Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian AmericaCassin, John
Science
Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America
Cassin, John
Birds -- North America
Smaller than either of the preceding. Adult. Entire upper-parts dark
umber-brown; feathers on the back of the neck white at their bases.
Throat white, with narrow longitudinal lines of brown, and with a
patch of brown on each side, running from the base of the lower
mandible; breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and
sagittate spots and transverse stripes of reddish-ferruginous tinged
with ashy; other under-parts white, with numerous sagittate spots
disposed to form transverse bands on the lower part of the breast,
flanks, abdomen, and tibiæ. In some specimens, in winter plumage, the
ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the
under tail-coverts, and all the feathers have large circular spots on
each edge; under tail-coverts white. Tail dark-brown, narrowly tipped
with white, and with one broad band of white and several other
narrower bands nearer the base. Quills brownish-black, widely bordered
with pure white on their inner webs. Young. Plumage above umber-brown,
edged on the head and back of the neck with fulvous, and with many
feathers on other upper-parts edged with the same color and
ashy-white; upper tail-coverts spotted with pure white. Under-parts
white, generally tinged with yellowish, many feathers having oblong
and lanceolate longitudinal stripes and spots of brown; a stripe of
brown on each side of the neck from the base of the under mandible.
Tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of the same and of
white on the inner webs of the feathers and narrowly tipped with
white.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, 17 to 18 inches; wing, 11; tail, 6½
to 7 inches. _Male_—smaller.
Hab. Eastern North America; Florida (Abadie); Long Island (Giraud);
Wisconsin (Hoy). Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.
Obs. This handsome little species is of rather unusual occurrence in the
middle and southern States, though according to Dr. Hoy it is abundant
in Wisconsin. It is an easily recognized species, though presenting
considerable variations in color, according to age and season.
The names _Falco pennsylvanicus_ and _Falco latissimus_ occur in
different copies of the sixth volume of the original edition of Wilson
(1812), and the probability is that the latter was substituted by the
author, in the later printed copies, after he had noticed that he had
previously applied the name _pennsylvanicus_ to another species. Of the
last three volumes only second editions were published under the
editorship of Mr. Ord; the seventh and eighth in 1824, and the ninth in
1825. The statement in Hall’s edition, I. p. 92 (Philadelphia, 1828),
that the name _latissimus_ was given by Mr. Ord, is therefore incorrect.
That gentleman, now President of the Philadelphia Academy, and of whose
advice and instruction we have the great advantage and gratification,
informs us that he had nothing to do with either of the names to which
we here allude.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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