Falco sparverius, Linn. et Auct.
I obtained specimens both from North and South Patagonia (Rio Negro and Santa Cruz), and Captain King found it at Port Famine in Tierra del Fuego. I saw it at Lima in Peru; and Mr. Macleay (Zoological Journal, vol. iii.) sent specimens from Cuba. According to Wilson it is common in the United States, and Richardson says its northern range is about 54°. The Tinnunculus therefore, ranges throughout both Americas over more than 107 degrees of latitude, or 6420 geographical miles. It is the only bird, which I saw in South America, that hovered over one particular spot, in the same stationary manner, as the common English kestrel (Falco tinnunculus, Linn.) is so frequently observed to do.
Sub-Fam.—CIRCINÆ.
1. Circus megaspilus. Gould.
Circus megaspilus, Gould, in Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Part V. 1837, p. 10.
C. vertice corporeque supra intensè fuscis, lineâ stramineâ a naribus supra oculos ad occiput tendente; hoc rufescenti-fusco; primariis intensè fuscis ad basin cinereis, lineis nigris cancellatis; caudæ tectricibus albis; rectricibus intermediis cinereis, externis cinereo-stramineis, omnibus lineis latis fuscis transversim notatis, lineâ ultimâ latissimâ, apice sordidè stramineo; gulâ pectoreque stramineis, fusco variegatis; corpore subtus stramineo; plumis pectoris laterumque striâ centrali fuscâ notatis; rostro nigro; cerâ tarsisque flavis.
Long. tot. 22 unc.; rostri, 1½; alæ, 17; caudæ, 10½; tarsi, 3⅓.
Colour.—Head, back of throat, whole back, and wing-coverts umber brown, of a nearly uniform tint, and not very dark. Front, over the nostrils, with few fulvous bristly feathers; over the eyes, extending backward, a pale almost pure white streak, which joins an irregular band, extending across the nape of the neck, from below ear to ear, of brown feathers, edged with pale fulvous, giving a streaked appearance to that part. The wing-coverts are just tipped with dirty white. Wings: primaries of the same brown as the back, the inner ones assuming a gray tinge; these, and the basal parts of the inner webs of all, are obscurely barred; secondaries and tertiaries of a paler brown than the interscapular region. Tail grayish brown, with five well-defined bars, about ¾ of an inch wide, of the same brown, as the rest of the upper surface; extremities tipped with very pale dirty brown. Tail-coverts; upper ones brown, and the under ones white, with small brown spots on the shaft towards their extremities. Under surface.—Chin, pale fulvous, or ochre yellow. Breast, belly, thighs and under tail-coverts the same; the feathers on the lower part of the breast and on the belly have a dark brown mark along the shaft, which widens but very little towards the extremity; the brown on those on the upper part of the breast and on the throat is broader, and some of the feathers are of a darker fulvous, and as the dark brown of the back encroaches on each side, this part is much darker than the rest of the under surface. Above this, and just beneath the chin, a kind of collar is formed from ear to ear, of short feathers of a more strongly pronounced fulvous tint, with a narrow brown streak on their shafts. Lining of wings, and flanks almost white, with transverse brown bars. Under side of tail pale gray passing into fulvous, with the terminal dark brown bars seen through. Bill, horn coloured, with some white markings towards its base; tarsi bright yellow.
Form.—Third primary rather longer than fourth, second equal to fifth; first more nearly equal to the sixth than to the seventh. Wings reaching within an inch of the end of the tail. Feathers on thighs depend but little below the knee.
| In. | |
|---|---|
| Total length | 22 |
| Wings folded | 17 |
| Tail | 10½ |
| Tarsi | 3⅓ |
| Middle toe to end of claw | 2¾ |
| From tip of bill to nearest part of cere | ⁷⁵⁄₁₀₀ |