c. Adult male not bluish? sexes similar? upper parts without transverse spots, and tail without lighter bands, except at the tip.
Above plain brownish-black; the tail narrowly tipped with whitish, but without other markings; inner webs of the primaries without lighter spots. Beneath pale ochraceous broadly striped with sooty-black. Wing, 7.35–8.50; tail, 5.25–5.75; culmen, .50–.55; tarsus, 1.30–1.62; middle toe, 1.25–1.35. Hab. Northwest coast region from Oregon to Sitka … var. suckleyi.
Falco columbarius, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1766, p. 128.—Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1789, p. 281.—Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 44, 1790; Syn. I, 101, sp. 86; Supp. I, 27, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 278, 1821.—Daud. Tr. Orn. II, 83, 1800.—Shaw. Zoöl. VII, 188, 1812.—Wils. Am. Orn. pl. xv, fig. 3, 1808.—Jard. (Wils.) Am. Orn. I, p. 254, 1808.—James. (Wils.) Am. Orn. I, 61.—Brew. (Wils.) Am. Orn. I, 683, 1852.—Rich. Faun. Bor. Am. II, 35, 1831.—Aud. Syn. B. A. p. 16, 1839; Orn. Biog. I, 466.—Bonap. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 28; Isis, 1832, p. 1136; Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 4, 1838.—Nutt. Man. I, 60, 1833.—Cuv. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 322, 1829.—Less. Tr. Orn. p. 92, 1831.—Forst. Phil. Trans. LXII, 382, 1772.—Swains. Classif. B. II, p. 212, 1837.—Jard. Ann. Nat. Hist. XVIII, 118.—Gosse, B. Jam. p. 17, 1847.—Sagra, Hist. Nat. Cuba Ois. p. 23.—Wedderb. Jard. Cont. Orn. 1849, p. 81.—Hurdis, Jard. Cont. Orn. 1850, p. 6.—De Kay, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 15, pl. iv, f. 9, 1844.—Giraud, B. Long Isl. p. 17.—Blackist. Ibis, III, 315. Tinnunculus columbarius, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. I, pl. xi, 1807; Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat. XII, 104, 1819; Enc. Méth. III, 1236, 1823. Hypotriorchis columbarius, Gray, List B. B. Mus. p. 55, 1844; Gen. B. fol. sp. 11, 1844.—Cass. B. Calif. & Tex. p. 90, 1854.—Woodh. (Sitg.) Exp. Zuñi & Colorad. p. 60, 1853.—Heerm. P. R. R. Rept. II, 31, 1855.—Newb. P. R. Rept. VI, 74, 1857.—Cass. B. N. Am. p. 9, 1858.—Cooper & Suck. P. R. R. Rept. XII, 1860, 142.—Coues, Pr. A. N. S. Phil. 1866, 6.—Brewer, Oölogy, 12. Lithofalco columbarius, Bonap. Consp. Av. p. 26, 1850. Æsalon columbarius, Kaup, Monog. Falc. Cont. Orn. p. 54, 1850.—Gray, Hand List, I, 21, 1869. Falco obscurus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. p. 281, 1789.—Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 44, 1790; Syn. Supp. I, 38, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 272, 1821.—Daud. Tr. Orn. II, p. 123, 1800. Falco intermixtus, Daud. Tr. Orn. II, p. 141, 1800.—Lath. Gen. Hist. I, 136, 1821. F. temerarius, Aud. B. Am. pls. lxxv, xcii, 1831; Orn. Biog. I, 380, 1831. F. auduboni, Blackw. Res. Zoöl. 1840. Accipiter palumbarius, Catesb. Carol. I, pl. iii, 1754.
Sp. Char. Adult male. Above cinereous, varying in shade, but generally of a slaty-bluish cast; each feather with a distinct shaft-streak of black, these lines most conspicuous on the head above. Tail with a very broad subterminal band of black, about one inch in width; there are indications of three other bands, their continuity and distinction varying with the individual, but generally quite conspicuous, and each about half the width of the terminal one; the subterminal black band is succeeded by a terminal one of white, of about three-sixteenths of an inch in width, sometimes broader; on the lateral feathers the black bands are always conspicuous, being in form of transverse oblong spots, crossing the shaft, but less extended on the outer web, which is often immaculate except at the end, the broad terminal band always extending to the edge of the feather. Primaries dusky-black, margined terminally more or less distinctly with whitish (sometimes fading on the edge only); on the inner web is a series of about eight transverse oval spots of white, and generally corresponding to these are indications of bluish-ashy spots on the outer web. Beneath white, this purest on the throat, which is immaculate: there is generally a more or less strong tinge of fulvous beneath, this always prevalent on the tibiæ, and on a distinct collar extending round the nape, interrupting the blue above; the tibiæ frequently incline to ochraceous-rufous. Lateral portions of the head with fine streaks of dusky, these thickest on upper edge of the ear-coverts, leaving a distinct whitish superciliary streak, those of opposite sides meeting on the forehead. Breast, upper part of the abdomen, sides, and flanks, with longitudinal stripes of umber, each with a shaft-streak of black; on the flanks their shape is modified, here taking the form of spots running in chain-like series; tibiæ with narrower and darker streaks; lower tail-coverts with narrow central streaks like those on the tibiæ. Frequently there is a strong bluish shade on flanks and lower tail-coverts, sometimes replacing the brown of the spots on the former, and clouding in a similar form the latter. Length, 11.00; extent, 23.75; wing, 7.75.
Adult female. Pattern of coloration as in the male, but the colors different. The blue above replaced by dark umber-brown with a plumbeous cast, and showing more or less distinct darker shaft-lines; these on the head above very broad, giving a streaked appearance; white spots on inner webs of primaries more ochraceous than in the male. Tail dark plumbeous-brown, shading into blackish toward end, with five rather narrow ochraceous or soiled white bars, the first of which is concealed by the upper coverts, the last terminal. White beneath, less tinged with reddish than in the male, the tibiæ not different from the other portions; markings beneath as in the male.
Juv. Above plumbeous-brown, tinged with fulvous on head, and more or less washed with the same on the rump; frequently the feathers of the back, rump, scapulars, and wings pass into a reddish tinge at the edge; this color is, however, always prevalent on the head, which is conspicuously streaked with dusky. Tail plumbeous-dusky, darker terminally, with five regular light bars, those toward the base ashy, as they approach the end becoming more ochraceous; these bars are more continuous and regular than in the adult female, and are even conspicuous on the middle feathers. Primaries dusky, passing on edge (terminally) into lighter; spots on the inner webs broader than in the female, and pinkish-ochre; outer webs with less conspicuous corresponding spots of the same. Beneath soft ochraceous; spots as in adult female, but less sharply defined; tibiæ not darker than abdomen.
Hab. Entire continent of North America, south to Venezuela and Ecuador; West India Islands.
Localities: Ecuador (high regions in winter, Scl. P. Z. S. 1858, 451); Cuba (Cab. Jour. II, lxxxiii, Gundlach, Sept. 1865, 225); Tobago (Jard. Ann. Mag. 116); S. Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 323, breeding?); W. Arizona (Coues, Pr. A. N. S. 1866, 42); Costa Rica (Lawr. IX, 134); Venezuela (Scl. & Salv. 1869, 252).
National Museum, 42; Boston Society, 11; Philadelphia Academy, 10; Museum Comp. Zoöl., 7; New York Museum, 3; G. N. Lawrence, 2; R. Ridgway, 4. Total, 79.
The plumage of the adult male, which is not as often seen as that of the younger stages and adult female, is represented in the Smithsonian Collection by fifteen specimens, from various parts of North America. Of these, an example from Jamaica exhibits the purest shades of color, though agreeing closely with some specimens from the interior of the United States; the cinereous above being very fine, and of a light bluish cast. The upper tail-coverts are tipped with white; the tail is a quarter of an inch longer than in any North American specimen, one half-inch longer than the average; the wing, however, is about the same.
A specimen from Santa Clara, California (4,475, Dr. J. G. Cooper), like most of those from the Pacific coast, has the cinereous very dark above, while beneath the ochraceous is everywhere prevalent; the flanks are strongly tinged with blue; the black bars of the tail are much broken and irregular. A specimen from Jamaica (24,309, Spanish Town; W. T. March), however, is even darker than this one, the stripes beneath being almost pure black; on the tail black prevails, although the bands are very regular. Nos. 27,061, Fort Good