Part 32

Generally cited as a synonyme for the Marsh Hawk, Circus hudsonius, with, as we think, but a small degree of propriety. It appears to us to be the young of either Buteo pennsylvanicus or Accipiter cooperii, or an unknown bird.

4. Falco albidus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 267. (1788.) The Buzzardet. Penn., Arct. Zool., I. p. 245.

“With dusky bill; head, cheeks, neck, breast and belly white, marked with large brown spots more sparingly dispersed over the breast and belly; lesser coverts brown; the others colored like the head; primaries dusky; thighs white, with small sagittal spots of brown; tail dusky, barred and tipped with white; legs yellow. Length, 15 inches. It has much the habit of the Buzzard, but the legs in proportion are rather longer. In the Leverian Museum. Except in the almost uniform color of the tail, Mr. Latham’s species, p. 97, No. 83, agrees with this (which is the preceding F. variegatus). North America.” (Pennant, as above.)

Probably the same as the preceding.

5. Falco obsoletus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 268. (1788.) The plain Falcon. Penn., Arct. Zool., I. p. 242.

“Bill black; head dusky; nape spotted with white; back and coverts of the wings and tail of an uniform deep brown; under-side of the neck, breast, belly and thighs deep brown, slightly spotted with white; primaries dusky; inner webs marked with great oval spots of white, mottled with brown; middle feathers of the tail plain brown; inner webs of the rest mottled with white; exterior webs and ends slightly edged with the same; legs strong; wing reaches near the length of the tail. Length, from bill to tail, 2 feet 1 inch. Inhabits Hudson’s Bay.” (Pennant, as above.)

We are acquainted with no bird to which this description and measurement apply.

6. Falco spadiceus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 273. (1788.) The Chocolate-colored Falcon. Penn., Arctic Zool., I. p. 234, pl. 9.

“With a short and black bill, and yellow cere. The whole plumage of a deep bay or chocolate color, in parts tinged with ferruginous; primaries black; the lower exterior sides of a pure white, forming a conspicuous spot or speculum; the wings reach to the end of the tail; the exterior sides of the five outermost feathers of the tail dusky; their inner sides blotched with black and white; the two middle black and cinereous; the legs and toes feathered, the last remarkably short. Length, 1 foot 10 inches. Inhabits Hudson’s Bay and Newfoundland. Preys much on ducks. Sits on a rock and watches their rising, when it instantly strikes at them.” (Pennant, as above.)

Regarded by authors as a synonyme for the Black Hawk (Archibuteo sancti-johannis), but the description suits better the Ferruginous Buzzard (A. ferrugineus). Neither of these has, however, the toes feathered, nor otherwise entirely agrees with the description. It may be an unknown species.

7. Falco obscurus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 281. (1788.) The Dusky Falcon. Penn., Arct. Zool., I. p. 248.

“With a bluish bill; upper mandible armed with a sharp process; yellow cere; head, neck and coverts of the wings and tail dusky brown, slightly edged with ferruginous; hind part of the neck spotted with white; primaries dusky; inner webs marked with oval spots of a pale rust color; tail short, tipped with white, and barred with four broad dusky strokes, and the same number of narrow ones of white; the hind part of the head spotted with white; from the chin to the tail whitish, streaked downwards with distinct lines of black; legs deep yellow. Inferior in size to the last (F. dubius or fusca). Inhabits the province of New York.” (Pennant, as above.)

Cited by authors as a synonyme for the sharp-skinned Hawk (Accipiter fuscus), which seems to be erroneous, though correct enough if reference only be made to Gmelin’s compilation of Pennant’s description. The latter, as quoted above, and which is the original, appears to apply to Falco columbarius (Linn.), but not with sufficient accuracy to be without doubt, and we know of no bird at present inhabiting “the province of New York” that it entirely suits.

8. Aquila maculosa. Vieill., Ois d’Am. Sept., I. p. 28, pl. 3 bis. (1807.)

Upper part of the head, nape, neck, and mantle, black; eyebrow white, bordered by a black line from the eye; space between the bill and eye and cere blue, the former with scattered hairs; iris yellow; throat and breast white, every feather with a longitudinal central stripe of black; abdomen black, many feathers having circular spots of white; tibia and under tail-coverts ferruginous, with central spots of brownish; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with transverse stripes of black; quills and tail leaden gray above, light bluish-gray beneath; feet orange; claws blackish. Total length, about 25 inches; wing, 16; tail, 10 inches.

An excellent figure of this bird is given by Vieillot, as above, but which represents no species with which we are acquainted. In general appearance it resembles Phalcobænus carunculatus, Des Murs (Rev. et Mag. de Zool., April, 1853, p. 154), a South American species, of which specimens are in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy. Though given by Vieillot as a bird of North America (as above, and in Nouv. Dict., XXXII. p. 56), we suspect that he was mistaken.

9. Sparvius ardosiaceus. Vieill., Ency. Meth., III. p. 1274. (1823).

Body above, bluish slate color; beneath, ferruginous, with transverse white bands; chin white; bill bluish-black; feet orange; cere and edges of the mouth dull green; quills and tail brownish-black; eyebrows dull white; tail slightly forked. North America.

Possibly Accipiter fuscus, but we regard it as quite remarkable that Vieillot, at so late a date, should have again described that species, being undoubtedly well acquainted with North American birds. We recollect no bird which exactly suits this description.

10. Falco Bachmanii. Aud., Orn. Biog., V. p. 334. (1839, the date on the title-page of this volume is erroneously printed 1849.)

“I have several times seen in South Carolina a Hawk flying, equal in size to Falco lineatus, and remarkable for the great breadth of its wings. It was of a uniform brown color, excepting the tail, which was barred with white. The same bird has also been repeatedly observed by my friend, Dr. Bachman, who feels assured of its being distinct from any other Hawk hitherto found in North America.” (Audubon, as above.)

This is the entire and only description published and the species alluded to has never been identified, to our knowledge.

11. Milvus leucomelas. Rafinesque, Annals of Nature, part I. p. 4. (1820.)

“White, unspotted; top of head and part of the back, wings, tail, and bill, black; feet yellow. It is found in West Kentucky and Illinois; it feeds on fishes, and is therefore called Fishing Hawk. Size small, tail quite forked.” (Raf., as above.)

This is a puzzler. If any such bird exists, it has escaped late researches, though we very much suspect that Rafinesque ventured a description on reports, rather oddly confounding the Forked-tailed Hawk (Nauclerus) and the Osprey, or Fish Hawk (Pandion).

12. Aquila dicronyx. Rafinesque, Atlantic Journal, p. 63. (1832.)

The specimen described under this name was the same that is alluded to by Mr. Audubon in his article on the White-headed Eagle, in Orn. Biog., II. p. 163, as being kept in captivity in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and this description and its author he also alludes to. We mention this bird for the purpose of facilitating the student who may not have access to the works of Rafinesque, and for the purpose of pointing out a curious error into which Mr. Audubon and Dr. Harlan, as quoted by him, seem to have fallen, in regarding it as the White-headed or Bald Eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus). It is expressly stated by Rafinesque to have been brought from “near Buenos Ayres,” and was evidently, from his description, the Circaetus coronatus of South America. This name is therefore by no means to be cited as a synonyme for Haliaetus leucocephalus.

13. Falco doliatus. Shaw, Gen. Zool., Aves., VII. p. 77. (1809.)