Var. elegans, Cassin.
RED-BELLIED HAWK.
Buteo elegans, Cass. P. A. N. S. 1855, 281.—Ib. B. N. Am. 1858, 28, plate.—Heerm. P. R. Rep. II, 32.—Kennerly, P. R. Rep. III, 19.—Newb. VII, 75.—Coop. & Suckl. XII, ii, 147.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 38.—? Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 325 (Texas).—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 9 (Arizona).—Gray, Hand List, I, 7.—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1870, 477.
Sp. Char. Adult male (10,573, Ft. Tejon, California, “Oct. 22, 1857”; J. Xantus). Head, neck, interscapulars, anterior scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, lining of the wing, and entire lower parts, dark lateritious-rufous, inclining to chestnut on the shoulders. The upper parts so colored have each feathers with a medial-ovate space of dull black, giving a striped appearance; the lesser wing-coverts, however, have each only a narrow shaft-line of black, these growing larger as they approach the middle coverts. There is a strong black suffusion over the cheeks, forming an obscure “mustache”; orbit blackish, throat streaked with the same. The dark lateritious-rufous of the jugulum and breast is perfectly continuous and uniform, varied only by the obsoletely darker shafts of the feathers; sides and flanks transversely barred with white; lining of the wing, and tibiæ, with very ill-defined bars of paler rufous; anal region and lower tail-coverts with broader and more sharply defined bars of the same. Scapulars and middle wing-coverts brownish-black, narrowly tipped, and irregularly spotted transversely, with pure white; secondaries and greater coverts brownish-black, tinged with rufous, and broadly tipped and crossed, with sharply defined bands of pure white, of which there are on secondaries about six exposed (including the terminal band); primaries and their coverts deep black (tinged anterior to their emargination with rufous), tipped with pure white, and having spots of white on outer webs. Rump and upper tail-coverts brownish-black, with indistinct transverse bands of white, the latter sharply tipped with the same. Tail clear brownish-black sharply tipped with white, and with about five sharply defined bands of the same, about .30 of an inch in width. Under surface of secondaries and primaries white to near the ends, where they are black; the tips, however, again white; the white portion crossed by regular transverse bands, those where the white is purest being light rufous, but as the white shades toward the black they become dusky; the rufous bars are, however, bordered with dusky. Fifth quill longest; third and fourth longer than sixth; second a little shorter than sixth; first intermediate between ninth and tenth. Wing, 12.50; tail, 8.00; tarsus, 2.90; middle toe, 1.40.
Young. Predominating color, blackish-brown; this existing on under parts in large, confluent sagittate spots, which are longitudinal on throat and jugulum, and more transverse on sides, abdomen, tibiæ, and lower tail-coverts, the ground-color of lower parts being dull ochraceous. The head and neck, all around, presenting a uniform, streaked appearance, the edges of the feathers being ochraceous, but the black far exceeding this in amount. Interscapulars and scapulars bordered with rusty rufous; wing-coverts more broadly bordered with ochraceous, and with much concealed dull white spotting; lesser wing-coverts, with a strong wash of rich dark rufous; secondaries tipped with white, and crossed by two or three (exposed) broad bands of dull ashy; primaries brownish-black, narrowly tipped with white, and with ill-defined restricted spots of the same on outer webs. Rump uniform blackish-brown, feathers faintly bordered with rusty; upper tail-coverts tipped and barred with white. Tail brownish-black tipped with white, and crossed with five narrow bands of dull light ashy. Lining of wing dull, dingy ochraceous, with numerous transverse bars of brown; fourth quill longest; third shorter than fifth; second longer than sixth; first equal to ninth. Wing (male, 10,572, Fort Tejon), 12.00; tail, 8.40; tarsus, 2.82; middle toe, 1.35. Female (4,520, Santa Clara, Cal.; Dr. Cooper), wing, 13.00; tail, 9.00; tarsus, 2.90; middle toe, 1.52.
Hab. Pacific, and southern portion of the middle Provinces of the United States; Mexico.
Localities quoted: Texas (San Antonio, winter), (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 325); Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 9); city of Mexico (Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1869, 364).
LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.
National Museum, 4; Philadelphia Academy, 4; Cab. G. N. Lawrence, 1; R. Ridgway, 2. Total, 11.
Measurements.
Wing, 12.00–13.00; tail, 8.75–9.50; culmen, .78–.90; tarsus, 3.00–3.12; middle toe, 1.40–1.50.