Mr. Pennant informs us, that the goshawk is used by the Emperor of China in his sporting excursions, when he is usually attended by his grand falconer, and a thousand of inferior rank. Every bird has a silver plate fastened to its foot, with the name of the falconer who has the charge of it, that, in case it should be lost, it may be restored to the proper person; but, if he should not be found, the bird is delivered to another officer, called the guardian of lost birds, who, to make his situation known, erects his standard in a conspicuous place among the army of hunters. The same writer informs us, that he examined, in the Leverian Museum, a specimen of the goshawk which came from America, and which was superior in size to the European. He adds, " they are the best of all hawks for falconry.”*

12. FALCO PENNSYLVANICUS, WILSON.-BROAD-WINGED HAWK.

WILSON, PLATE LIV. FIG. 1.

THIS hawk was shot on the 6th of May, in Mr Bartram's woods, near the Schuylkill, and was afterwards presented to Mr Peale, in whose collection it now remains. It was perched on the dead limb of a high tree, feeding on something, which was afterwards found to be the meadow mouse. On my approach, it uttered a whining kind of whistle, and flew off to another tree, where I followed and shot it. Its great breadth of wing, or width of the secondaries, and also of its head and body, when compared with its length, struck me as peculiarities. It seemed a remarkably strong-built bird, handsomely marked, and was altogether unknown to Mr Bartram, who examined it very attentively, declared he had never before seen such a hawk. the afternoon of the next day, I observed another, probably its mate or companion, and certainly one of the

me.

On

same species, sailing about over the same woods. Its motions were in wide circles, with unmoving wings, the exterior outline of which seemed a complete semicircle. I was extremely anxious to procure this also, if possible; but it was attacked and driven away by a king-bird before I could effect my purpose, and I have never since been fortunate enough to meet with another. On dissection, the one I had shot proved to be a male. In size this hawk agrees, nearly, with the buzzardet, (falco albidus,) of Turton, described also by Pennant ;* but either the descriptions of these authors are very inaccurate, the change of colour which that bird undergoes very great, or the present is altogether a different species. Until, however, some other specimens of this hawk come under my observation, I can only add the following particulars of its size and plumage :

Length, fourteen inches; extent, thirty-three inches; bill, black, blue near the base, slightly toothed; cere and corners of the mouth, yellow; irides, bright amber; frontlet and lores, white; from the mouth backwards runs a streak of blackish brown; upper parts, dark brown, the plumage tipt and the head streaked with whitish; almost all the feathers above are spotted or barred with white, but this is not seen unless they be separated by the hand; head, large, broad, and flat; cere very broad; the nostril also large; tail short, the exterior and interior feathers somewhat the shortest, the others rather longer, of a full black, and crossed with two bars of white, tipt also slightly with whitish; tail coverts, spotted with white; wings, dusky brown, indistinctly barred with black; greater part of the inner vanes, snowy; lesser coverts, and upper part of the back, tipt and streaked with bright ferruginous; the bars of black are very distinct on the lower side of the wing; lining of the wing, brownish white, beautifully marked with small arrow-heads of brown; chin, white, surrounded by streaks of black; breast and sides, elegantly spotted with large arrow-heads of brown centered with pale

*Arct. Zool. No. 109.

brown; belly and vent, like the breast, white, but more thinly marked with pointed spots of brown; femorals, brownish white, thickly marked with small touches of brown and white; vent, white; legs, very stout; feet, coarsely scaled, both of a dirty orange yellow; claws, semicircular, strong and very sharp, hind one considerably the largest.

While examining the plumage of this bird, a short time after it was shot, one of those winged ticks with which many of our birds are infested, appeared on the surface of the feathers, moving about, as they usually do, backwards or sideways like a crab, among the plumage, with great facility. The fish-hawk, in particular, is greatly pestered with these vermin, which occasionally leave him, as suits their convenience. A gentleman who made the experiment, assured me, that, on plunging a live fish-hawk under water, several of these winged ticks remained hovering over the spot, and, the instant the hawk rose above the surface, darted again among his plumage. The experiment was several times made, with the like result. As soon, however, as these parasites perceive the dead body of their patron beginning to become cold, they abandon it; and, if the person who holds it have his head uncovered, dive instantly among his hair, as I have myself frequently experienced; and, though driven from thence, repeatedly return, till they are caught and destroyed. There are various kinds of these ticks. Of the one found on the present hawk, the head and thorax were light brown; the legs, six in number, of a bright green, their joints moving almost horizontally, and thus enabling the creature to pass with the greatest ease between the laminæ of feathers; the wings were single, of a dark amber colour, and twice as long as the body, which widened towards the extremity, where it was slightly indented; feet, two clawed.

This insect lived for several days between the crystal and dial-plate of a watch, carried in the pocket; but, being placed for a few minutes in the sun, fell into convulsions and died.

13. FALCO VELOX.

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

WILSON, PLATE XLV. FIG. I.-YOUNG BIRD.

THIS is a bold and daring species, hitherto unknown to naturalists. The only hawk we have which approaches near it in colour is the pigeon hawk, already described in this work; but there are such striking differences in the present, not only in colour, but in other respects, as to point out decisively its claims to rank as a distinct species. Its long and slender legs and toes; its red fiery eye, feathered to the eyelids; its triangular grooved nostril, and length of tail, are all different from the pigeon hawk, whose legs are short, its eyes dark hazel, surrounded with a broad bare yellow skin, and its nostrils small and circular, centered with a slender point that rises in it like the pistil of a flower. There is no hawk mentioned by Mr Pennant either as inhabiting Europe or America, agreeing with this. I may, therefore, with confidence, pronounce it a nondescript; and have chosen a very singular peculiarity which it possesses for its specific appellation.

This hawk was shot on the banks of the Schuylkill, near Mr Bartram's. Its singularity of flight surprised me long before I succeeded in procuring it. It seemed to throw itself from one quarter of the heavens to the other, with prodigious velocity, inclining to the earth, swept suddenly down into a thicket, and instantly reappeared with a small bird in its talons. This feat I saw it twice perform, so that it was not merely an accidental manœuvre. The rapidity and seeming violence of these zig-zag excursions were really remarkable, and appeared to me to be for the purpose of seizing his prey by sudden surprise and main force of flight. I kept this hawk alive for several days, and was hopeful I might be able to cure him; but he died of his wound,

On the 15th of September, two young men whom I had despatched on a shooting expedition, met with this. species on one of the ranges of the Alleghany. It was driven around in the same furious headlong manner, and had made a sweep at a red squirrel, which eluded its grasp, and itself became the victim. These are the only individuals of this bird I have been able to procure, and fortunately they were male and female.

The female of this species was thirteen inches long, and twenty-five inches in extent; the bill, black towards the point on both mandibles, but light blue at its base; cere, a fine pea green; sides of the mouth, the same; lores, pale whitish blue, beset with hairs; crown and whole upper parts, very dark brown, every feather narrowly skirted with a bright rust colour; over the eye a stripe of yellowish white, streaked with deep brown; primaries, spotted on their inner vanes with black; secondaries, crossed on both vanes with three bars of dusky, below the coverts; inner vanes of both primaries and secondaries, brownish white; all the scapulars marked with large round spots of white, not seen unless the plumage be parted with the hand; tail, long, nearly even, crossed with four bars of black and as many of brown ash, and tipt with white; throat and whole lower parts, pale yellowish white; the former marked with fine long pointed spots of dark brown, the 'latter with large oblong spots of reddish brown; femorals, thickly marked with spade-formed spots, on a pale rufous ground; legs, long, and feathered a little below the knee, of a greenish yellow colour, most yellow at the joints; edges of the inside of the shins, below the knee, projecting like the edge of a knife, hard and sharp, as if intended to enable the bird to hold its prey with more security between them; eye, brilliant yellow, sunk below a projecting cartilage.

The male was nearly two inches shorter; the upper parts, dark brown; the feathers, skirted with pale reddish, the front also streaked with the same; cere, greenish yellow; lores, bluish; bill, black, as in the female; streak over the eye, lighter than in the former;