Form.—Fourth primary very little longer than either the third or fifth, which are equal. First nearly equal to the eighth. Extremity of wing when folded reaching within two inches and a half of the end of the tail.
| In. | |
|---|---|
| Total length | 23 |
| Wing when folded | 15½ |
| Tail | 9½ |
| Tarsi | 3½ |
| Middle toe from joint to tip of claw | 3 |
| From extremity of beak to within nostril | ⁹⁄₁₀ |
Habitat, Santa Cruz, Lat. 50° S. Patagonia, (April.)
Mr. Gould remarks that “this species has all the characters of a true Buteo, and will rank as one of the finest of this well defined group. In size it rather exceeds the Common Buzzard of Europe, which in its general style of colouring it somewhat resembles.”
Sub-Fam.—FALCONINA, Vig.
Falco femoralis. Temm.
Falco femoralis, Temm. Pl. Col. 121 male; and 343 adult male.
—— Spix, Av. Sp. Nov. 1. p. 18.
This specimen was shot in a small valley on the plains of Patagonia, at Port Desire, in Lat. 47° 44′. It builds its nest in low bushes, and the female was sitting on the eggs in the beginning of January. Egg, 1·8 of an inch in longer diameter, and 1·4 in shorter; surface rough with white projecting points; colour nearly uniform dirty “wood brown,” thickly freckled with rather a darker tint; general appearance, as if it had been rubbed in brown mud. M. D’Orbigny supposed that Latitude 34° was the southern limit of this species; we now find its range three hundred and thirty miles further southward. The same author states that this falcon prefers a dry open country with scattered bushes, which answers to the character of the valleys, in the plains near Port Desire.