Part 21

Colors. Male. Top of the head, chin and under tail-coverts, brownish black; head, neck and entire under parts, deep purplish chestnut; abdomen with a large spot of brownish black; back, scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts, brownish black, edged with dull chestnut; large space on the shoulder and lesser wing-coverts, light sky-blue, succeeded by a transverse band of white, speculum brilliant grass-green; a portion of the two first scapulars blue, and all with a central stripe of pale reddish chestnut. Bill dark; feet yellow.

Female. Shoulders blue as in the male, but no trace of the chestnut color which prevails in the latter, that being replaced by a mottled yellowish and brown, very similar to the females of several other species of ducks. Head above brownish black.

Hab. Utah, California, Louisiana, Chili. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada., and Nat. Mus. Washington.

Obs. This very handsome species does not resemble any other species likely to be confounded with it. With other species of Teals, it has been placed in a distinct genus under the name Pterocyanea, Bonaparte, in which, however, we fail to perceive sufficient characters to warrant a separation from Querquedula.

SYNOPSIS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.

II. FAMILY FALCONIDÆ. THE FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES.

Head and neck usually covered with feathers, but in a few instances partially naked; bill, usually very strong, curved and very sharp; tarsi and toes, generally strong and muscular; claws, curved, sharp; wings, various, but usually large, and adapted to swift and vigorous flight. Size, very much varied, body generally very compact, and organized for strength and activity of habits, and for the destruction of living animals. Female larger than the male.

Inhabit all parts of the world, numerous in the temperate and torrid regions.

I. SUB-FAMILY FALCONINÆ. THE TYPICAL FALCONS.

Bill, short, hooked, upper mandible always furnished with a well defined tooth; head, rather large; feet and tarsi, very strong; toes and claws, long, the latter very sharp and strong; wings, long, pointed; tail, rather lengthened.

Embracing about fifty species, inhabiting all parts of the earth, and may be regarded as presenting the highest organization of the Rapacious form of Birds.

I. Genus Falco. Linnæus Syst. Nat., I. p. 124. (1766.)

General form, robust and powerful; bill, short, with the upper mandible curved, and with a distinct tooth; nostrils, circular, with a central tubercle. Wings, long, pointed, formed for vigorous and rapid flight; tail, rather long; tarsi, short, robust, covered with rounded or hexagonal scales; middle toe long, claws large, curved, and very sharp. This genus, as restricted, contains from fifteen to twenty species, found in various parts of the world, several of which more or less intimately resemble the Falco peregrinus of Europe, and the Falco anatum of America. They are remarkable for exceedingly rapid flight, and great boldness in attacking animals on which they prey.

1. Falco anatum. Bonap. Comp. List p. 4. (1838.) “Falco peregrinus Gm.” Wilson, Audubon and other authors.

Edwards’ Birds, I. pl. 3, 4. Wilson Am. Orn. IX. pl. 76. Aud. B. of Am. pl. 16, octavo edition, I. pl. 20. De Kay, Nat. Hist. State of New York Birds, pl. 3. fig. 8. Lembeye B. of Cuba, pl. 1. fig. 2.

Bill, rather short, strong, very sharp, with a well defined tooth in the upper mandible; wings long, legs strong, middle toe long, claws curved, sharp.

Adult. Frontal band white; top of the head, back, wing-coverts and rump, bluish cinereous; every feather crossed transversely with bands of brownish black; rump and lower part of the back lighter, and with the dark bands less numerous.

Throat, sides of the neck and upper part of the breast white, with a tinge of buff without spots, other under parts same color, with a deeper shade, and with cordate or rounded spots of black on the lower breast and abdomen, and transverse bars of the same black on the sides, under tail-coverts and tibiæ. Quills, brownish black, with transverse bars of yellowish white on their inner webs. Tail, brownish black, with transverse bars of cinereous, very pale and nearly white on their inner webs, and narrowly tipped with white.

Cheeks with a patch of black most narrow and clearly defined in the adult bird, and separated from the color of the back of the head by a white space; back of the neck, mixed with yellowish feathers, forming an irregular collar. Bill, light bluish horn color, paler at the base; legs and feet fine yellow. Sexes alike.

Younger. Entire plumage above, brownish black; nearly uniform on all parts, and with little or no appearance of the bars which are seen in the adult. Tail, uniform dark brown, with spots or irregular transverse stripes of reddish white frequently only on the inner webs. Frontal spot of white obscure, large space on the cheek, black not separated posteriorly from the same color of the head above. Under parts, white and yellowish white, every feather, except on the throat, with a wide longitudinal stripe of dark brown; the latter color prevailing on the sides and abdomen. Throat, white, nearly every feather with a very narrow central line of black. Tarsi and feet, bluish lead color.

Dimensions. Female, total length 19 to 20 inches; wing, 14½ to 15; tail, 7½ to 8 inches. Male and young smaller.

Hab. The entire eastern portion of North America, and perhaps western; Greenland? Oregon? (U. S. Ex. Exp.) Jamaica, (Mr. Gosse.) Cuba, (Mr. Lembeye.) Bermuda, (Sir W. Jardine.) Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.

Obs. In the adult of this species, there is a white frontal band as in the adult of the European F. peregrinus.

It is very similar in color and general characters to that species, but is larger, and the young differ.

Audubon’s figures represent the dark-colored plumage described above as that of young or immature birds. Wilson’s figure is that of a more adult specimen, with the frontal band partially produced; but the bird in completely mature plumage, has never been figured.

This bird frequently appears in the United States, generally on the sea-coast in the autumn and winter, at which seasons, also, according to Mr. Lembeye, it visits the island of Cuba. It flies with extraordinary vigor and rapidity, and is remarkable for its bold and destructive habits.

2. Falco nigriceps. Cassin, new species. The Western Peregrine Falcon.

Very similar to the preceding, but smaller, and with the bill disproportionately weaker. Very similar, also, to Falco peregrinus, but differing from both in the colors of the young bird, and in other characters. Adult. Frontal band of white, very narrow. Head and neck above, and cheeks, clear black, with a tinge of cinereous; other upper parts, bluish cinereous, every feather having transverse bands of brownish black, lighter on the rump and upper tail-coverts.