34 NORTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PART I. 



color of the egg is a cream-white, but little obsciu'ed by markings or secondary col- 

 ors. The egg is marked, chiefly at one end, with lines, dottings, and small blotches 

 of a light reddish-brown. The lines with which one end of the egg is sparingly 

 marbled are much darker, and are more nearly of a Vandyke-brown. The greater 

 portion of the egg, especially that which corresponds with the smaller end, is free 

 from any markings. This has no close resemblance to any other American Hawk's 

 egg that I have ever met with, but most nearly approaches the egg of the Rough- 

 legged Falcon from Labrador. (Plate III, fig. 29.) 



AUCHIBTJTEO SANCTI-JOHANNIS. 



Falco sancti-johannis, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 273. 



BONAF. Syn. 1838, p. 32. 



Falco spadiccus ? GMELIX, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 273. 

 Falco nova-terra, " " " " 274. 



Falco niger, WILS. Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 82. 



Falco lagopus, WILS. Am. Orn. V, 1812, 216, pi. liii, figs. 1 and 2. 

 " ATO. Orn. Biog. II, 1835, 377 ; V, 217, pi. ccccxxii. 

 Buteo ater, VIEILL. Nouv. Diet. IV, 1816, 482. 

 Butaetcs sancti-johannis, BONAP. Gcog. and Comp. List, 1838, p. 3. 

 Buteo lagopus, AUD. Syn. 1839, p. 8. 



" " " Birds of America, I, 1840, 46, pi. xi. 



Archilmteo sancti-johannis, CASSIN, Syn. N. A. Birds (Illust. Birds of Cal.), 1854, p. 103. 



VULG. The Black Hawk. Rough-legged Hawk. Rough-legged Buzzard. 



THIS species is restricted, during the breeding season, to the more northern parts 

 of North America. I am not aware that it has been with entire certainty ascertained 

 to breed within the United States. It was found in Oregon by Mr. Townsend, where 

 it probably breeds. At other seasons of the year it is found nearly throughout the 

 whole American continent, with the exception only of the more southern portions. 

 It breeds from the Canadas throughout the northern parts of North America, al- 

 though Mr. Audubon did not meet with its nest on his visit to Labrador, which is 

 not a little singular, as I am assured it is quite common on that coast. I have in my 

 possession the drawing of an egg obtained in Labrador, for the loan of which I am 

 indebted to Dr. James Trufleau. It was said to have been taken from a nest in a 

 tree, and not on a cliff, the usual breeding-place of the A. lagopus. 



Of the nest of this Hawk, which must not be confounded with the next species, 

 from which I believe it to be quite distinct, the following account, given by Sir John 

 Hichardson (Fauna Boreali-Amcricana, p. 52), is the only one I have seen. He 

 says : " A pair were seen at their nest, built of sticks on a lofty tree, standing on a 

 low, moist, alluvial point of land, almost encircled by a bend of the Saskatchewan." 

 We do not know that this species breeds exclusively on trees, or that the lag&pus 

 confines itself to rocky cliffs. Our knowledge on both points is too limited to enable 



