Form. Bill curved; culmen distinct; wings short; tail rather long; tarsi and toes strong, and covered with scales; tail wide, with its feathers broad and soft.
Dimensions. Total length of skin, about 8¼ inches; wing, 3½; tail, 3½ inches. Female rather smaller.
Colors. Entire plumage above, brown, darkest and unspotted on the head; but on other upper parts with every feather having a central stripe or oblong spots of white, disposed to form longitudinal stripes; quills with numerous spots of white on the edges of their outer webs, forming somewhat regular oblique stripes, and on their inner webs with regular transverse stripes of white; tail, with its central two feathers, grayish-brown, transversely barred with brownish-black; other tail feathers brownish black, with irregular wide transverse bands of white, more numerous on the two outermost feathers.
Under parts white, tinged with fulvous on the flanks and abdomen; feathers of the throat and neck before tipped with black; those of other under parts with circular or oblong spots of black, large on the under tail-coverts; bill and feet horn-color. Sexes alike.
Hab. Texas and Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington.
Obs. This bird somewhat resembles several of its genus, but is not difficult to distinguish. In many specimens, especially of the male bird, the black predominates on the throat and neck before, so as to present an almost uniform color.
Several late writers have placed this species in the genus Campylorhynchus (Spix).
Plate 26
The Ferruginous Buzzard
Archibuteo ferrugineus (Lichtenstein)