THE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 197 



tarsus. Above, the feathers are a deep, rich brown, edged 

 for the most part with light-red and whitish; feathers of 

 the head and neck, yellowish-white, with a streak of brown 

 in the center; breast, femoral and tarsul feathers, yellowish 

 or buff, sometimes white; tail, toward the base, including 

 under coverts, white, dark-brown toward the tip. It is 

 characterized by a broad abdominal band of rich dark- 

 brown, forming a beautiful apron. In the more easterly 

 part of its habitat, our American Rough-leg shades into a 

 beautiful dark variety, Sancti-johannis, often called the 

 Black Hawk. 



This bird is particularly drowsy in its habits, resting mo- 

 tionless for a long time on its perch, preferring to take its 

 low flight in dark days, or in the evening twilight. Accord- 

 ing to Sir John Richardson, it " is often seen sailing over 

 swampy pieces of ground, and hunting for its prey by the 

 subdued daylight, which lightens even the midnight hours 

 in the high parallels of latitude.'"' This habit, as also its 

 thickly feathered tarsus, reminds one of the Owls. Its bill 

 of fare is given as consisting of field-mice and other very 

 small quadrupeds, lizards, frogs, even insects, and rarely 

 birds. On the second day of last November, one of these 

 Hawks killed a domestic fowl straying in the field in this 

 vicinity. Immediately a trap was set, baited with the re- 

 mains of the hen, and in a few minutes the Hawk was 

 caught by the foot. 



The nest of this species, built of sticks, is placed in tall 

 trees, sometimes on cliffs. Its three or four eggs, 2.33 X 1.75, 

 are dull-white or creamy, smirched or blotched with brown. 



Wilson, who found these Hawks numerous in winter, below 

 Philadelphia, between the Schuylkill and the Delaware, re- 

 ports them as making a "loud squealing " as they arose on 

 being disturbed, "something resembling the neighing of a 



