Sp. Char. Adult (sexes similar). Above uniform plumbeous, secondaries broadly whitish at ends; tail with continuous narrow bands of white. A postocular, broad stripe (changing to reddish on nape, where the two of opposite sides are confluent), middle area of auriculars, and entire throat and jugulum, white, unvariegated. Sides entirely uniform blackish (confluent on middle of abdomen), with narrow bars of white; posterior lower parts light ochraceous, immaculate. ♂. Wing, 9.90; tail, 6.70; tarsus, 1.62; middle toe, 1.45. ♀. Wing, 11.30; tail, 7.80; tarsus, 1.70; middle toe, 1.55.
Young. Similar to the adult, but with broad longitudinal stripes of blackish on the breast.
Adult male (No. 30,896, Mirador, E. Mexico; Dr. C. Sartorius). Above brownish-slate, becoming gradually darker anteriorly, the head above being pure dark plumbeous; on the rump and upper tail-coverts the tint inclines to fine cinereous. Secondaries passing very conspicuously into white terminally; primaries plumbeous-dusky, their inner webs with (the longest with twelve) very regular, narrow, transverse bars of white (the outer web plain). Lining of the wing white (becoming more ochraceous toward the edge); under coverts barred and serrated with dusky, the white, however, predominating. Tail black, basally with a perceptible plumbeous cast; crossed with eight narrow, transverse bands of white,—the first two of which are concealed by the coverts, the last terminal and about .27 of an inch in width; the rest are narrower, diminishing in width as they approach the base. Upper tail-coverts bordered terminally with ashy-white, the longer with one or two transverse bars of the same. Forehead (narrowly) white, this extending down across the lores to the angle of the mouth; a broad, conspicuous supraoral stripe, originating above the middle of the eye, and running back above the ear-coverts to the occiput (where the two of opposite sides are confluent), white, more fulvous-orange on the occiput; a broad dark plumbeous stripe running from the posterior angle of the eye back over upper edge of ear-coverts, and continuing (broadly) down the side of the neck; another, but much smaller one, of similar color, starting at lower border of bare suborbital space, passing downward across the cheeks, forming a “mustache,” leaving the middle area of the ear-coverts, the chin, throat, and whole breast, white, the pectoral portion defined with a semicircular outline posteriorly. Broad area covering the sides of the breast, sides, and flanks (meeting rather narrowly across the upper part of the abdomen), black, with narrow, rather indistinct, transverse bars of white. Femorals, tibiæ, abdomen, anal region, and lower tail-coverts fine ochraceous-rufous, palest posteriorly, the whole region immaculate. Wing-formula, 3, 2–4–1, 5. Wing, 9.90; tail, 6.70; tarsus, 1.62; middle toe, 1.45.
Adult ♀ (42,076. Mirador; Sartorius). Similar to the male in almost every respect. Plumbeous above rather darker and more uniform, although the difference is scarcely perceptible. Secondaries more broadly tipped with white, and upper tail-coverts more conspicuously barred with the same. White bars of the black areas beneath scarcely observable. Tail with eight white bars, as in the male longest primary with fourteen white bars on inner web of longest. Wing-formula, 3, 2–4–5=1. Wing, 11.30; tail, 7.80; tarsus, 1.70; middle toe, 1.55.
Juv. a (intermediate stage). ♂ (37,334, Mazatlan, W. Mexico; Col. A. J. Grayson). Plumbeous above darker and more brownish, uniform from rump to head, the former strongly tinged with rusty, this bordering the feathers. Tail darker and more brownish; white bars ten in number, instead of eight, narrower, and tinged with brownish; longest primary with thirteen bars of white on inner web. Lining of the wing black, leaving only a broad ochraceous stripe along the edge; feathers of the black portion with small circular white spots along their edges. Breast strongly tinged with ochraceous, and with large longitudinal blotches of black of cuneate form, and so crowded as to give almost the predominating color; the black patches lack entirely the white bars. Wing-formula, 3=2–4–1–5. Wing, 10.00; tail, 7.20.
♀ (55,019, Mazatlan, Grayson). Similar to the last, but lacking the rusty tinge on the rump; tail with eight white bars, as in the adult; pectoral stripes narrower and less numerous than in the preceding, and white bars distinguishable on the black areas. Wing-formula, 3, 2–4–1–5. Wing, 11.30; tail, 8.20.
b (first plumage). ♂ (45,693 and 49,508, Buenos Ayres, Conchitas; William H. Hudson). Similar to immature male (37,334). Above dull umber-drab, darker on the head; feathers of back, scapular, rump, and wings fading on edges; rump much tinged with rusty, this bordering the feathers. Tail with nine very obsolete, narrow, dull white bars, these not touching the edge of the feather on either web. Longest primary with ten transverse white bars on inner web. Beneath pale ochraceous, almost as deep anteriorly as posteriorly; dark areas restricted to a large patch on each side, and dull dark brown (very similar to the wings), instead of black, and scarcely varied; breast and upper part of abdomen (between the blackish lateral patches) with large longitudinal cuneate blotches of the same. “Winter visitor.”
Hab. Whole of South America; northward through Central America and Mexico, across the Rio Grande, into Texas and New Mexico.
Localities: Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 219); Cathagena (Cassin, Pr. An. N. S. 1860, 132); La Plata (Burm. Reise, 437); Mexiana (Scl. & Salv. 1867, 590); Brazil (Pelz. O. Bras. I, 4); Buenos Ayres (Scl. & Salv. 1868, 143); Chile (Philippi); W. Peru (Scl. & Salv. 1858, 570; 1869, 155); Venezuela (Scl. & Salv. 1869, 252).
A specimen from Paraguay (58,738, ♂ ? Capt. T. J. Page, U. S. N.) has the slaty above lighter than in the Mirador male, approaching to ash. The white bars on the black side-patches are very numerous and regular; the white of the forehead is more sharply defined, and the deep rufescent-ochre of the posterior portion of the postocular stripe is even deeper than that of the tibiæ, etc.; the breast has a few narrow blackish streaks. The bars on wings and tail, however, are as in Mexican examples. This specimen probably denotes greater age than any other in the series.