scapulars and middle wing-coverts, but showing
nowhere any trace of spots or bands; wings, scapulars, and back with
blackish shaft-streaks; primaries approaching black toward ends,
becoming white basally; upper tail-coverts white, with a hastate stripe
of brown along shaft; tail, basal half white, terminal half plain drab,
becoming darker terminally, the tip narrowly white. Head, neck, and
lower plumage in general, white stained with ochraceous, this deepest
on tibiæ and tarsi; head and neck streaked with dark brown, ear-coverts
almost immaculate; breast with oblong spots of clear brown; flanks,
abdomen, and anal region continuous uniform rich purplish vandyke-brown,
forming conspicuous transverse belt; tibiæ and tarsi scarcely varied,
the few markings longitudinal; lower tail-coverts immaculate. Under side
of wing much as in adult; black area, however, more extended; lining
much tinged with rufous, and with longitudinal streaks of dark brown.
_b._ _Melanistic condition._
_Adult male_ (28,153, Philadelphia; J. Krider). General plumage
blackish-brown, the head streaked by whitish edges of the feathers;
wing-coverts, secondaries, primaries, and tibial plumes paler
terminally; tarsi mottled with whitish; upper and lower tail-coverts
tipped obscurely with white. Tail narrowly tipped with dull white, and
with about five very obsolete pale ashy bands. Lining of wing black,
spotted with white near edge; whole under surface of the primaries pure
white anterior to their emargination, beyond which they are black. Third
and fourth quills equal and longest; second intermediate between fifth
and sixth; first shorter than seventh. Wing, 16.00; tail, 8.85; tarsus,
2.45; middle toe, 1.25.
_Adult female_ (12,008, Philadelphia; C. Drexler). Continuous pure
carbonaceous black; forehead white; occiput same beneath surface. Tail
paler at tip, and crossed with four ill-defined though continuous bands
of ashy white, the last of which is distant over two and a half inches
from the tip; lower tail-coverts with a few white spots. Whole lining of
wing glossy coal black; under surface of primaries, anterior to their
emargination, white mottled with ashy. Fourth and fifth quills equal and
longest; third only a little shorter; second a little longer than sixth;
first intermediate between seventh and eighth. Wing, 16.50; tail, 9.00;
tarsus, 2.50; middle toe, 1.20.
_Young._ Similar, but the tail dusky, growing whitish toward the base,
and without any bars.
HAB. Whole of North America north of Mexico, but breeding northward of
the United States.
Localities: Western Arizona (COUES, Pr. A. N. S., 1866, 48).