A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3

by Spencer Fullerton Baird; T. M. Brewer; Robert Ridgway

[⁷³] Elanus cæruleus, var. cæruleus (Desfontaines). Falco cæruleus, Desfont. Mém. Ac. Sc. 1787, 503, pl. xv. Elanus cæruleus, Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 137. Falco melanopterus, Daud. Tr. Orn. II, 1800, 152. Elanus melanopterus, Leach, Zoöl. Misc. pl. cxxii.—Gould, B. Eur. pl. xxxi.—Gray, Hand List, I, 28, No. 258. Falco clamosus, Shaw, Zoöl. VII, 200. Elanus cæsius, Savig. Descr. Egyp. pt. i, p. 98. Elanoides cæsius, Vieill. Enc. Méth. III, 1206.

Specimens examined.—Nat. Mus., 2 (Southern Europe).

[⁷⁴] Elanus cæruleus, var. minor (Bonap.). Falco vociferus, Lath. Ind. Orn. 1790, 16. ? Falco sonninensis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. 1801, 12. Elanus minor, Bonap. Consp. 1850, p. 22.—Gray, Hand List, I, 28, No. 259.

Specimens examined.—Am. Mus., N. Y., 4 (2 India, 2 Africa); Boston Soc., 4 (3 Juv.); Mus. Comp. Zoöl., Cambridge, 2. Total, 10.

[⁷⁵] Ictinia plumbea (Gmel.). Falco plumbeus, Gmel. S. N. 1789, 283. Ictinia plumbea, Vieill. 1816, 24.—Gray, Hand List, I. Nertus plumbeus, Boie, Isis, 1828, 314. Pœcilopteryx plumbeus, Kaup, Ueb. Falk. Mus. Senck. 1845, 258. Milvus cenchris, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. 1807, pl. x. Buteo cenchris, Cuv. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 1829, 337.

Specimens examined.—National Museum, 4; Philadelphia Academy, 4; New York Museum, 4; Boston Society, 4; Museum Comp. Zoöl., 1; Cab. G. N. Lawrence, 2; Coll. R. Ridgway, 1. Total, 20.

[⁷⁶] Rostrhamus sociabilis, var. sociabilis (Vieill.). Herpetotheres sociabilis, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat. XVIII, 318, 1818; Enc. Méth. III, 1248. Rostrhamus sociabilis, D’Orb. Voy. Am. Merid. II. 73, 1835; Synop. Av. Mag. Zoöl. 1850. Gray, List B. Brit. Mus. p. 47; Gen. and Subgen. Brit. Mus. p. 6.—Kaup, Monog. Falc. Cont. Orn. 1850, 78.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 136, 1855. Falco rostrhamus, Max. Beiträg. III. 182, 1830. Cymindis leucopygus, Spix, Av. Bras. I, 7, pl. ii, 1824. Rostrhamus niger, Less. Tr. Orn. p. 56, 1831.

Hab. South and Middle America, from Buenos Ayres to Eastern Mexico (Mirador).

Localities: Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 220); Ecuador (Sclater, 1860, 289); Panama (Lawrence, VII, 1861, 316); La Plata (Burmeister, II, 1861, 435); Brazil (Pelz. Orn. Bras. I, 6); Buenos Ayres (Scl. & Salv. 1869, 160).

The numerous South American specimens which have come under my notice all differ in the respects pointed out in the synopsis from West Indian and Floridan examples. The following descriptions of a pair of the southern race will show the average characters of var. sociabilis.