Excerpt from Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, 1876, Vol. 1: A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology

The above are the principal differences, and together with Audubon's fine plate, which is a perfect facsimile of my bird, give a most emphatic contradiction to all assertions that Audu bon was unable to distinguish the difference between Buteo vul garis and what to him would have been a new bird. This noted ornithologist was constantly on the lookout for new species with which to embellish his book, and it is extremely improbable that he would have let such an opportunity escape him.

The descriptive points given are enough to separate Audu bon's bird from all others, but as if to give more weight to his testimony we find him saying as a final to his article: When compared with European specimens, mine have the bill somewhat stronger, but in all other respects, including the scutella and scales of the feet and toes, and the structure of the wings and tail, the parts are similar.

It will be noticed that he uses the plural mine, for before this was appended he had received another, also shot by Dr. Townsend, on the plains of the Snake River.

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