NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 501 



"Among the great variety of hawks to be met with in a single 

 day's excursion in the locality of Mazatlan, none are so easily 

 recognized as this peculiar and interesting species. I have only 

 found it in the heavy forests, or the immediate vicinity of a 

 thickly wooded country, where its slender form and lengthened 

 tail attract our attention as it swiftly glides through the tangled 

 woods, with that remarkable ease which we have often noticed in 

 the sharp-shinned hawk (A. fuscus). It appears to be strictly 

 arboreal in its habits, and possessed of wonderful activity, either 

 in springing from branch to branch without opening its wings, or 

 rapidly darting through the intricacies of the brush with appa- 

 rently but little difficulty. I have seldom seen one of these hawks 

 in an open country, and have never seen one flying higher than 

 the tree tops, where they are met with. Its wings are rather 

 short, and its flight is performed by rapidly repeated strokes, 

 only for a short distance at a time. It preys upon various species 

 of wood birds, which it captures by darting upon them on the 

 ground or in the bushes; but the Chachalaca [Ortalida wagleri] 

 is its favorite game; this is a gallinacious bird, or wild chicken, 

 about the size of, or lighter than the common hen, and is entirely 

 arboreal, seldom running upon the ground, but is able by its 

 peculiarly formed feet to cling to, or spring rapidly through, the 

 thickest branches with great agility ; but this hawk follows it 

 with equal facility, until an opportunity offers to strike its prey, 

 then both come to the ground together, the hawk being the lighter 

 bird. I witnessed a scene of this kind that took place when I . 

 was endeavoring to get a shot at a Chachalaca, as it was jumping 

 about the very thick branches of an acacia, overgrown with lianes; 

 it appeared to be in great distress, uttering its harsh notes of 

 alarm, and spreading its fan-shaped tail; suddenly I saw one of 

 these hawks pounce upon it, when with harsh screams of terror 

 and pain the Chachalaca dragged his captive to the ground, where 

 they struggled for a few moments, but the unfortunate bird was 

 soon overcome. The struggling and screams of the Chachalaca 

 created a great commotion among the denizens of the woods ; far 

 and near were heard the harsh cries of other members of its 

 family, and the Urraca Magpie \_Calocitta colliei] with streaming 

 tail and ludicrous gesticulations, as well as the Blue-back Jay 

 \_Cyanocitta beecheyi], and other birds in the neighborhood, 

 gathered around to witness the scene of rapine ; suddenly ap- 



