Chapter XI: Appendix: I. Additions and Corrections 499 (11)

_Young female_ (Cuba; Dr. Gundlach, Coll. G. N. Lawrence). Prevailing color above brownish-black, with a glaucous cast on the dorsal region; tail deep black, with a faint greenish-bronze reflection, with white and grayish base and tip, as in the adult. Each feather of the upper parts rather broadly tipped with ochraceous-rufous; crown, occiput, and auriculars streaked longitudinally with the same. Prevailing color of the head and lower parts deep ochraceous, on the head forming a broad superciliary stripe from the forehead back to the occiput; throat and cheeks streaked longitudinally with dusky; crissum immaculate; other lower parts, including lining of the wing, thickly covered with large transverse spots of brownish-black. Upper tail-coverts white, with a blackish shaft-line; tail with the basal third white anteriorly and brownish-ashy next the black, and with a terminal band, about 1.00 wide, of brownish-ashy, passing into white at the tip. Under surface of primaries cream-color anterior to the emargination, towards the ends grayish, with transverse spots of dusky. Wing-formula, 4, 3=5–2–6–7, 1. Wing, 13.90; tail, 8.25; tarsus, 1.90; middle toe, 1.55.

An older specimen in young plumage (11,755, Florida) differs as follows: The colors generally are lighter, the ochraceous being more prevalent and lighter in tint; the throat is immaculate, and the markings beneath more longitudinal. The secondaries and primaries are broadly tipped with ochraceous. Wing, 14.00; tail, 7.20; tarsus, 1.95; middle toe, 1.50.

HAB. West Indies and Southern Florida.

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 3; Coll. C. J. Maynard, 7; Philadelphia Academy, 2; Museum Comp. Zoöl., 3; Coll. R. Ridgway, 1. Total, 16.

HABITS. The Black Kite is a Central and South American species, well known in that section, but having no other claim to be regarded as a bird of North America than its presence in a restricted portion of Florida, where it is, in the extreme southern section, not very uncommon, and where it is also known to breed. It was first taken in that peninsula by Mr. Edward Harris, and subsequently by Dr. Heermann. It was supposed by Mr. Harris to breed in Florida, from his meeting with young birds; and this supposition has been confirmed by Mr. Maynard, who has since found them nesting, and procured their eggs.

Mr. Salvin met with what he presumed to be this species in Central America, ascribing the immense flights of Hawks seen by him in the month of March, in the Pacific Coast region, migrating in a northwesterly direction, to this Kite. The bird was well known to the Spaniards under the name of _Asacuani_,—a term that has become proverbial for a person who is constantly wandering from place to place. Mr. Leyland obtained a single specimen of the _Rostrhamus_ near the Lake of Peten. In the spring of 1870, Mr. Maynard met with several individuals of this species among the Florida everglades. He first observed one on February 18, but was not able to secure it. Visiting the same spot ten days later, with Mr. Henshaw, three birds of this species were shot, and the nest of one was discovered. It was at that time only partly completed, was small, flat, and composed of sticks somewhat carelessly arranged. It was built upon the top of some tall saw-grass, by which it was supported. This grass was so luxuriant and thick that it bore Mr. Maynard up as he sought to reach the nest, which did not contain any eggs. On the 24th of March, Mr. Maynard discovered another nest of this species. It was built in a bush of the _Magnolia glauca_, and was about four feet from the water. It contained one egg. It was about one foot in diameter, was quite flat, and was composed of sticks carelessly arranged, and lined with a few dry heads of the saw-grass. The female was shot, and found to contain an egg nearly ready for exclusion, but as yet unspotted. Other eggs were subsequently procured through the aid of Seminole Indians, by whom this Hawk is called _So-for-funi-kar_.

The usual number of eggs laid by this Kite is supposed to be two, as in three instances no more were found, and this was said to be their complement by the Indians. It also appeared to be somewhat irregular in the time of depositing its eggs.

This Hawk is described as very sociable in its habits, unlike, in this respect, most other birds of prey. Six or eight specimens were frequently seen flying together, at one time, over the marshes, or sitting in company on the same bush. In their flight they resemble the common Marsh Hawk, are very unsuspicious, and may be quite readily approached. The dissection of the specimens showed that this bird feeds largely on a species of freshwater shell (_Pomus depressa_ of Say).

The egg of this species taken in Florida by Mr. Maynard is of a rounded oval shape, equally obtuse at either end, and measures 1.70 inches in length by 1.45 in breadth. The ground-color is a dingy white, irregularly, and in some parts profusely, blotched with groups of markings of a yellowish brown, shading from a light olive-brown to a much duller color, almost to a black hue. These markings in the specimen seen are not grouped around either end, but form a confluent belt around the central portions of the egg. The following description is given by Mr. Maynard of the other specimens taken by him.

_Egg No. 1._ Ground-color bluish-white, spotted and blotched everywhere with brown and umber. Dimensions, 1.72 × 1.45. _No. 2._ Ground-color same as No. 1. Two large irregular blotches of dark brown and umber on the larger end, with smaller confluent blotches and streaks of the same, covering nearly the entire surface of that end; smaller end much more sparsely spotted with the same. Dimensions, 1.76 × 1.40. _No. 3._ Ground-color dirty brown. The entire egg, except the small end, covered with a washing of dark brown, which forms dark irregular blotches at various points, as if the egg had been painted and then taken in the fingers before drying. Dimensions, 1.55 × 1.55.

GENUS CIRCUS, LACEPEDE.

_Circus_, LACÉP. 1800, 1801. (Type, _Falco æruginosus_, LINN.)
_Pygargus_, KOCH, 1816. (Same type.)
_Strigiceps_, BONAP. 1831. (Type, _Falco cyaneus_, LINN.)
_Glaucopteryx_, KAUP, 1844. (Type, _Falco cineraceus_, MONT.)
_Spilocircus_, KAUP, 1847. (Type, _Circus jardini_, GOULD.)
_Pterocircus_, KAUP, 1851. (Same type.)
_Spizacircus_ and _Spiziacircus_, KAUP, 1844 and 1851. (Type, _Circus
macropterus_, VIEILL.)

=1042=, ♀. ½
½
¼

_Circus hudsonius._]

GEN. CHAR. Form very slender, the wings and tail very long, the head small, bill weak, and feet slender. Face surrounded by a ruff of stiff, compact feathers, as in the Owls (nearly obsolete in some species). Bill weak, much compressed; the upper outline of the cere greatly ascending basally, and arched posteriorly, the commissure with a faint lobe; nostril oval, horizontal. Loral bristles fine and elongated, curving upwards, their ends reaching above the top of the cere. Superciliary shield small, but prominent. Tarsus more than twice the middle toe, slender, and with perfect frontal and posterior continuous series of regular transverse scutellæ; toes slender, the outer longer than the inner; claws strongly curved, very acute. Wings very long, the third or fourth quills longest; first shorter than the sixth; outer three to five with inner webs sinuated. Tail very long, about two thirds the wing; rounded.

The relationships of this well-marked genus are, to _Accipiter_ on the one hand, and _Elanus_ on the other; nearest the former, though it is not very intimately allied to either. I cannot admit the subgenera proposed by various authors (see synonomy above), as I consider the characters upon which they are based to be merely of specific importance, scarcely two species being exactly alike in the minute details of their form.

The species are quite numerous, numbering about twenty, of which only about four (including the climatic sub-species, or geographical races) are American. North America possesses but one (_C. hudsonius_, Linn.), and this, with the _C. cinereus_, Vieill., of South America, I consider to be a geographical race of _C. cyaneus_ of Europe.

The birds of this genus frequent open, generally marshy, localities, where they course over the meadows, moors, or marshes, with a steady, gliding flight, seldom flapping, in pursuit of their food, which consists mainly of mice, small birds, and reptiles. Their assault upon the latter is sudden and determined, like the “Swift Hawks,” or the species of _Accipiter_.

In the following synopsis, I include only the three forms of _C. cyaneus_, giving the characters of the European race along with those of the two American ones.

Species and Races.

=C. cyaneus.= Wing, 12.50–16.00; tail, 9.00–10.70; culmen, .60–.80;
tarsus, 2.42–3.25; middle toe, 1.10–1.55. Third to fourth quills
longest; first shorter than sixth or seventh; outer four with inner
webs sinuated. _Adult male._[78] Above pearly-ash, with a bluish cast
in some parts; breast similar; beneath white, with or without rufous
markings. _Adult female._ Above brown, variegated with ochraceous
on the scapulars and wing-coverts; beneath yellowish-white or pale
ochraceous, with a few longitudinal stripes of brown. _Young_ (of both
sexes). Like the adult female, but darker brown above, the spotting
deeper ochraceous, or rufous; beneath pale rufous, the stripes less
distinct.

Tail and secondaries without a subterminal band of dusky; lower
parts without any markings.

Wing, 12.50–15.00; tail, 9.00–10.70; culmen, .60–.75; tarsus,
2.70–2.85; middle toe, 1.10–1.35. _Hab._ Europe …

var. _cyaneus_.[79]

Tail and secondaries with a subterminal band of dusky; lower parts
with rufous markings.

Wing, 12.90–16.00; tail, 9.00–10.50; culmen, .65–.75; tarsus,
2.90–3.25; middle toe, 1.20–1.55. Lower parts with scattered
irregular specks, or small cordate spots, of reddish-rufous.
_Hab._ North and Middle America …

var. _hudsonius_.

Wing, 12.40–14.50; tail, 8.50–10.50; culmen, .62–.81; tarsus,
2.42–3.00; middle toe, 1.20–1.50. Lower parts with numerous
regular transverse bars of reddish-rufous _Hab._ South America …

var. _cinereus_.[80]

Circus cyaneus, var. hudsonius (LINN.).

MARSH HAWK; AMERICAN HARRIER.

_Falco hudsonius_, LINN. Syst. Nat. p. 128, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. p.
277, 1789.—LATH. Syn. I, 91, sp. 76, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, p. 97, sp.
C. 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 173, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 165, 1809.
_Circus hudsonius_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. ix, 1807.—CASS. B.
Cal. & Tex. p. 108, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 38.—HEERM. P. R. R.
Rep’t, II, 33, 1855.—KENNERLY, P. R. R. Rep’t, III, 19, 1856.—NEWB.
P. R. R. Rep’t, VI, 74, 1857.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R. Rep’t, XII, ii,
150, 1860.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 150, 1855.—COUES, Prod. B. Ariz.
13, 1866.—BLAKIST. Ibis, 1861, 319.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, 1864, 110
(Brit. Coll.). _Circus cyaneus hudsonius_, SCHLEG. Mus. Pays-Bas,
_Circi_, 2, 1862. _Circus cyaneus_, var. _hudsonius_, (RIDGWAY) COUES,
Key, 1872, 210.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 37, 1869. _Strigiceps hudsonius_,
BONAP. Consp. Av. p. 35, 1850. _Falco spadicens_, GMEL. Syst. Nat.
p. 273, 1789.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII, 383, 1772. _Falco buffoni_,
GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 277, 1789.—LATH. Gen. Hist. I, 98, D, 1821. _Falco
uliginosus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 278, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 40,
179; Syn. I, 90, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 271, 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II,
173, 1800.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. li, f. 2, 1808.—SAB. App. Frankl. Exp.
p. 671. _Circus uliginosus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 37, 1807.—DE
KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 20, pl. iii, figs. 5, 6, 1844.—JAMES. (WILS.)
Am. Orn. I, 88, 1831.—MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 20. _Strigiceps
uliginosus_, BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 5, 1838.—KAUP, Monog. Falc.
Cont. Orn. 1850, p. 58. _Falco cyaneus_ & β. LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 40,
1790; Syn. I, 91, 7 sp. 6 A.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 164, 1809. _Falco
cyaneus_, AUD. B. Am. pl. ccclvi, 1831.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. IV,
21, 1831.—BONAP. Am. Orn. pl. 12; Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 33; Isis, 1832,
p. 1538.—PEAB. B. Mass. p. 82, 1841. _Circus cyaneus_, BONAP. Ann.
Lyc. N. Y. p. 33.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 391.—RICH.

_Measurements._—♂. Wing, 12.50–13.25; tail, 9.00–9.30; culmen, .60–.70; tarsus, 2.75–2.90; middle toe, 1.10–1.25. Specimens, 8. ♀. Wing, 13.50–15.00; tail, 9.50–10.70; culmen, .75; tarsus, 2.70–2.85; middle toe, 1.25–1.35. Specimens, 4.

_Observations._—The adult female of _cyaneus_ is distinguishable from that of _hudsonius_ by lighter colors and less distinct ochraceous blotches on the shoulders. & SWAINS. Faun. Bor. Am. pl. xxix, 1831.—AUD. Synop. p. 19, 1839.—BREW. (WILS.) N. Am. Orn. Syn. 685, 1852.—PEAB. U. S. Expl. Exp. p. 63, 1848.—WOODH. in Sitgr. Rep’t, Exp. Zuñi & Colorad. p. 61, 1853.—NUTT. Man. Orn. U. S. & Can. p. 109, 1833.—GIRAUD. B. Long Isl’d, p. 21, 1844.—GRAY, List B. Brit. Mus. p. 78, 1844.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (10,764, Washington, D. C., December). Head, neck, breast, and upper parts light cinereous, palest anteriorly where it is uninterruptedly continuous; occiput somewhat darker, with a transverse series of longitudinal dashes of white, somewhat tinged with reddish. Back, scapulars, and terminal third of secondaries, with a dusky wash, the latter fading at tips; five outer primaries nearly black, somewhat hoary on outer webs beyond their emargination; lesser wing-coverts faintly mottled with paler, or with obsolete dusky spots. Upper tail-coverts immaculate pure white. Tail bluish-cinereous, mottled with white toward base; crossed near the end with a distinct band of black, and with about five narrower, very obscurely indicated ones anterior to this; tip beyond the subterminal zone fading terminally into whitish. Whole under side of wing (except terminal third or more of primaries) pure white; immaculate, excepting a few scattered transverse dusky spots on larger coverts. Rest of under parts pure white everywhere, with rather sparse transverse cordate spots of rufous. Wing, 14.00; tail, 9.20; tarsus, 2.80; middle toe, 1.30. Third and fourth quills equal, and longest; second intermediate between fifth and sixth; first 5.81 inches shorter than longest.

Another specimen differs as follows: The fine cinereous above is replaced by a darker and more brownish shade of the same, the head and breast much tinged with rusty. Tail much darker, the last black band twice as broad and near the tip; other bands more numerous (seven instead of five), and although still very obscure on middle feathers are better defined than in the one described; inner webs of tail-feathers (especially the outer ones) tinged with cream-color; white of lower parts tinged with rufous; the deep rufous transverse bars on the breast and sides broader, larger, and more numerous than in No. 16,764; abdomen and tibiæ with numerous smaller cordate spots of rufous; lower tail-coverts with large cordate spots of the same, and a deep stain of paler rufous; lining of wings more variegated. Wing, 14.10; tail, 9.00; tarsus, 2.90; middle toe, 1.30.

_Adult female_ (16,758, Hudson’s Bay Territory; Captain Blakiston). Umber-brown above; feathers of the head and neck edged laterally with pale rufous; lores, and superciliary and suborbital stripes dull yellowish-white, leaving a dusky stripe between them, running back from the posterior angle of the eye. Lesser wing-coverts spattered with pale rufous, this irregularly bordering and indenting the feathers; feathers of the rump bordered with dull ferruginous. Tail deep umber, faintly fading at the tip, and crossed by six or seven very regular, sharply defined, but obscure, bands of blackish; the alternating light bars become paler and more rufous toward the edge of the tail, the lateral feathers being almost wholly pale cream-color or ochraceous, darker terminally; this tint is more or less prevalent on the inner webs of nearly all the feathers. Ear-coverts dull dark rufous, obsoletely streaked with dark brown; the feathers of the facial disk are fine pale cream-color, each with a middle stripe of dark brown; throat and chin immaculate dirty-white, like the supraorbital and suborbital stripes. Beneath dull white, with numerous broad longitudinal stripes of umber-brown; these broadest on the breast, growing gradually smaller posteriorly. Under surface of primaries dull white, crossed at wide intervals with dark-brown irregular bars, of which there are five (besides the terminal dark space) on the longest quill.

_Juv._ (♀, 15,585, Bridger’s Pass, Rocky Mountains, August; W. S. Wood). Upper parts very dark rich clove-brown, approaching sepia-black; feathers of the head bordered with deep ferruginous, and lesser wing-coverts much spotted with the same, the edges of the feathers being broadly of this color; secondaries and inner primaries fading terminally into whitish; upper tail-coverts tinged with delicate cream-color (immaculate). Tail with four very broad bands of black, the intervening spaces being dark umber on the two middle feathers, on the others fine cinnamon-ochre; the tip also (broadly) of this color. Ear-coverts uniform rich dark snuff-brown, feathers of a satiny texture; feathers of facial disk the same centrally, edged with fine deep rufous. Entire lower parts deep reddish-ochraceous or fulvous-rufous, growing gradually paler posteriorly; immaculate, with the exception of a few faint longitudinal stripes on the breast and sides. Under side of wing as in the last, but much tinged with rufous.

HAB. Entire continent of North America, south to Panama; Cuba, and Bahamas.

Localities: Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 390); Orizaba (SCL. 1857, 211); Guatemala, winter (SCL. Ibis, I, 221); Cuba (CAB. Journ. II, lxxxiii; GUNDLACH, Repert. 1865, 222, winter); City of Mexico (SCL. 1864, 178); E. Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 328, resident); W. Arizona (COUES); Bahamas (BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 65); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 134).

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 53; Museum Comp. Zoöl., 24; Boston Society, 8; Philadelphia Academy, 10; Cab. of G. N. Lawrence, 5; R. Ridgway, 6. Total, 106.

_Measurements._

+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ |Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. |Middle Toe.|Specimens.| +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ | ♂ |12.90–13.85| 9.90–9.80| .60–.65|2.85–2.90| 1.20–0.00| 34 | +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ | ♀ |13.00–16.00| 8.80–10.50| .70–.75|2.85–3.25| 1.22–1.55| 32 | +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+

HABITS. The Marsh Hawk is one of the most widely distributed birds of North America, breeding from the fur regions around Hudson’s Bay to Texas, and from Nova Scotia to Oregon and California. It is abundant everywhere, excepting in the southeastern portion of the United States. Sir John Richardson speaks of it as so common on the plains of the Saskatchewan that seldom less than five or six are in sight at a time (in latitude 55°). Mr. Townsend found it on the plains of the Columbia River and on the prairies bordering on the Missouri. The Vincennes Exploring Expedition obtained specimens in Oregon. Dr. Gambel and Dr. Heermann found it abundant in California. Dr. Suckley’s party obtained specimens in Minnesota; Captain Beckwith’s, in Utah; Captain Pope, Lieutenant Whipple, and Dr. Henry, in New Mexico; and Lieutenant Couch, in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Dr. Woodhouse met with it abundantly from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, throughout the summer, showing conclusively that it breeds in those different sections of country. De la Sagra, Lembeye, and Dr. Gundlach, all give it as a bird of Cuba, but not as breeding there.

Dall records it as very rare on the Yukon, and an occasional summer visitor only at St. Michael’s, where an individual was killed as late as November. Donald Gunn states that it makes its appearance in the fur countries about the opening of the rivers, and departs about the beginning of November. It preys upon small birds and mice, is very slow on the wing, flies very low, and in a manner very different from all other kinds of Hawks.

In Nova Scotia it is very abundant, and is very destructive of young game. Mr. Downes regards it as an indiscriminating feeder upon fish, snakes, and even worms. He took two green snakes from the stomach of one of them.

Mr. Dresser found them abundant throughout the whole country east of the Rio Nueces at all seasons of the year. They were more abundant in full blue plumage than elsewhere. Near San Antonio he met with them on the prairies, where they feed on the small green lizards which abound there, and which they are very expert in catching. Dr. Coues mentions them as very abundant in Arizona. Dr. Kennerly met with them on both sides of the Rio Grande wherever there was a marsh of any extent. Flying near the surface, just above the weeds and canes, they round their untiring circles hour after hour, darting after small birds as they rise from cover. Pressed by hunger, they will attack even wild Ducks. Dr. Kennerly also observed them equally abundant in the same localities in New Mexico. Dr. Newberry mentions finding this Hawk abundant beyond all parallel on the plains of Upper Pitt River. He saw several hundred in a single day’s march.

In Washington Territory both Dr. Suckley and Dr. Cooper found this Hawk abundant throughout the open districts, and especially so in winter. Dr. Cooper found it no less common in California, and among several hundreds saw but two birds in the blue plumage. Near Fort Laramie he found it no less common, but there, at least one half were in the blue plumage. From this he infers that the older birds seek the far interior in preference to the seaboard.

Mr. Allen mentions it as common in winter about the savannas in Florida, and Mr. Salvin states that it is a migratory species in Guatemala. It occurred in the Pacific Coast Region, and examples were also received from Vera Paz.

In evidence of the nomadic character of the Marsh Hawk it may be mentioned that specimens asserted to be of this species are in the Leyden Museum that were received from the Philippines and from Kamtschatka.

In Wilson’s time this Hawk was quite numerous in the marshes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, where it swept over the low grounds, sailing near the earth, in search of a kind of mouse very common in such situations, and was there very generally known as the Mouse Hawk. It is also said to be very serviceable in the Southern rice-fields in interrupting the devastations made by the swarms of Bobolinks. As it sails low and swiftly over the fields, it keeps the flocks in perpetual fluctuation, and greatly interrupts their depredations. Wilson states that one Marsh Hawk was considered by the planters equal to several negroes for alarming the Rice-birds. Audubon, however, controverts this statement, and quotes Dr. Bachman to the effect that no Marsh Hawks are seen in the rice-fields until after the Bobolinks are gone. Dr. Coues, on the other hand, gives this Hawk as resident throughout the year in South Carolina.

According to Audubon, the Marsh Hawk rarely pursues birds on the wing, nor does it often carry its prey to any distance before it alights and devours it. While engaged in feeding, it may be readily approached, surprised, and shot. When wounded, it endeavors to make off by long leaps; and when overtaken, it throws itself on the back and fights furiously. In winter its notes while on the wing are sharp, and are said to resemble the syllables _pee-pee-pee_. The love-notes are similar to those of the _columbarius_.

Mr. Audubon has found this Hawk nesting not only in lowlands near the sea-shore, but also in the barrens of Kentucky and on the cleared table-lands of the Alleghanies, and once in the high covered pine-barrens of Florida.

After having paired, the Marsh Hawks invariably keep together, and labor conjointly in the construction of the nest, in sitting upon the eggs, and in feeding the young. Their nests are variously constructed as to materials, usually chiefly of hay somewhat clumsily wrought together into the form of a nest, but never very nicely interwoven; occasionally, in more northern localities, they are lined with feathers, in some cases with pine-needles and small twigs.

Richardson states that all the nests of this Hawk observed by him were built on the ground by the side of small lakes, of moss, grass, feathers, and hair, and contained from three to five eggs, of a bluish-white color, and unspotted. The latter measured 1.75 inches in length, and were an inch across where widest. The position and manner of constructing the nest correspond with my own experience, but the size of the eggs does not. The nests have been invariably on the ground, near water, built of dry grass, and lined with softer materials.

Mr. Audubon gives a very minute account of a nest which he found on Galveston Island, Texas. It was about a hundred yards from a pond, on a ridge just raised above the marsh, and was made of dry grass; the internal diameter was eight, and the external twelve inches, with the depth of two and a half. No feathers were found. This absence of a warm lining in Texas really proves nothing. A warm lining may be required in latitude 65° north, and the same necessity not found in one of 29°. A nest observed in Concord, Mass., by Dr. H. R Storer, was on the edge of a pond, and was warmly lined with feathers and fine grasses. Many other instances might be named.

The eggs found in the Galveston nest were four in number, smooth, considerably rounded or broadly elliptical, bluish-white, 1.75 inches in length, and 1.25 in breadth. Another nest, found under a low bush on the Alleghanies, was constructed in a similar manner, but was more bulky; the bed being four inches above the earth, and the egg slightly sprinkled with small marks of pale reddish-brown.

The prevalent impression that the eggs of this Hawk are generally unspotted, so far as I am aware, is not correct. All that I have ever seen, except the eggs above referred to from Texas, and a few others, have been more or less marked with light-brown blotches. These markings are not always very distinct, but, as far as my present experience goes, they are to be found, if carefully sought. In 1856 I received from Dr. Dixon, of Damariscotta, a nest with six eggs of a Hawk of this species. The female had been shot as she flew from the nest. With a single exception, all the eggs were very distinctly blotched and spotted. In shape they were of a rather oblong-oval, rounded at both ends, the smaller end well defined. They varied in length from 2.00 to 1.87 inches, and in breadth from 1.44 to 1.38 inches. Their ground-color was a dirty bluish-white, which in one was nearly unspotted, the markings so faint as to be hardly perceptible, and only upon a close inspection. In all the others, spots and blotches of a light shade of purplish-brown occured, in a greater or less degree, over their entire surface. In two, the blotches were large and well marked; in the others, less strongly traced, but quite distinct.

The nest was found in a tract of low land, covered with clumps of sedge, on one of which it had been constructed. It is described as about the size of a peck basket, circular, and composed entirely of small dry sticks, “finished off or topped out with small bunches of pine boughs.” There was very little depth to the nest, or not enough to cover the eggs from view in taking a sight across it. “No feathers were found in or about it. It was simply made of small dry sticks, about six inches thick, with about one inch of pine boughs for finishing off the nest.” The eggs were found about the 20th of May. They contained young at least two weeks advanced, showing that the bird began to lay in the latter part of April, and to sit upon her eggs early in the following month.

It will be thus seen that the eggs of this Hawk vary greatly in size and shape, and in the presence or absence of marking, varying in length from 1.75 to 2.00 inches, and in breadth from 1.25 to 1.50, and in shape from an almost globular egg to an elongated oval. Some are wholly spotless, and others are very strongly and generally blotched with well-defined purplish-brown.

This Hawk was found breeding in the Humboldt Valley by Mr. C. S. M‘Carthy, on the Yellowstone by Mr. Hayden, at Fort Benton by Lieutenant Mullan, at Fort Resolution by Mr. Kennicott, at Fort Rae and at Fort Simpson by Mr. Ross, at La Pierre House by Lockhart, and on the Lower Anderson by Mr. MacFarlane.

GENUS NISUS, CUVIER.

_Accipiter_, BRISS. 1760. (Type, _Falco nisus_, LINN.)
_Nisus_, CUV. 1799. (Same type.)
_Astur_, LACÉP. 1801. (Type, _Falco palumbarius_, LINN.)
_Dædalion_, SAVIG. 1809. (Same type.)
_Dædalium_, AGASS. (Same type.)
_Sparvius_, VIEILL. 1816. (Same type.)
_Jerax_, LEACH, 1816. (Same type.)
_Aster_, SWAINS. 1837. (Same type.)
_Micronisus_, GRAY, 1840. (Type, _Falco gabar_, DAUD.)
_Phabotypus_, GLOG. 1842. (Same type.)
_Hieraspiza_, 1844, _Jeraspiza_, 1851, and _Teraspiza_, 1867, KAUP.
(Type, _Falco tinus_, LATHAM.)
_Hieracospiza_, AGAS. (Same type.)
_Nisastur_, BLAS. 1844. (Same type.)
_Urospiza_, 1845, _Urospizia_, 1848, and _Uraspiza_, 1867, KAUP.
(Type, _Sparvius cirrhocephalus_, VIEILL.)
_Leucospiza_, KAUP, 1851. (Type, _Falco novæ-hollandiæ_, GMEL.)
_Cooperastur_, BONAP. 1854. (Type, _Accipiter cooperi_, BONAP.)
_Erythrospiza_, KAUP, 1867. (Type, _A. trinotatus_ TEMM.? not of
BONAP. 1830!)

GEN. CHAR. Form slender, the tail long, the wings short and rounded, the feet slender, the head small, and bill rather weak. Bill nearly as high through the base as the length of the chord of the culmen, its upper outline greatly ascending basally; commissure with a prominent festoon. Superciliary shield very prominent. Nostril broadly ovate, obliquely horizontal. Tarsus longer than the middle toe, the frontal and posterior series of regular transverse scutellæ very distinct, and continuous, sometimes fused into a continuous plate (as in the _Turdinæ_!). Outer toe longer than the inner; claws strongly curved, very acute. Wing short, much rounded, very concave beneath; third to fifth quills longest; first usually shortest, never longer than the sixth; outer three to five with inner webs cut (usually sinuated). Tail long, nearly equal to wing, usually rounded, sometimes even, more rarely graduated (_Astur macrourus_) or emarginated (some species of subgenus _Nisus_).

Subgenera.

Less than one third of the upper portion of the tarsus feathered in
front, the feathering widely separated behind; frontal transverse
scutellæ of the tarsus and toes uninterrupted in the neighborhood of
the digito-tarsal joint, but continuous from knees to claws. Tarsal
scutellæ sometimes fused into a continuous plate …

_Nisus._

More than one third (about one half) of the upper portion of the
tarsus feathered in front, the feathering scarcely separated behind;
frontal transverse scutellæ of the tarsus and toes interrupted in the
region of the digito-tarsal joint, where replaced by irregular small
scales. Tarsal scutellæ never fused …

_Astur._

The species of this genus are exceedingly numerous, about fifty-seven being the number of nominal “species” recognized at the present date. Among so many species, there is, of course, a great range of variation in the details of form, so that many generic and subgeneric names have been proposed and adopted to cover the several groups of species which agree in certain peculiarities of external structure. That too many genera and subgenera have been recognized is my final conclusion, after critically examining and comparing forty of the fifty-seven species of Gray’s catalogue (Hand List of Birds, I, 1869, pp. 29–35). The variation of almost every character ranges between great extremes; but when all the species are compared, it is found that, taking each character separately, they do not all correspond, and cross and re-cross each other in the series in such a manner that it is almost impossible to arrange the species into well-defined groups. From this genus I exclude _Lophospiza_, Kaup (type, _L. trivirgatus_); _Asturina_, Vieill. (type, _A. nitida_); _Rupornis_, Kaup (type, _R. magnirostris_); _Buteola_, Dubus (= _Buteo_, type, _B. brachyura_, Vieill.); included by Gray under _Astur_, as subgenera, and _Tachyspiza_, Kaup (type, _T. soloensis_); and _Scelospiza_, Kaup (type, _S. francesii_); which are given by Gray as subgenera of _Micronisus_, Gray (type, _Accipiter gabar_), the species of the typical subgenus of which, as arranged in Gray’s Hand List, I refer to _Nisus_. All these excluded names I consider as representing distinct genera.

The species of this genus are noted for their very predatory disposition, exceeding the Falcons in their daring, and in the quickness of their assault upon their prey, which consists chiefly of small birds.

SUBGENUS NISUS, CUVIER.

_Accipiter_, BRISSON, 1760.[81]
_Nisus_, CUVIER, 1799. (Type, _Falco nisus_, LINN.; _A. fringillarius_
(RAY), KAUP.)
_Jerax_, LEACH, 1816. (Same type.)
_Cooperastur_, BONAP. 1854. (Type, _Accipiter cooperi_, BONAP.)
_Hieraspiza_, 1844, _Jeraspiza_, 1851, and _Teraspiza_, 1867, KAUP.
(Type, _Falco tinus_, LATH.)
_Hieracospiza_, AGASS. (Same type.)
_Urospiza_, 1845, _Urospizia_, 1848, and _Uraspiza_, 1867, KAUP.
(Type, _Sparvius cirrhocephalus_, VIEILL.)
_Erythrospiza_, KAUP, 1867. (Type, _A. trinotatus_ (TEMM.?))
_Micronisus_, GRAY, 1840. (Type, _Falco gabar_, DAUD.)
_Nisastur_, BLAS. 1844. (Same type.)

_Nisus fuscus._]

=26588=, ♀. ½
=26588=, ♀. ½

_Nisus cooperi._]

The species of this subgenus are generally of small size and slender form; but with a graceful and apparently delicate structure they combine remarkable strength and unsurpassed daring. They differ from the species of _Astur_ mainly in less robust organization. The species are very numerous, and most plentiful within the tropical regions. The Old World possesses about thirty, and America about fifteen, nominal species. Several South American species are intimately related to the two North American ones, and may prove to be only climatic races of the same species; thus, _erythrocnemis_, Gray (Hand List, p. 32, No. 305) may be the intertropical form of _fuscus_, and _chilensis_, Ph. and Landb. (Hand List, No. 314), that of _cooperi_. But the material at my command is too meagre to decide this.

_Nisus cooperi._]

_Nisus cooperi._]

_Nisus fuscus._]

In consequence of the insufficient material for working up the South American species, I shall omit them all from the following synopsis of the North American species and races.[82]

Species and Races.

COMMON CHARACTERS. _Adult._ Above bluish slate-color; the tail with
obscure bands of darker, and narrowly tipped with white. Beneath
transversely barred with white and pinkish-rufous; the anal region
and crissum immaculate white. _Young._ Above grayish umber-brown, the
feathers bordered more or less distinctly with rusty; scapulars with
large white spots, mostly concealed; tail-bands more distinct than in
the adult. Beneath white, longitudinally striped with dusky-brown.

1. =N. fuscus.= Middle toe shorter than the bare portion of the
tarsus, in front; tarsal scutellæ fused into a continuous plate in
the adult male. Tail nearly even. Top of head concolor with the
back; tail merely fading into whitish at the tip. Concealed white
spots of the scapulars very large and conspicuous. Wing, 6.45–8.80;
tail, 5.70–8.20; culmen, .40–.60; tarsus, 1.85–2.25; middle toe,
1.10–1.55. _Hab._ Whole of North America and Mexico.

2. =N. cooperi.= Middle toe longer than the bare portion of the
tarsus, in front; tarsal scutellæ never fused. Tail much rounded.
Top of the head much darker than the back; tail distinctly tipped
with white; concealed white spots of the scapulars very small, or
obsolete. Wing, 8.50–11.00; tail, 7.50–10.50; culmen, .60–.80;
tarsus, 2.10–2.75; middle toe, 1.30–1.85. _Hab._ Whole of North
America and Mexico.

_Adult._ Rufous markings beneath, in form of detached bars, not
exceeding the white ones in width; dark slate of the pileum
and nape abruptly contrasted with the bluish-plumbeous of the
back; upper tail-coverts narrowly tipped with white; scapulars
with concealed spots of white. _Young._ White beneath pure;
tibiæ with narrow longitudinal spots of brown. Wing, 9.00–11.00;
tail, 8.00–9.80; culmen, .65–.80; tarsus, 2.45–2.75; middle
toe, 1.55–1.85. _Hab._ Eastern region of North America; Eastern
Mexico …

var. _cooperi_.

_Adult._ Rufous markings beneath, in form of broader bars,
connected along the shaft, almost uniform on the breast; black of
the pileum and nape fading gradually into the dusky plumbeous of
the back; upper tail-coverts not tipped with white, and scapulars
without concealed spots of the same. _Young._ White beneath
strongly tinged with ochraceous; tibiæ with broad transverse spots
of brown. Wing, 8.50–10.60; tail, 7.50–10.50; culmen, .60–.75;
tarsus, 2.10–2.75; middle toe, 1.30–1.75. _Hab._ Western region of
North America; Western Mexico …

var. _mexicanus_.

Nisus fuscus (GMEL.) KAUP.

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

_Falco fuscus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 283, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 43,
1790; Syn. I, 98, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 283, 1821.—MILL. Cim. Phys.
pl. xviii, 1796.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 86, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 161,
1809.—AUD. B. Am. pl. ccclxxiii, 1821; Orn. Biog. IV. 522, 1831.—BREW.
(WILS.) Am. Orn. 685, 1852.—PEAB. B. Mass. III, 78, 1841.—THOMP. Nat.
Hist. Verm. p. 61, 1842.—NUTT. Man. 87, 1833. _Accipiter fuscus_,
BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 5, 1838; Consp. Av. 32, 1850.—GRAY, List
B. Brit. Mus. 38, 1844; Gen. B. fol. sp. 4, 1844.—CASS. B. Cal. &
Tex. 95, 1854; Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1855, 279; Birds N. Am.
1858, 18.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 108, 1855.—WOODH. Sitgr. Exp. Zuñi
& Colorad. p. 61, 1853.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep’t, VII,
ii, 146, 1860.—HEERM. Williamson’s Rep. 33.—NEWB. Williamson’s
Rep. 74.—COUES, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. Jan. 1866, p. 7.—BLAKIST.
Ibis, III, 1861, 317 (fresh eggs).—GRAY, Hand List, I, 32, 1869.
_Astur fuscus_, DE KAY, N. Y. Zoöl. II, 17, pl. ii, fig. 2 (juv.
♂), 1844.—GIRAUD, B. Long Isl’d, p. 19, 1844. _Nisus fuscus_, KAUP,
Monog. Falc. Cont. Orn. 1850, p. 64. _Falco dubius_, GMEL. Syst.
Nat. 1789, p. 281.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 43, 1790; Syn. Supp. I, 37,
1802; Gen. Hist. I, 279, 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. 1800, II, 122. _Falco
velox_, WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xlv, f. 1, 1808.—BONAP. An. Lyc. N. Y. II,
29, 1433; Isis, 1832, p. 1137. _Accipiter velox_, BEECH. Voy. Zoöl.
p. 15. _Astur velox_, JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 68, 1831. _Falco
pennsylvanicus_, WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xlvi, fig. 1, 1808.—LATH. Gen.
Hist. I, 280, 1820.—TEMM. Pl. Col. 67. _Accipiter pennsylvanicus_,
VIG. Zoöl. Journ. I, 338.—STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, ii, 32, 1815.—RICH.
Faun. Bor.-Am. II, 44, 1831.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, pp. 210, 215,
1832.—SWAINS. Classif. B. II, 215, 1837. _Astur pennsylvanicus_, LESS.
Man. Orn. I, 92.—_James._ (_Wils._) Am. Orn. I, 70, 1831. _Nisus
pennsylvanicus_, CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 334, 1829.—LESS. Tr. Orn.
p. 59, 1831. _Falco columbarius_, var., SHAW. Zoöl. VII, 189, 1809.
_Accipiter ardosiacus_, VIEILL. Enc. Méth. III, 1274, 1823. _Accipiter
fringilloides_ (not of VIGORS!), JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 215, 1832.
_? Nisus pacificus_, LESSON, Man. et d’Oiseaux, 1847, 177 (Acapulco to
California. Square tail). _Accipiter fuscus_, BREWER, Oölogy, 1857,
18, pl. III, f. 23, 29; pl. V, f. 54.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (11,990, District of Columbia; A. J. Falls). Above deep plumbeous, this covering head above, nape, back, scapulars, wings, rump, and upper tail-coverts; uniform throughout, scarcely perceptibly darker anteriorly. Primaries and tail somewhat lighter and more brownish; the latter crossed by four sharply defined bands of brownish-black, the last of which is subterminal, and broader than the rest, the first concealed by the upper coverts; tip passing very narrowly (or scarcely perceptibly) into whitish terminally. Occipital feathers snowy-white beneath the surface; entirely concealed, however. Scapulars, also, with concealed very large roundish spots of pure white. Under side of primaries pale slate, becoming white toward bases, crossed by quadrate spots of blackish, of which there are seven (besides the terminal dark space) on the longest. Lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, chin, throat, and lower parts in general, pure white; chin, throat, and cheeks with fine, rather sparse, blackish shaft-streaks; ear-coverts with a pale rufous wash. Jugulum, breast, abdomen, sides, flanks, and tibiæ with numerous transverse broad bars of delicate vinaceous-rufous, the bars medially somewhat transversely cordate, and rather narrower than the white bars; laterally, the pinkish-rufous prevails, the bars being connected broadly along the shafts; tibiæ with rufous bars much exceeding the white ones in width; the whole maculate region with the shaft of each feather finely blackish. Anal region scarcely varied; lower tail-coverts immaculate, pure white. Lining of the wing white, with rather sparse cordate, or cuneate, small blackish spots; axillars barred about equally with pinkish-rufous and white. Wing, 6.60; tail, 5.70; tarsus, 1.78; middle toe, 1.20. Fifth quill longest; fourth but little shorter; third equal to sixth; second slightly shorter than seventh. Tail perfectly square.

_Adult female_ (19,116, Powder River; Captain W. F. Raynolds, U. S. A.). Scarcely different from the male. Above rather paler slaty; the darker shaft-streaks rather more distinct than in the male, although they are not conspicuous. Beneath with the rufous bars rather broader, the dark shaft-streaks less distinct; tibiæ about equally barred with pinkish-rufous and white. Wing, 7.70; tail, 6.90; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 1.40. Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest; third equal to sixth; second equal to seventh; first three inches shorter than longest.

_Young male_ (41,890, Philadelphia; J. Krider.) Above umber-brown; feathers of the head above edged laterally with dull light ferruginous; those of the back, rump, the upper tail-coverts, scapulars, and wing-coverts bordered with the same; scapulars and rump showing large, partially exposed, roundish spots of pure white. Tail as in adult. Sides of the head and neck strongly streaked, a broad lighter supraoral stripe apparent. Beneath white, with a slight ochraceous tinge; cheeks, throat, and jugulum with fine narrow streaks of dusky-brown; breast, sides, and abdomen with broader longitudinal stripes of clear umber (less slaty than the back), each with a darker shaft-line; on the flanks the stripes are more oval; tibiæ more dingy, markings fainter and somewhat transverse; anal region and lower tail-coverts immaculate white.

_Young female_ (12,023, Fort Tejon, California; J. Xantus). Similar in general appearance to the young male. Markings beneath broader, and slightly sagittate in form, becoming more transverse on the flanks; paler and more reddish than in the young male; tibiæ with brownish-rufous prevailing, this in form of broad transverse spots.

HAB. Entire continent of North America, south to Panama; Bahamas (but not West Indies, where replaced by _A. fringilloides_, Vig.).

Localities: Oaxaca (SCL. 1858, 295); Central America (SCL. Ibis, I, 218); Bahamas (BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859); City of Mexico (SCL. 1864, 178); Texas, San Antonio (DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 324); Western Arizona (COUES); Mosquito Coast (SCL. & SALV. 1867, 280); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 134).

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 51; Philadelphia Academy, 14; New York Museum, 7; Boston Society, 5; Museum, Cambridge, 9; Cab. G. N. Lawrence, 1; Coll. R. Ridgway, 4; Museum W. S. Brewer, 1. Total, 92.

_Measurements._

+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ |Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. |Middle Toe.|Specimens.| +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ | ♂ | 6.45–7.00| 5.70–5.90| .40–.00|1.85–1.95| 1.10–1.20| 30 | +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ | ♀ | 7.50–8.80| 6.90–8.20| .50–.60|2.20–2.25| 1.45–1.55| 40 | +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+

Specimens from different regions vary but little in size. The largest are 4,198, ♀, San Francisco, Cal., winter, 16,957, ♀, Hudson’s Bay Territory, and 55,016, ♀, Mazatlan, Mexico, in which the wing ranges from 8.40 to 8.50, the tail 7.00. The smallest females are 45,826, Sitka, Alaska, and 11,791, Simiahmoo, W. T., in which the wing measures about 7.80. A female (32,499) from Orizaba, Mexico, one (8,513) from Fort Yuma, Cal., and one (17,210) from San Nicholas, Lower California, have the wing 8.00, which is about the average. The largest males are 54,336, Nulato, Alaska, 58,137, Kodiak, Alaska, 27,067, Yukon, mouth of Porcupine, and 55,017, Mazatlan, Mexico, in which the wing measures 7.00, the tail 5.60. The smallest males are 5,990, Orange, N. J., 8,514, Shoalwater Bay, W. T., 21,338, Siskiyou Co., Cal., 37,428, Orizaba, Mexico, and 5,584, Bridger’s Pass, Utah; in this series the wing measures 6.50–6.70, the tail 5.40–5.60. A specimen from Costa Rica measures: wing 6.70, tail 5.35. Thus the variation in size will be seen to be an individual difference, rather than characteristic of any region. Some immature specimens from the northwest coast of North America (as 45,828, ♂, Sitka, Rus. Am., 5,845, ♂, Fort Steilacoom, W. T., 11,791, Simiahmoo, Puget Sound, and 8,514, Shoalwater Bay, W. T.) are much darker than others, the brown above inclining to blackish-sepia; no other differences, however, are observable. An adult from the Yukon (54,337, ♀) has the rufous bars beneath remarkably faint, although well defined; another (19,384, ♀, Fort Resolution), in immature plumage, has the longitudinal markings beneath so faint that they are scarcely discernible, and the plumage generally has a very worn and faded appearance. A male in fine plumage (10,759, Fort Bridger, Utah) has the delicate reddish-rufous beneath so extended as to prevail, and with scarcely any variegation on the sides and tibiæ; the bars on the tail, also, are quite obsolete.

HABITS. This species is one of the most common Hawks of North America, and its geographical range covers the entire continent, from Hudson’s Bay to Mexico. Sir John Richardson mentions its having been met with as far to the north as latitude 51°. Drs. Gambel and Heermann, and others, speak of it as abundant throughout California. Audubon found it very plentiful as far north as the southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It has been obtained in New Mexico by Mr. McCall, in Mexico by Mr. Pease, in Washington Territory by Dr. Cooper and Dr. Suckley, in Alaska by Mr. Dall, at Fort Resolution by Mr. Kennicott, at Fort Simpson by Mr. B. R. Ross, etc. Messrs. Sclater and Salvin give it as a rare visitant of Guatemala. It has been ascertained to breed in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, California, and Pennsylvania, and it probably does so not only in the intervening States and Territories, but also in all, not excepting the most southern, Florida, where its nest was found by Mr. Wurdemann.

Dr. Woodhouse, who frequently observed this bird skimming over the prairies while in search of its prey, states that its flight is so peculiar that there is no difficulty in recognizing it, when taken in connection with its form, short wings, and long tail, being very swift and irregular in its movements, first high in the air, then close to the ground, suddenly disappearing among the grass when it has seized the object of which it was in pursuit.

Mr. Dresser met with this Hawk in Texas, but nowhere south or west of San Antonio, where it remains through the breeding-season, nesting in the dense cedar-thickets.

Mr. Audubon regarded it as the very miniature of the Goshawk, in its irregular, swift, vigorous, varied, and yet often undecided, manner of flight, and on occasion greatly protracted. When in search of its prey, it is said to pass over the country, now at a moderate height, now close over the land, and with a surprising swiftness. It advances by sudden dashes, and pounces upon the object of its pursuit so suddenly as to render hopeless any attempt to escape. It has frequently been known to seize and kill a bird so large that it was unable to carry it, and had to drop to the ground with it. In one instance Mr. Audubon saw it strike a Brown Thrush, which it had darted into a thicket of briers to seize, emerging at the opposite side. As Mr. Audubon ran up, the Hawk attempted twice to rise with its prey, but was unable to carry it off, and relinquished it. The Thrush was quite dead, and had evidently been killed instantly.

Mr. Downes, of Halifax, who speaks of this Hawk as common in Nova Scotia, breeding all over that province, adds that it does not molest the poultry-yards, being too weak to attack large prey. But this is not universally the case. They are frequently destructive both to dove-cots and to the younger inhabitants of the poultry-yard. Mr. Nuttall narrates that in the thinly settled parts of Alabama and Georgia it seemed to abound, and was very destructive to young chickens, a single one having been known to come regularly every day until it had carried off twenty or thirty. He was eyewitness to one of its acts of robbery, where, at noonday and in the near presence of the farmer, the Hawk descended and carried off one of the chickens. In another instance the same writer mentions that one of these Hawks, descending with blind eagerness upon its prey, broke through the glass of the greenhouse at the Cambridge Botanic Garden, fearlessly passed through a second glass partition, and was only brought up by a third, when it was caught, though very little injured.

At times this Hawk is seen to fly high, in a desultory manner, with quick but irregular movements of the wings, now moving in short and unequal circles, pausing to examine the objects below, and then again descending rapidly and following a course only a few feet from the ground, carefully examining each patch of small bushes in search of small birds.

Besides the smaller birds, young chickens, and pigeons, this Hawk has been known to occasionally feed on small reptiles and insects, as also upon the smaller quadrupeds.

Mr. Audubon speaks of having met with three nests of this species, and all in different situations. One was in a hole in a rock on the banks of the Ohio River; another was in the hollow of a broken branch, near Louisville, Ky., and the third in the forks of a low oak, near Henderson, Ky. In the first case, the nest was slight, and simply constructed of a few sticks and some grasses, carelessly interwoven, and about two feet from the entrance of the hole. In the second instance there was no nest whatever, but in the third the birds were engaged in the construction of an elaborate nest. The number of the eggs was four in one instance, and five in another. He describes them as almost equally rounded at both ends; their ground-color white, with a livid tinge, but scarcely discernible amid the numerous markings and blotches of reddish-chocolate with which they were irregularly covered. In a nest which was large and elaborately constructed of sticks, and contained five eggs, found by Dr. H. R. Storer in Concord, Mass., there was a single egg which nearly corresponds with this description. It is, however, the only one among many specimens that at all agrees with it. This specimen is a little more than usually elongate, and its ground-color, which is a purplish-white, is nearly concealed by its blotches of various shades of sepia-brown. In every other instance the egg is very nearly spherical, the ground-color white, and beautifully marked with large confluent blotches of sepia, varying in depth from quite a light to a very dark shade. In one, these confluent markings form a broad belt around the centre of the egg. In others, they are chiefly distributed about the larger end. The contrast between the white ground and the dark confluent dashes of brown is very striking. Except in size, the eggs of this bird bear a marked resemblance to those of the Sparrow Hawk of Europe. In a few instances, the brown markings have an intermixture of red and purple. The egg measures 1.35 by 1.15 inches.

In nearly every instance the nest of this Hawk has been constructed in trees. It is usually large in proportion to the size of the bird, and its materials are somewhat elaborately put together; it is composed chiefly of large sticks and twigs, and the whole platform is covered with a thin lining of dry leaves, mosses, grass, etc. Mr. John Krider, of Philadelphia, found a nest in New Jersey, in the vicinity of that city, which was built on the edge of a high rock.

Mr. Robert Kennicott met with the nest of this species at Fort Resolution. It was composed entirely of small dry spruce twigs, with the exception of a half-dozen small flat bits of the scaly outer bark of the spruce, laid in the bottom, and forming a sort of lining. No feathers or other softer materials were used. The nest was shallow and broad. The base was about eighteen inches in diameter, and was about eight feet from the ground. It was in a small spruce in a thick wood and on high ground. When disturbed, the female flew off a short distance; but on Mr. Kennicott’s hiding himself returned and flew near the nest, continually uttering a harsh rapid note. Near the nest were marks indicating the place where the male passed the nights perched on a dry stick near the ground.

Mr. B. R. Ross observed these birds nesting thickly along the cliffs of the Upper Slave River. They were more rare northward of Fort Simpson than _F. columbarius_.

Mr. William Street, of Easthampton, informs me that he has found this Hawk nesting on Mount Tom, where he has known of six of their nests in one season. In the spring of 1872 he found three nests, on the 24th and 25th of May. They contained two eggs each. One of these, on the 27th contained three eggs, of which he took one; on the 3d of June two more eggs had been laid. Two of these were taken, after which the birds deserted the nest and resorted to an old squirrel’s nest, where they had four more eggs, depositing one every third day. They arrive at Mount Tom about the 1st of May. Their nests are made entirely of sticks, larger on the outside, and smaller within. They usually build in a hemlock-tree, selecting a thick clump. They are very noisy when they are at work building their nest, and often betray their presence by their cries. The younger the pair the more noisy they are. This Hawk appears to live nearly altogether on small birds. Mr. Street mentions having found ten or twelve skeletons in a single nest of this species.

Nisus cooperi (BONAP.).

=Var. cooperi=, BONAP.

COOPER’S HAWK.