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9. FALCO SPARVERIUS, LINNÆUS.

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK.

WILSON, PLATE XXXII. FIG. II. MALE.

MUSEUM.

EDINBURGH COLLEGE

THE female of this species is described in the preceding article.

The male sparrow hawk measures about ten inches in length, and twenty-one in extent; the whole upper parts of the head are of a fine slate blue, the shafts of the plumage being black, the crown excepted, which is marked with a spot of bright rufous; the slate tapers to a point on each side of the neck; seven black spots surround the head, as in the female, on a reddish white ground, which also borders each sloping side of the blue; front, lores, line over and under the eye, chin, and throat, white; femoral and vent feathers, yellowish white; the rest of the lower parts, of the same tint, each feather being streaked down the centre with a long black drop, those on the breast, slender, on the sides, larger; upper part of the back and scapulars, deep reddish bay, marked with ten or twelve transverse waves of black; whole wing-coverts and ends of the secondaries, black, tipt with white, and spotted on their inner vanes with the same; lower part of the back, the rump, and tail-coverts, plain bright bay; tail rounded, the two exterior feathers white, their inner vanes beautifully spotted with black; the next, bright bay, with a broad band of black near its end, and tipt for half an inch with yellowish white;, part of its lower exterior edge, white, spotted with black, and its opposite interior edge, touched with white; the whole of the

others are very deep red bay, with a single broad band of black near the end, and tipt with yellowish white; cere and legs, yellow; orbits, the same; bill, light blue; iris of the eye, dark, almost black; claws, blue black.

The character of this corresponds with that of the female, given at large in the preceding article. I have reason, however, to believe, that these birds vary considerably in the colour and markings of their plumage during the first and second years; having met with specimens every way corresponding with the above, except in the breast, which was a plain rufous white, without spots; the markings on the tail also differing a little in different specimens. These I uniformly found, on dissection, to be males; from the stomach of one of which I took a considerable part of the carcass of a robin, (turdus migratorius,) including the unbroken feet and claws; though the robin actually measures within half an inch as long as the sparrow hawk..

10. FALCO COLUMBARIUS, LINN.

PIGEON HAWK.

WILSON, PLATE XV. FIG. III. MALE. EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM.

THIS Small hawk possesses great spirit and rapidity of flight. He is generally migratory in the middle and northern states, arriving in Pennsylvania early in spring, and extending his migrations as far north as Hudson's Bay. After building and rearing his young, he retires to the south early in November. Small birds and mice are his principal food. When the reed-birds, grakles, and red-winged blackbirds congregate in large flights, he is often observed hovering in their rear, or on their flanks, picking up the weak, the wounded, or stragglers,

and frequently making a sudden and fatal sweep -into the very midst of their multitudes. The flocks of robins and pigeons are honoured with the same attentions from this marauder, whose daily excursions are entirely regulated by the movements of the great body on whose unfortunate members he fattens. The individual from which the present description was taken, was shot in the meadows below Philadelphia in the month of August. He was carrying off a blackbird (oriolus phoeniceus) from the flock, and, though mortally wounded and dying, held his prey fast till his last expiring breath, having struck his claws into its very heart. This was found to be a male. Sometimes when shot at, and not hurt, he will fly in circles over the sportsman's head, shrieking out with great violence, as if highly irritated. He frequently flies low, skimming a little above the field. I have never seen his nest.

The pigeon hawk is eleven inches long, and twentythree broad; the whole upper parts are of a deep dark brown, except the tail, which is crossed with bars of white; the inner vanes of the quill feathers are marked with round spots of reddish brown; the bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light blue colour, and tipped with black; the skin surrounding the eye, greenish; cere, the same; temples and line over the eye, lighter brown; the lower parts, brownish white, streaked laterally with dark brown; legs, yellow; claws, black. The female is an inch and a half longer, of a still deeper colour, though marked nearly in the same manner, with the exception of some white on the hind head. The femoral, or thigh feathers, in both are of a remarkable length, reaching nearly to the feet, and are also streaked longitudinally with dark brown. The irides of the eyes of this bird have been hitherto described as being of a brilliant yellow; but every specimen I have yet met with had the iris of a deep hazel. I must therefore follow nature, in opposition to very numerous and respectable authorities.

I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish the history of this species with anecdotes of its

exploits in falconry. This science, if it may be so called, is among the few that have never yet travelled across the Atlantic; neither does it appear that the idea of training our hawks or eagles to the chase, ever suggested itself to any of the Indian nations of North America. The Tartars, however, from whom, according to certain writers, many of these nations originated, have long excelled in the practice of this sport; which is indeed better suited to an open country than to one covered with forest. Though once so honourable and so universal, it is now much disused in Europe, and in Britain is nearly extinct. Yet I cannot but consider it as a much more noble and princely amusement than horse-racing and cock-fighting, cultivated in certain states with so much care; or even than pugilism, which is still so highly patronized in some of those enlightened countries.

SUBGENUS V.—ASTUR, BEchstein.

11. FALCO PALUMBARIUS, LINN.-FALCO ATRICAPILLUS, WILSON.

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ASH-COLOURED, OR BLACK-CAP HAWK.

WILSON, PLATE LII. FIG. III. *—EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM.

Or this beautiful species I can find no precise description. The ash-coloured buzzard of Edwards differs so much from this, particularly in wanting the fine zig-zag lines below, and the black cap, that I cannot for a moment suppose them to be the same. The individual here described was shot within a few miles

The bird here described is the goshawk, and is also a European species.

of Philadelphia, and is now preserved, in good order, in Mr Peale's museum.

Its general make and aspect denotes great strength and spirit; its legs are strong, and its claws of more than proportionate size. Should any other specimen or variety of this hawk, differing from the present, occur during the publication of this work, it will enable me more accurately to designate the species.

The black-cap hawk is twenty-one inches in length; the bill and cere are blue; eye, reddish amber; crown, black, bordered on each side by a line of white finely speckled with black; these lines of white meet on the hind head; whole upper parts, slate, tinged with brown, slightest on the quills; legs, feathered half way down, and, with the feet, of a yellow colour; whole lower parts and femorals, white, most elegantly speckled with fine transverse pencilled zig-zag lines of dusky, all the shafts being a long black line; vent, pure white.

If this be not the celebrated goshawk, formerly so much esteemed in falconry, it is very closely allied to it. I have never myself seen a specimen of that bird in Europe; and the descriptions of their best naturalists vary considerably; but, from a careful examination of the figure and account of the goshawk, given by the ingenious Mr Bewick, (Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 65,) I have very little doubt that the present will be found to be the same.

The goshawk inhabits France and Germany; is not very common in South Britain, but more frequent in the northern parts of the island, and is found in Russia and Siberia. Buffon, who reared two young birds of this kind, a male and female, observes, that "the goshawk, before it has shed its feathers, that is, in its first year, is marked on the breast and belly with longitudinal brown spots; but, after it has had two moultings, they disappear, and their place is occupied by transverse waving bars, which continue during the rest of its life." He also takes notice, that though the male was much smaller than the female, it was fiercer and more vicious.

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