1.Buteo erythronotus.

Haliaëtus erythronotus,King, in Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 424.Buteo tricolor,D’Orbigny.

Haliaëtus erythronotus,King, in Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 424.

Buteo tricolor,D’Orbigny.

I obtained specimens of this bird from Chiloe and the Falkland Islands, and Captain King who first described it, procured his specimens from Port Famine, Lat. 53° 38′ in Tierra del Fuego. M. D’Orbigny states that it has a wide range over the provinces of La Plata, central Chile, and even Bolivia; but in this latter country, it occurs only on the mountains, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet above the sea. The same author states, that it usually frequents open and dry countries; but as we now see that it is found in the dense and humid forests of Chiloe and Tierra del Fuego, this remark is not applicable. At the Falkland Islands, it preys chiefly on the rabbits, which have run wild and abound over certain parts of the island. This bird was considered by Captain King as aHaliaëtus; but Mr. Gould thinks it is more properly placed with the Buzzards. Captain King gave it the appropriate specific name oferythronotus, and, therefore, as Mr. Gould observes, the more recent one oftricolor, given by M. D’Orbigny, must be passed over.

Buteo varius,Gould, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Part v. 1837, p. 10.

B. vertice corporeque supra intensè fuscis, plumis fulvo marginatis vel guttatis; primariis secundariisque cinereis, lineis numerosis fuscis transversim striatis; caudâ cinerea, lineis angustis numerosis fuscis transversim notatâ; singulis plumis flavescenti-albo ad apicem notatis; gulâ fuliginosâ; pectore fulvo, lineâ interruptâ nigrescente a gulâ tendente circumdato; abdomine imo lateribusque stramineo et rufescenti-fusco variegatis; femoribus crissoque stramineis lineis transversalibus anfractis rufescenti-fuscis ornatis; rostro nigro; cerâ tarsisque olivaceis.

Long. tot. 21½;alæ, 16½;caudæ, 10;tarsi, 3¾.

Colour.—Head and back of neck umber brown, with edges of the feathers fringed with fulvous, (or buff orange with some reddish orange) and their bases white. Shoulders brown, with the feathers more broadly edged. Back the same, with the basal part of the feathers fulvous, with transverse bars of the dark brown. Tail blueish gray, with numerous, narrow, transverse, faint black bars. Tail-coverts pale fulvous, with irregular bars of dark fulvous and brown. Wings: primaries blackish gray, obscurely barred; secondaries and tertiaries more plainly barred, and tipped with fulvous. Wing coverts, dark umber brown, largely tipped, and marked with largespots, almost forming bars, of pale fulvous.Under surface.—Chin black; throat and breast ochre yellow, with a narrow dark brown line on the shafts of the feathers, which, in those on the sides of the throat and breast expands into a large oval spot. Feathers on belly reddish brown, fringed and marked at base with the ochre yellow. Lining of wings ochre yellow, with numerous transverse bars of dark brown. Under-side of tail, inner webs almost white, outer pale gray, with very obscure transverse bars. Thighs, ochre yellow, with numerous zigzag transverse bars of pale reddish brown. Bill pale blackish; iris brown; tarsi gamboge yellow.

Form.—Fourth primary very little longer than third, and about half an inch longer than fifth. First rather shorter than seventh, and longer than eighth. Wings when folded reaching within two inches of the extremity of the tail.

Habitat, Strait of Magellan, (February,) and Port St. Julian in Southern Patagonia, (January.)

Buteo ventralis,Gould, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Part v. 1837, p. 10.

B. vertice corporeque intensè nitide fuscis, plumis dorsalibus purpurascentibus; primariis nigris; caudâ fuscâ, lineis obscurioribus cancellatâ numerosis, ad apicem sordidè albâ; gulâ abdomine medio crissoque stramineo-albis; pectoris corporisque lateribus fasciâ abdominali femoribusque flavescenti-albis fusco notatis, notis in femoribus rufescentibus; tarsis per mediam partem anticè plumosis, rostro nigro; cerâ tarsisque flavis.

Long. tot. 23 unc.;alæ, 15½;caudæ, 9½;tarsi, 3½.

Colour.—Head, back of neck, back, and wing-coverts, umber brown. Feathers on sides of throat edged with fulvous; those on lower parts of back with their basal parts marked with large white spots, edged with fulvous, but which do not show, until the feathers are ruffled. Tail of the same dark brown as the back, with many bars of pale brown, and extreme points tipped with dirty white. Tail-coverts same brown, with the more lateral ones marked with white and fulvous. Wings: primaries black, with the inner and basal webs brownish; secondaries and tertiaries brown, with obscure traces of palertransverse bars.Under surface.—Chin almost white; throat and breast very pale ochre yellow, with narrow brown lines on the shaft of the feathers, which expand into large marks on the sides of the upper part of the breast, and into regular spots on those of the belly. Lining of wing white, with brown spots on the feathers near their tips, like on those of the belly. Thighs very pale ochre yellow, with transverse bars of pale brown, appearing like inverted wedge-formed marks, with the apex on the shafts. Under tail-coverts almost white; under side of tail pale gray, with darker gray bars on the inner side of shafts. Bill blueish black, with base of lower mandible and part of upper yellowish. Tarsi pale yellow.

Form.—Fourth primary very little longer than either the third or fifth, which are equal. First nearly equal to the eighth. Extremity of wing when folded reaching within two inches and a half of the end of the tail.

Habitat, Santa Cruz, Lat. 50° S. Patagonia, (April.)

Mr. Gould remarks that “this species has all the characters of a trueButeo, and will rank as one of the finest of this well defined group. In size it rather exceeds the Common Buzzard of Europe, which in its general style of colouring it somewhat resembles.”

Falco femoralis,Temm.Pl. Col. 121 male; and 343 adult male.——Spix, Av. Sp. Nov. 1. p. 18.

Falco femoralis,Temm.Pl. Col. 121 male; and 343 adult male.

——Spix, Av. Sp. Nov. 1. p. 18.

This specimen was shot in a small valley on the plains of Patagonia, at Port Desire, in Lat. 47° 44′. It builds its nest in low bushes, and the female was sitting on the eggs in the beginning of January. Egg, 1·8 of an inch in longer diameter, and 1·4 in shorter; surface rough with white projecting points; colour nearly uniform dirty “wood brown,” thickly freckled with rather a darker tint; general appearance, as if it had been rubbed in brown mud. M. D’Orbigny supposed that Latitude 34° was the southern limit of this species; we now find its range three hundred and thirty miles further southward. The same author states that this falcon prefers a dry open country with scattered bushes, which answers to the character of the valleys, in the plains near Port Desire.

Tinnunculus Sparverius.Vieill.

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°. TheTinnunculustherefore, 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.

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.

Habitat, Maldonado, La Plata, (July.)

This hawk was not uncommon on the grassy savannahs and hills in the neighbourhood of the Rio Plata. Mr. Gould remarks “that in size it fully equals theCircus æruginosusof Europe, which it doubtless represents in the countries it inhabits. This species has a remarkable specific character in the lanceolate and conspicuous stripes down its breast.”

Circus cinerius,Vieill.Ency. Meth.Falco histrionicus,Quoy and Gaim.Voy. autour du monde, Plate 15.Circus histrionicus,Vigors, Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 425, note.

Circus cinerius,Vieill.Ency. Meth.

Falco histrionicus,Quoy and Gaim.Voy. autour du monde, Plate 15.

Circus histrionicus,Vigors, Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 425, note.

My specimens were obtained at the Falkland Islands, and at Concepçion in Chile. M. D’Orbigny states that it is a wild bird; but at the Falkland Islands itwas, for one of its order, very tame. The same author gives a curious account of its habits: in a different manner from other raptorial birds, when it has killed its prey, it does not fly to a neighbouring tree, but devours it on the spot. It roosts on the ground, either on the top of a sand hillock, or by the bank of a stream: it sometimes walks, instead of hopping, and when doing so, it has some resemblance in general habit to theMilvago chimango. It preys on small quadrupeds, molluscous animals, and even insects; and I find in my notes, that I saw one in the Falkland Islands, feeding on the carrion of a dead cow. Although in these respects thisCircusmanifests some relation in its habits with thePolyborinæ, yet it has the elegant and soaring flight, peculiar to its family; and in form it does not depart from the typical structure. Mr. Gould remarks that “we see in this elegant bird as perfect an analogue of theCircus cyaneusof Europe, as in the preceding species of theCircus æruginosus.”

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