Mr. Donald Gunn claims that this Falcon is the only Hawk that is resident in the Arctic regions throughout the year. It is known to the Indians by the name of Pepunesu, and this name is applied to it because it passes the winter with them. It is a very powerful bird, and commits great havoc among the Partridges, so much so that in former times the Hudson Bay Company gave a reward of a quart of rum to every hunter who brought in the head of one of these Falcons. All the other Hawks are only summer visitors.
Mr. Bannister was informed by the residents of St. Michaels that a Hawk, presumed to be this species, is not unfrequent there, though he did not happen to meet with it. On his voyage home, on the 21st of October, 1866, when off the coast of Kamtschatka, north of Behring’s Island, one alighted in the rigging of the ship, and continued with them for several hours.
Although very rare in any part of the United States, occasional individuals have been taken in different localities, and in one instance a pair was known to breed for several successive seasons in Vermont. This information I have from Mr. Clarence King, who, when a lad at school in the town of Dummerston, observed a pair nesting among some high cliffs, and informed me of the fact at the time of the occurrence. One of these birds is recorded by Mr. Lawrence as having been taken on Long Island in the winter of 1856.
Mr. Boardman gives it as occurring near Calais in winter, but very rare. Professor Verrill found them not uncommon in Oxford County, Me., where they were frequently seen during winter, flying about the extensive meadows near Norway; but they were very shy and watchful, and it was hardly possible to procure a specimen. It is very unusual in Eastern Massachusetts, and only very rarely and occasionally have specimens been taken. Mr. Jillson obtained a specimen, in 1840, at Seekonk. One was shot, in 1864, near Providence, R. I., by Mr. Newton Dexter.
Mr. Audubon relates that, August 6, 1833, his son, John W. Audubon, found a nest of this Falcon among some rocky cliffs near Bras d’Or, Labrador, containing four young birds ready to fly, two of which were procured. The nest was placed among the rocks, about fifty feet from their summit and more than a hundred from their base. It was inaccessible, but, having been examined from above, was seen to be empty. It was composed of sticks, sea-weeds, and mosses, was about two feet in diameter, and was almost flat. Its edges were strewed with the remains of their food, and beneath the nest was an accumulation of the wings of Ptarmigans, Mormons, Uriæ, etc., mingled with large pellets of fur, bones, and various substances.
Their flight is spoken of as similar to that of the Peregrine Falcon, but more elevated, majestic, and rapid. Their cries were also like those of that Falcon, being very loud, shrill, and piercing. Occasionally this bird was seen to alight on one of the high stakes placed on the shore. There it would stand, in the position of a Tern, for a few moments, and then would pounce upon a Puffin, as the latter bird was standing at the entrance of its burrow, unaware of the approach of its enemy. The weight of the Puffin seemed to form no impediment to the Hawk in its flight.
The European Gerfalcons are said to seldom appear south of the 52d parallel of latitude, or north of 74°. They are nowhere numerous, and were formerly much sought for, and purchased, at immense prices, for purposes of falconry. Great differences were supposed to exist in regard to the habits and other peculiarities of the several races. The Iceland Falcons commanded the highest prices, and were regarded as a species quite distinct from the F. gyrfalco. The former was much the more valuable, both as more rare, and as a bird of higher courage and of a more rapid and bolder flight, and a bird that could, on that account, be “flown” successfully at larger game.
The Gerfalcons, in Europe, build on the rocky coasts of Norway and Iceland, and are said to defend their young with great courage and determination. They are comparatively rare in the British Islands, especially the more southern portions. Even in the Orkneys it is only an occasional visitor.
All the eggs of the several forms of Gerfalcon that I have seen present common characteristics, and do not differ from each other more than eggs known to belong to the same species of Hawk are frequently found to vary. One from Greenland, presumed to belong to the candicans, measures 2.37 inches in length by 1.71 in breadth. The predominant color of its markings is a deep reddish-brown, very generally and nearly equally diffused over its surface, concealing the ground-color, which is lighter and of a yellowish-brown shade.
An egg of the islandicus, from Iceland, has the same measurements, but is so slightly yet uniformly marked with light yellowish-brown as to seem to be of one color only,—a light brown, shaded with yellow.
An egg from Norway, of the form gyrfalco, is 2.42 inches in length, 1.71 in breadth, has a ground-color of a dirty yellowish-white, and is marked with spots, dottings, and confluent blotches of yellowish-brown, more so about the larger end.
The series of eggs of Falco sacer in the Smithsonian Collection exhibits the following range of variation in size, color, and markings: length, from 2.30 to 2.45 inches; breadth, 1.60 to 1.90 inches; ground-color usually a light reddish-ochre, varying to pinkish on the one hand, and to rufous on the other. They are usually sprinkled all over with small spots, which are sometimes not distinguishable from the ground-color when this is very deep, and again larger and quite conspicuous.
An egg of the variety candicans, from Greenland (No. 2,606, S. I.), measures 2.25 inches by 1.80. In color and in markings it is like the average eggs of variety sacer, namely, pale rufous, sprinkled over with a slightly deeper shade.
Falco polyagrus, Cassin, B. Cal. & Tex. 1853, 88.—Ib. P. A. N. S. 1855, 277; B. N. Am. 1858, 12.—Heerm. Pacific R. Rep’t, II, 1855, 31.—Kennerly, P. R. R. III, 1856, 19.—Coop. & Suckl. P. R. R. XII, 1860, 143.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 7.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 85.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 323.—Gray, Hand List, I, 1869, 20. Falco lanarius, var. mexicanus, Ridgway in Coues’ Key, 1872.
Sp. Char. Adult (♂, No. 59,063, Wahsatch Mountains, Utah, May 23, 1868; parent of eggs; L. E. Ricksecker). Above cinereous-drab, becoming gradually paler and more bluish posteriorly, barred, indistinctly, everywhere with a more dusky tint, the shafts of all the feathers blackish; anteriorly the darker shade predominates, while posteriorly the bluish prevails; on the anterior portions the light bars are much restricted in width, and of a more ochraceous tint. Tail plain, very pale ashy-drab, narrowly tipped with reddish-white, this changing to pale rusty on the middle pair; the concealed portion of the feathers outside the shaft show obsolete, or faint traces of, darker bars, which on the middle pair are apparently about eleven in number. On the inner webs the paler bars become broader than the darker ones, and incline to ochraceous in tint, the lateral feather being edged externally with this color. Primaries plain ashy-drab, with a hoary tinge, growing insensibly darker terminally, and with a slightly paler apical margin. Head and neck above, dark umber-brown, with conspicuous shaft-streaks of black. Lores, a broad superciliary stripe (somewhat interrupted above the eyes), white, finely and sparsely streaked, the two stripes confluent across the occiput; a broad heavy “mustache” from the lores and rictus downward and obliquely backwards, across the maxilla, and a wider postocular stripe, like the crown. Beneath continuous white, with a faint ochraceous tinge on the abdomen and crissum; abdomen and sides of the breast with a few scattered, small, ovate spots of vandyke-brown; sides transversely spotted with vandyke-brown, the spots coalesced into a broken patch on the flanks; outside of the tibiæ with transverse spots of the same. Axillars plain, clear vandyke-brown, with a few nearly obsolete rusty specks near their ends; lining of the wing clear white, the feathers with central spaces of dusky-brown, which toward the edge become aggregated into a longitudinal patch; inner webs of the primaries with broad transverse spots of white, which reach nearly to the shaft; they are about thirteen in number on the longest quill. Feet yellow; base of the bill tinged with the same. Wing-formula, 2, 3–1, 4. Wing, 12.00; tail, 7.50; tarsus, 1.90; middle toe, 1.70; outer, 1.22; inner, 1.12; posterior, .77.
♀ (not adult? 18,258, Fort Buchanan, New Mexico; Dr. Irwin). Above continuous umber-drab, growing gradually lighter posteriorly, the tail being pale drab; no transverse bars (except a few concealed obsolete ones on back and secondaries), but all the feathers faintly bordered with paler rusty-brown, these edgings being on upper tail-coverts almost white. Tail tipped with creamy-white, and with many transverse spots or broad bars of the same on inner webs, outer feather irregularly skirted with the same, and all decidedly paler than the ground-color along their edges. Head as in the male, but forehead white, and superciliary stripe more continuous. Breast and abdomen with longitudinal lanceolate or cuneate streaks of dark vandyke-brown; patch of same on flanks more continuous than in the male; axillars unvariegated clear dark vandyke-brown; longest primary with eleven transverse spots of white; posterior outer face of tibiæ with sagittate spots of dark brown. Wing-formula, 2, 3–1, 4. Wing, 14.25; tail, 8.00; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 2.00.
Juv. (♂, 32,207, South Fork of the Platte River, July 19, 1838; C. S. McCarthy). Above darker umber than the last, each feather distinctly bordered terminally with rusty-ochraceous. Beneath with a deeper cream-colored tinge, streaks blacker; flank-patch more conspicuous and uniform; axillars unvariegated dusky. Wing-formula, 2, 3–1=4. Wing, 13.25; tail, 7.25.
Hab. Western division of North America, eastward to Illinois; Oregon to Lower California, and Texas. Localities: Texas, San Antonio and Eagle Pass (Dresser); Arizona (Coues).
The different stages of plumage are in this by no means so well defined as in other species, there being nearly the same general appearance in all. There is, also, very little variation in different specimens of the same age. No. 8,504, (♀, Dalles, Oregon; Dr. George Suckley) has the black markings on the sides of the breast more circular, and the vandyke-black of the axillars with a few circular white spots on the edges of the feathers. Wing, 14.50; tail, 8.40. Nos. 17,204 (♀, San José, Lower California; John Xantus, January, 1860) and 18,258 (♂ ? Fort Buchanan, N. M.) have the upper surface almost perfectly continuous grayish-drab, the first absolutely unvariegated by markings, though the feathers fade a little on edges. Beneath, the white is very pure; the streaks are numerous, sharply defined and longitudinal. Wing, 13.25; tail, 7.50 (17,204).
The American Lanner Falcon is so very closely related to the Lanners of Europe and Asia (var. lanarius and var. jugger) that it is very difficult to indicate the differences which separate them. The two Old World forms above named are more unlike each other than they are from the two American races; the var. jugger differing from mexicanus apparently only in larger size; and the var. lanarius, more like polyagrus than it is like either jugger or mexicanus, differs from polyagrus mainly in the greater amount of white on the plumage, this imparting a lighter aspect to the pileum, and causing a greater development of the light spots on the outer webs of the primaries and rectrices.
Falco polyagrus.
The var. polyagrus, compared with var. lanarius, is much darker, having, at all ages, the crown uniformly brown, with darker streaks, instead of having these streaks upon a white ground. The “mustache” is more distinct in the American bird, while in the European the bands on the tail are much more distinct, and the spots forming them are on the outer webs, as well as on the inner, instead of on the latter alone; the dark bars between the light spots are in the American bird much narrower and more numerous, and in the young the light ones come to the edge of the web, instead of being enclosed within the dark color. Two very young birds (i.e. in first perfect plumage) appear almost identical until closely examined, the chief differences being a lighter tint to the crown in the European, and heavier dark stripes on the breast, besides the peculiar character of the tail-spots, which are always distinctive. In shades of color, there is not the slightest difference.
I have seen no specimen of any of the Old World forms in the plumage corresponding to that transversely barred above, described here as the adult, though figures of the adult lanarius indicate a very similar plumage. The series of the latter race at my command is unfortunately limited to a very few immature specimens. One marked “ad.” (56,051, Hungary; Schlüter Coll.) measures as follows: Wing, 14.50; tail, 8.00; culmen, .83; tarsus, 1.90; middle toe, 1.80. Its colors are as described in the synopsis (p. 1429) for the young bird.
The var. mexicanus and var. jugger, which are both much darker, and more uniform in the coloring of the upper parts, than var. polyagrus, are more nearly alike; in fact, the only tangible difference that I can find between a specimen of the former in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History (No. 1,438, ♂, Juv. Lafr. Collection; “Mexico”) and two examples of the latter in the New York Museum, consist in the larger size of the var. jugger (see synopsis), besides its whiter cheeks and more isolated and distinct “mustache.” A direct comparison of these two races may show other tangible points of distinction, or, on the contrary, may show even these slight distinguishing features to be inconstant. The former result is, however, most reasonably to be expected.
National Museum, 9; Boston Society, 2; Philadelphia Academy, 4; Museum Comp. Zoöl. 1; G. N. Lawrence, 2; R. Ridgway, 5. Total, 23.
| Sex. | Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. | Middle Toe. | Specimens. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♂ | 12.00–00.00 | 7.60–0.00 | .00–.75 | .00–2.15 | .00–1.70 | 6 |
| ♀ | 13.25–14.25 | 8.00–9.00 | .85–.90 | 2.05–2.40 | 1.85–2.00 | 12 |
Habits. This is an exclusively western species, occurring from the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific coast. Specimens have been obtained as far east as Illinois. Several others have been taken on the Upper Missouri and the Yellowstone Rivers, in Nebraska, at Fort Thorne, New Mexico, and on the Little Colorado River. A specimen was shot by Dr. Heermann on the Farallones, on the California coast; but Dr. Cooper thinks it rarely visits the coast border, though he several times saw, near San Diego, a bird which he supposed to belong to this species. At Martinez, in December, 1863, he succeeded in shooting one as it flew from its perch at the approach of the wagon in which he was riding.
It is said to extend its migrations in summer to the Upper Columbia, avoiding the densely forest-clad regions. Dr. Heermann saw a young unfledged individual at San Francisco, from which it may be inferred that a few may breed within the State.
The first individual of this species was taken by Dr. Townsend during his trip across the continent, in 1834. It was obtained among the mountainous regions of Oregon, near the sources of the Platte River. Mr. Cassin states that Dr. Heermann procured several specimens in the Sacramento Valley.
Mr. Cassin remarks that this species, except in its greatly superior size and strength, bears a very close resemblance to the well-known Jugger Falcon of India, a bird much used for the purposes of falconry.
Dr. Kennerly, who procured a single specimen of this species while his party was encamped on the Little Colorado, found it busily engaged in seeking its prey among the bushes that grew along the river-bank. It was shy, and was procured with difficulty.
Dr. Suckley speaks of this Hawk as not at all rare in Oregon. He procured a specimen of it at Fort Dalles, in the beginning of the winter of 1854–55, which had been killed in the act of carrying off a barn-yard fowl of about its own weight, and which it had just seized near the door of a dwelling-house,—an act demonstrative of a union of courage, ferocity, and strength inferior to none of its congeners.
Dr. Cooper characterizes this as one of the shyest of Hawks, as it is also one of the swiftest, flying with rapid flappings of the wings. It seems to prefer the borders of prairies, where it catches hares, quails, and even larger game.
Mr. Ridgway informs me that this Hawk was seen by him in Southern Illinois, near Mt. Carmel, September 27, 1871. It had been obtained once before within the limits of Illinois, but in the northwestern part of the State, at Rock Island, by I. Dickenson Sergeant, of Philadelphia, and presented by him to the Academy of Natural Science.
Its nest and eggs were taken in Utah by Mr. Ricksecker. I have no notes in regard to the former. A finely marked specimen of one of the eggs procured by him is in my cabinet. It measures 2.15 inches in length by 1.65 in breadth. It is of a somewhat less rounded-oval shape than are the eggs of the anatum. The ground-color is a rich cream, with a slightly pinkish tinge, and is beautifully marked with blotches of various sizes, shapes, and shades of a red-brown tinged with chestnut, and with occasional shadings of purplish. These are confluent about one end, which in the specimen before me chances to be the smaller one. It very closely resembles the eggs of the European F. lanarius.
An egg in the Smithsonian Collection (15,596), taken at Gilmer, Wyoming Territory, May 13, 1870, by Mr. H. R. Durkee, has a ground-color of pinkish-white, varying in two eggs to diluted vinaceous, thickly spotted and minutely freckled with a single shade of a purplish-rufous. In shape they are nearly elliptical, the smaller end being scarcely more pointed than the larger. They measure 2.27 by 1.60 to 1.65 inches. The nest was built on the edge of a cliff. Its eggs were also taken by Dr. Hayden while with Captain Raynolds, at Gros Vent Fork, June 8, 1860.
51293, ♂. ¼
F. aurantius.
52814, ♀.
F. rufigularis (nat. size).
51293, ♂. ½
F. aurantius.
51293, ♂. NAT. SIZE.
F. aurantius.
52814, ♀.
F. rufigularis (nat. size).
The following synopsis of the three American species of this subgenus may serve to distinguish them from each other, though only two of them (F. aurantius and F. rufigularis) are very closely related. The comparative characters of the several geographical races of the other one (F. communis), which is cosmopolitan in its habitat, being included under the head of that species, may explain the reasons why they are separated from each other.
A. First and second quills equal and longest; first with inner web emarginated, second with inner web slightly sinuated. Young with longitudinal stripes on the lower parts. Adult and young stages very different.
1. F. communis. Wing, 11.50–14.30; tail, 7.00–8.50; culmen, .72–.95; tarsus, 1.65–2.20; middle toe, 1.80–2.30.52 Second quill longest; first shorter than, equal to, or longer than third. Adult. Above plumbeous, darker anteriorly, lighter and more bluish posteriorly; anteriorly plain, posteriorly with darker transverse bars, these growing more sharply defined towards the tail. Beneath ochraceous-white, varying in tint from nearly pure white to deep ochraceous, those portions posterior to the jugulum transversely barred, more or less, with blackish or dark plumbeous; anterior lower parts (from the breast forward) without transverse bars. Young. No transverse bars on the body, above or below. Above blackish-brown, varying to black, the feathers usually bordered terminally with ochraceous or rusty; forehead usually more or less washed with the same. Beneath ochraceous, varying in shade; the whole surface with longitudinal stripes of blackish. Inner webs of tail-feathers and primaries with numerous transverse elliptical spots of ochraceous. Hab. Cosmopolitan.
a. Young dark brown above, the feathers bordered with rusty or whitish. Beneath white or ochraceous, with narrow longitudinal stripes of dusky. Inner webs of tail-feathers with transverse bars.
Auriculars white, cutting off the black of the cheeks with a prominent “mustache.”
Beneath pure white, the breast and middle of the abdomen without markings. Wing, 12.75; tail, 7.30; culmen, .80; tarsus, 2.00; middle toe, 1.80. Hab. Eastern Asia … var. orientalist.53
Beneath pale ochraceous, the breast always with longitudinal dashes, or elliptical spots, of dusky; middle of abdomen barred. Wing, 11.50–14.30; tail, 7.00–8.50; culmen, .72–.95; tarsus, 1.65–2.20; middle toe, 1.80–2.30. Hab. Europe … var. communis.54
Beneath varying from deep ochraceous to nearly pure white, the breast never with distinct longitudinal or other spots, usually with none at all. Middle of abdomen barred, or not. Wing, 11.30–14.75; tail, 6.00–9.00; culmen, .75–1.00; tarsus, 1.60–2.10; middle toe, 1.75–2.20. Hab. America (entire continent) … var. anatum.
Auriculars black, nearly, or quite, as far down as the lower end of the “mustache.”
Beneath varying from deep ochraceous to white, the breast streaked or not. Lower parts more uniformly and heavily barred than in the other races. Young with narrower streaks beneath. Wing, 11.15–12.60; tail, 6.11–8.00; culmen, .81–.90; tarsus, 1.60–2.05; middle toe, 1.75–2.15. Hab. Australia … var. melanogenys.55
b. Young unvariegated brownish-black above. Beneath brownish-black, faintly streaked with white, or nearly unvariegated. Inner webs of tail-feathers without transverse bars.
Wing, 14.90–15.09; tail, 8.50; culmen, .95–1.00; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 2.15–2.21. Hab. Northwest coast of North America, from Oregon to Sitka … var. pealei.
B. Second quill longest; first with inner web emarginated, the second with inner web not sinuated. Young without longitudinal stripes on lower parts. Adult and young stages hardly appreciably different.
Above plumbeous or black; beneath black from the jugulum to the tibiæ, with transverse bars of white, ochraceous, or rufous; throat and jugulum white, white and rufous, or wholly ochraceous, with a semicircular outline posteriorly; tibiæ, anal region, and crissum uniform deep rufous, or spotted with black on an ochraceous or a white and rufous ground. Adult. Plumbeous above, the feathers darker centrally, and with obscure darker bars posteriorly; jugulum immaculate. Young. Black above, the feathers bordered terminally with rusty, or else dark plumbeous without transverse bars; jugulum with longitudinal streaks.
2. F aurantius.56 Wing, 9.50–12.00; tail, 5.40–6.25; culmen, .96; tarsus, 1.50–1.60; middle toe, 1.75–2.10. Second quill longest; first longer than third. Crissum ochraceous, or white and rufous, with large transverse spots of black; upper tail-coverts sharply barred with pure white or pale ash. Adult. Above plumbeous-black, the feathers conspicuously bordered with plumbeous-blue. Throat and jugulum immaculate; white centrally and anteriorly, deep rufous laterally and posteriorly. Tibiæ plain rufous. Young. Above uniform dull black, the feathers sometimes bordered inconspicuously with rusty. Throat and jugulum varying from white to ochraceous or rufous (this always deepest laterally and posteriorly). Tibiæ sometimes thickly spotted transversely with black. Hab. Tropical America, north to Southern Mexico.
3. F. rufigularis.57 Wing, 7.20–9.00 (♂, wing, 7.70; tail, 3.95–5.50; culmen, .45–.58; tarsus, 1.20–1.55; middle toe, 1.15–1.40). Second quill longest; first longer than third. Crissum uniform deep reddish-rufous, rarely barred with white and dusky. Upper tail-coverts obsoletely barred with plumbeous.
Adult. Above plumbeous-black, the feathers lightening into plumbeous-blue on the edges and ends, and showing obscure bars on the posterior portions. Throat and jugulum ochraceous-white, the ochraceous tinge deepest posteriorly and without any streaks. Young. Above plumbeous-black, without lighter obscure bars, or with a brownish cast, and with faint rusty edges to the feathers. Throat and jugulum deep soft ochraceous, deepest laterally, the posterior portion usually with a few longitudinal streaks of dusky. Hab. Tropical America, north to Middle Mexico.
? Accipiter falco maculatus, Briss. Orn. I, 329. ? Falco nævius, Gmel. S. N. 1789, 271. Falco communis ζ, and F. communis η, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 31. Falco communis, Coues, Key, 1872, 213, f. 141. Falco peregrinus, Ord. Wils. Am. Orn. 1808, pl. lxvi.—Sab. L. Trans. XII, 529.—Rich. Parry’s 2d Voy. App. 342.—Ib. F. B. A. II, 1831, 23.—Bonap. N. Y. Lyc. II, 27.—Ib. Isis, 1832, 1136; Consp. 1850, 23, No. 4.—King, Voy. Beag. I, 1839, 532.—James. Wils. Am. Orn. 677, Synop. 1852, 683.—Wedderb. Jard. Contr. to Orn. 1849, 81.—Woodh. Sitgr. Zuñi, 1853, 60.—Giraud, B. Long Island, 1844, 14.—Peale, U. S. Ex. Ex. 1848, 66.—Gray, List B. Brit. Mus. 1841, 51. Falco anatum, Bonap. Eur. & N. Am. B. 1838, 4.—Ib. Rev. Zoöl. 1850, 484.—Bridg. Proc. Zoöl. Soc. pl. xi, 109.—Ib. Ann. N. H. XIII, 499.—Gosse, B. Jam. 1847, 16.—Cass. B. Cal. & Tex. 1854, 86.—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 7.—De Kay, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 13, pl. iii, f. 8.—Nutt. Man. 1833, 53.—Peab. B. Mass. 1841, 83.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 83.—Blakist. Ibis, III, 1861, 315.—March, Pr. Ac. N. S. 1863, 304. Falco nigriceps, Cass. B. Cal. & Tex. I, 1853, 87.—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 8.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 85.—Coop. & Suckl. P. R. R. Rep’t, VII, ii, 1860, 142.—Gray, Hand List, I, 1869, 19, No. 166.—Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. N. H. Falco orientalis, (Gm.) Gray, Hand List, I, 1869, 19, No. 165 (in part). ? Falco cassini, Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. N. H.
Sp. Char. Adult (♂, 43,134, Fort Resolution, Brit. N. Am., June; J. Lockhart). Upper parts dark bluish-plumbeous, approaching black anteriorly, but on rump and upper tail-coverts becoming fine bluish plumbeous-ash. On the head and neck the continuous plumbeous-black covers all the former except the chin and throat, and the back portion of the latter; an invasion or indentation of the white of lower parts up behind the ear-coverts separating that of the cheeks from the posterior black, throwing the former into a prominent angular patch; forehead and lores grayish. All the feathers above (posterior to the nape) with transverse bars of plumbeous-black, these most sharply defined posteriorly, where the plumbeous is lightest. Tail black, more plumbeous basally, very faintly paler at the tip, and showing ten or eleven transverse narrow bands of plumbeous, these most distinct anteriorly; the bars are clearest on inner webs. Alula, primary and secondary coverts, secondaries and primaries, uniform plumbeous-black, narrowly whitish on terminal margin, most observable on secondaries and inner primaries. Lower parts white, tinged with delicate cream-color, this deepest on the abdomen; sides and tibiæ tinged with bluish. Chin, throat, and jugulum immaculate; the breast, however, with faint longitudinal shaft-streaks of black; sides, flanks, and tibiæ distinctly barred transversely with black, about four bars being on each feather; on the lower tail-coverts they are narrower and more distant; on the abdomen the markings are in the form of circular spots; anal region barred transversely. Lining of the wing (including all the under coverts) white tinged with blue, and barred like the sides; under surface of primaries slaty, with elliptical spots or bars of creamy-white on inner webs, twelve on the longest. Wing-formula, 2–1–3. Wing, 12.25; tail, 6.00; tarsus, 1.60; middle toe, 1.85; outer, 1.40; inner, 1.20; posterior, .80; culmen, .80.
♀ (13,077, Liberty Co., Georgia; Professor J. L. Leconte). Like the male, but ochraceous tinge beneath deeper; no ashy wash; bands on the tail more sharply defined, about ten dark ones being indicated; outer surface of primaries and secondaries with bands apparent; tail distinctly tipped with ochraceous-white. Inner web of longest primary with thirteen, more reddish, transverse spots. White of neck extending obliquely upward and forward toward the eye, giving the black cheek-patch more prominence. Markings beneath as in the male. Wing-formula the same. Wing, 14.50; tail, 7.00; tarsus, 1.95; middle toe, 2.10; culmen, .95.
Juv. (♂, 53,193, Truckee River, Nevada, July 24, 1867; R. Ridgway: first plumage). Above plumbeous-black, tail more slaty. Every feather broadly bordered terminally with dull cinnamon; these crescentic bars becoming gradually broader posteriorly, narrower and more obsolete on the head above. Tail distinctly tipped with pale cinnamon, the inner webs of feathers with obsolete transverse spots of the same, these touching neither the edge nor the shaft; scarcely apparent indications of corresponding spots on outer webs. Region round the eye, and broad “mustache” across the cheeks, pure black, the latter more conspicuous than in the older stages, being cut off posteriorly by the extension of the cream-color of the neck nearly to the eye. A broad stripe of pale ochraceous running from above the ear-coverts back to the occiput, where the two of opposite sides nearly meet. Lower parts purplish cream-color, or rosy ochraceous-white, deepest posteriorly; jugulum, breast, sides, flanks, and tibiæ with longitudinal stripes of plumbeous-black, these broadest on flanks and abdomen, and somewhat sagittate on the tibiæ; lower tail-coverts with distant transverse bars. Lining of the wing like the sides, but the markings more transverse; inner web of longest primary with nine transverse purplish-ochre spots. Wing-formula, 2–1, 3. Wing, 12.50; tail, 7.00. Length, 16.50; expanse, 39.25. Weight, 1½ lbs. Basal half of bill pale bluish-white, cere rather darker; terminal half (rather abruptly) slate-color, the tip deepening into black; iris very dark vivid vandyke-brown; naked orbital space pale bluish-white, with a slight greenish tint; tarsi and toes lemon-yellow, with a slight green cast; claws jet-black.
Hab. Entire continent of America, and neighboring islands.
Localities: Guatemala (Scl. Ibis I, 219); Veragua (Salv. P. Z. S. 1867, 158); Sta. Cruz (Newton, Ibis, I, 63); Trinidad (Taylor, Ibis, 1864, 80); Bahamas (Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1859, VII); Cuba (Cab. Journ. II, lxxxiii); (Gundl. Repert. 1865, 225); Jamaica, (Gosse, B. Jam. 16; March, Pr. Ac. N. S. 1863, 304, et Mus. S. I.); Tierra del Fuego (Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. N. H.; “F. cassini, Sharpe”).
The young plumage above described corresponds exactly with that of young peregrinus from Europe, a comparison of the specimen above described with one of the same age from Germany (54,064, Schlüter Col.) showing no differences that can be expressed. Many American specimens in this plumage (as 19,397, Fort Simpson) show a wash of whitish over the forehead and anterior part of the crown; having before us but the one specimen, we cannot say whether or not this is ever seen in the European bird. Specimens more advanced in season—perhaps in second year—are colored as follows: The black above is more brownish, the feathers margined with pale brown,—these margins broader, and approaching to white, on the upper tail-coverts; the tail shows the ochraceous bars only on inner webs. The supraoral stripe of the youngest plumage is also quite apparent.
A still younger one from the same locality (No. 37,397) has the upper plumage similar to the last, the pale edges to the feathers, however, more distinct; tail with conspicuous spots. White beneath clearer, and invading the dusky of the head above as far back as the middle of the crown; the supraoral stripe is distinct, scarcely interrupted across the nape.
In the adult plumage the principal variation is in the extent and disposition of the bars beneath. In most individuals they are regularly transverse only laterally and posteriorly, those on the belly being somewhat broken into more irregular cordate spots, though always transverse; in no American specimen, however, are they as continuously transverse as in a male (No. 18,804) from Europe, which, however, in this respect, we think, forms an exception to most European examples, at least to those in the Smithsonian Collection. All variations in the form, thickness, and continuity of the markings below, and in the distinctness of the bars above, are individual.
Very old males (as 49,790, Fort Yukon; 27,188, Moose Factory (type of Elliott’s figure of F. peregrinus, in Birds of America); and 42,997, Spanishtown, Jamaica) lack almost entirely the reddish tinge beneath, and have the lateral and posterior portions strongly tinged with blue; the latter feature is especially noticeable in the specimen from Jamaica, in which also the bars are almost utterly wanting medially. Immature birds from this island also lack to a great degree the ochraceous tinge, leaving the whitish everywhere purer.
A female adult European bird differs from the average of North American examples in the conspicuous longitudinal streaks on the jugulum; but in a male these are hardly more distinct than in 13,077, ♀, Liberty Co., Georgia; 11,983, “United States”; 35,456, Peel’s River; 35,449, ♀, and 35,445, ♀, Fort Yukon, Alaska; 35,452, La Pierre’s Hous., H. B. Ter.; 35,459 ♂, Fort Anderson; and 28,099 ♀, Hartford, Conn. In none of these, however, are they so numerous and conspicuous as in a European female from the Schlüter Collection, which, however, differs in these respects only from North American specimens.
A somewhat melanistic individual (in second year? 32,735, Chicago, Ill.; Robert Kennicott) differs as follows: Above continuously pure black; upper tail-coverts and longer scapulars bordered terminally with rusty-whitish. Tail distinctly tipped with white; the inner webs of feathers with eight elliptical transverse bars of pale ochraceous, and indications of corresponding spots of the same on outer webs, forming as many inconspicuous bands. Beneath ochraceous-white; the neck, breast, and abdomen thickly marked with broad longitudinal stripes of clear black,—those on the jugulum cuneate, and on the breast and abdomen broadly sagittate; the tibiæ with numerous cordate spots, and sides marked more transversely; lower tail-coverts with narrow distant transverse bars. On the chin and throat only, the whitish is immaculate, on the other portions being somewhat exceeded in amount by the black. Inner web of longest primary with seven transverse elliptical bars of cream-color. Wing, 12.20; tail, 9.40.
Whether the North American and European Peregrine Falcons are or are not distinct has been a question undecided up to the present day; almost every ornithologist having his own peculiar views upon the relationship of the different forms which have been from time to time characterized. The most favorably received opinion, however, seems to be that there are two species on the American continent, and that one of these, the northern one, is identical with the European bird. Both these views I hold to be entirely erroneous; for after examining and comparing critically a series of more than one hundred specimens of these birds, from every portion of America (except eastern South America), including nearly all the West India Islands, as well as numbers of localities throughout continental North and South America, I find that, with the exception of the melanistic littoral race of the northwest coast (var. pealei), they all fall under one race, which, though itself exceedingly variable, yet possesses characters whereby it may always be distinguished from the Peregrine of all portions of the Old World.
There is such a great amount of variability, in size, colors, and markings, that the F. nigriceps, Cassin, must be entirely ignored as being based upon specimens not distinguishable in any respect from typical anatum. Judging from the characters assigned to the F. cassini by its describer (who evidently had a very small series of American specimens at his command), the latter name must also most probably fall into the list of synonymes of anatum.
Slight as are the characters which separate the Peregrines of the New and Old World, i.e. the immaculate jugulum of the former and the streaked one of the latter, they are yet sufficiently constant to warrant their separation as geographical races of one species; along with which the F. melanogenys, Gould (Australia), F. minor, Bonap. (South Africa), F. orientalis, Gmel. (E. Asia), and F. calidus, Lath. (Southern India and East Indies), must also rank as simple geographical races of the same species. Whether the F. calidus is tenable, I am unable to state, for I have not seen it; but the others appear to be all sufficiently differentiated. The F. radama, Verreaux (Gray’s Hand List, p. 19, No. 170), Mr. Gurney writes me, is the young female of var. minor. Whether the F. peregrinator, Sundevall (Gray’s Hand List, No. 169), is another of the regional forms of F. communis, or a distinct species, I am not able at present to say, not having specimens accessible to me for examination.
Mr. Cassin’s type of “nigriceps” (13,856, ♂, July), from Chile, is before me, and upon comparison with adult males from Arctic America presents no tangible differences beyond its smaller size; the wing is a little more than half an inch, and the middle toe less than the eighth of an inch, shorter than in the smallest of the North American series,—a discrepancy slight indeed, and of little value as the sole specific character; the plumage being almost precisely similar to that of the specimen selected for the type of the description at the head of this article. In order to show the little consequence to be attached to the small size of the individual just mentioned, I would state that there is before me a young bird, received from the National Museum of Chile, and obtained in the vicinity of Santiago, which is precisely similar in plumage to the Nevada specimen described, and in size is even considerably larger, though it is but just to say that it is a female; the wing measures 13.25, instead of 12.50, and the middle toe, 2.00, instead of 1.85. No. 37,336, Tres Marias Islands, Western Mexico,—a young male in second year,—has the wing just the same length as in the smallest North American example, while in plumage it is precisely similar to 26,785, of the same age, from Jamaica. No. 4,367, from Puget’s Sound, Washington Territory,—also a young male,—has the wing of the same length as in the largest northern specimen, while the plumage is as usual.
Two adult females from Connecticut (Nos. 28,099 and 32,507, Talcott Mt.) are remarkable for their very deep colors, in which they differ from all other North American examples which I have seen, and answer in every particular to the description of F. cassini, Sharpe, above cited. The upper surface is plumbeous-black, becoming deep black anteriorly, the head without a single light feather in the black portions; the plumbeous bars are distinct only on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, and are just perceptible on the secondaries. The lower parts are of a very deep reddish-ochraceous, deepest on the breast and abdomen, where it approaches a cinnamon tint,—the markings, however, as in other examples. They measure, wing, 14.75; tail, 7.50; culmen, 1.05–1.15; tarsus, 2.00; middle toe, 2.30. They were obtained from the nest, and kept in confinement three years, when they were sacrificed to science. The unusual size of the bill of these specimens (see measurements) is undoubtedly due to the influence of confinement, or the result of a modified mode of feeding. The specimens were presented by Dr. S. S. Moses, of Hartford.
An adult male (No. 8,501) from Shoal-water Bay, Washington Territory, is exactly of the size of the male described. In this specimen there is not the slightest creamy tinge beneath, while the blue tinge on the lower parts laterally and posteriorly is very strong. No. 52,818, an adult female from Mazatlan, Western Mexico, has the wing three quarters of an inch shorter than in the largest of four northern females, and of the same length as in the smallest; there is nothing unusual about its plumage, except that the bars beneath are sparse, and the ochraceous tinge quite deep. No. 27,057, Fort Good Hope, H. B. T., is, however, exactly similar, in these respects, and the wing is but half an inch longer. In No. 47,588, ♂, from the Farallones Islands, near San Francisco, California, the wing is the same length as in the average of northern and eastern specimens, while the streaks on the jugulum are nearly as conspicuous as in a male from Europe.
In conclusion, I would say that the sole distinguishing character between the Peregrines from America and those from Europe, that can be relied on, appears to be found in the markings on the breast in the adult plumage; in all the specimens and figures of var. communis that I have seen, the breast has the longitudinal dashes very conspicuous; while, as a general rule, in anatum these markings are entirely absent, though sometimes present, and occasionally nearly as distinct as in European examples. Therefore, if this conspicuous streaking of the breast is found in all European specimens, the American bird is entitled to separation as a variety; but if the breast is ever immaculate in European examples, then anatum must sink into a pure synonyme of communis. The var. melanogenys is distinguished from both communis and anatum by the black auriculars, or by a greater amount of black on the side of the neck, and by more numerous and narrower bars on the under surface. In the former feature examples of anatum from the southern extremity of South America approach quite closely to the Australian form, as might be expected from the relative geographical position of the two regions. The var. minor is merely the smaller intertropical race of the Old World, perhaps better characterized than the tropical American form named F. nigriceps by Cassin, the characters of which are so unimportant, and withal so inconstant, as to forbid our recognizing it as a race of the same rank with the others.