Measurements.—♂. Wing, 6.90–7.10; tail, 4.80–5.10; culmen, .50; tarsus, 1.45–1.48
; middle toe, .90. Specimens, 4. ♀. Wing, 7.00–7.50; tail, 5.00–5.15; culmen, .50; tarsus, 1.35–1.40; middle toe, .88–.90. Specimens, 3.
[64] Falco sparverius, var. australis. Falco gracilis (not of Lesson!), Swains. An. Menag. p. 281, 1838. Falco sparverius (not of Linnæus!), Tschudi, Faun. Per. An. p. 110. Tinnunculus sparverius (not of Vieillot!), Darw. Zoöl. Beag. pt. iii, 29. Bidens sparverius, Spix, Av. Bras. I, 16. Bidens dominicensis (not F. dominicensis of Gmelin!), Spix, Av. Bras. I, 16. Tinnunculus dominicensis, Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 100, 1855 (in part). T. sparverius, var. australis, Ridgway, P. A. N. S. Phil. Dec. 1870, 149.
Hab. Most of continental South America, except the North Atlantic and the Caribbean coasts, where replaced by the var. isabellinus. In Chile and Western Brazil, mixed with, but not replaced by, var. ? cinnamominus.
Adult ♂ (20,937, Parana; Coll. of the U. S. Paraguay Exp.). Similar to var. sparverius. Head above with the rufous entirely wanting; rufous of the plumage more vinaceous; black bars of the scapulars almost transversely cordate, and nearer the end of the feather; black zone of the tail only .60 of an inch wide. Beneath continuously white, with elliptical spots or streaks of pure black on sides, becoming somewhat circular on the flanks. Wing, 7.70; tail, 5.30; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, .92; culmen, .48. In all respects, except the points described, resembling the true sparverius of North America, of which it is nothing more than a geographical race, and a not very strongly marked one, though the differences indicated are very constant.
♀ (50,942, Brazil; Sr. Don Fred. Albuquerque). Very similar to sparverius; the rufous, equally pale, is, however, more vinaceous; the tail decidedly less rufescent. The black bars are about the same, but on the tail there are thirteen, and the subterminal one is scarcely broader than the rest; the lateral tail-feather has the bars only on inner web, and here almost wanting. Head above as in the male, being without the rufous tinge on the vertex. Beneath yellowish-white, about like sparverius; the whole breast and side with numerous longitudinal dashes of deep brown, similar in form to sparverius, but of much deeper tint. Inner web of longest primary with twelve transverse bars of white, these scarcely exceeding the dusky ones. Wing-formula, 2, 3–4–1. Wing, 7.80; tail, 5.20; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .95; culmen, .55.
Juv. ♂ (16,570, Bogota; W. Evans). Differing from the adult in deeper rufous and broader black bars; those on the tail twelve in number, more than doubling in width those of the adult; markings beneath more blended, darker brown. Differs from young of var. sparverius in much lighter rufous above; less purely black bars; entire absence of rufous on crown, and narrower shaft-streaks here; less ochraceous-white beneath, and less blended markings.
List of Specimens examined.—Nat. Mus., 16; Bost. Soc., 3; Philad. Acad., 16; N. Y. Mus., 4; Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 2; R. Ridgway, 1. Total, 42.
Measurements.—♂. Wing, 6.80–7.90; tail, 4.75–5.90; culmen, .48–.50; tarsus, 1.40–1.50; middle toe, .90–1.00. Specimens, 17. ♀. Wing, 7.20–8.15; tail, 5.10–5.80; culmen, .48–.52; tarsus, 1.20–1.52; middle toe, .90. Specimens, 25.
[65] Falco sparverius, var. dominicensis. Accipiter (Æsalon) dominicensis, Brisson, Orn. I, 389, pl. xxxii. f. 2, 1760. Falco dominicensis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. p. 285, 1789. Tinnunculus dominicensis, Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 100, 1855 (in part only). Tinnunculus sparverius, var. dominicensis, Ridgway, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. Dec. 1870, 149.