FALCONS, HAWKS, P:AGLES, ETC. 



151 



GENUS ACCIPITER. 



General Characters. — Head siuall, wiug'.s short, tail and legs long; three 

 to live outer primaries cut out on inner webs ; tail square or rounded, 

 about equal to length of wing. 



KEY TO ADULT MALES. 



1 . Under parts gray, finely barred with zigzag lines. 



2. Upper parts ciear bluish gray . . . . atricapillus, p. 152. 



2. Upper parts slaty blue inclining to sooty . . striatulus. p. V>:\. 



r. Under parts white, coai-sely barred with reddish l)r()wn. 



2. Tail rounded . . . " cooperii. p. l.")2. 



2. Tail even or eniarginate velox, p. l")!. 



Length 20 or less 



Subgenus Accipiter. 

 tarsus feathered for one third 



less of its length. 



332. Accipiter velox ( HV/s.). Shakp-shinned Hawk. 



Adnh male. — Under parts white, heavily barred and spotted with reddish 

 brown; upper parts nearly uniform bluish gray; tail even or sliyhtli/ notched. 

 witli three or four narrow blackish bands, 

 and narrow white tip. Adult female : similar, 

 but duller, less blue above, less reddish below. 

 Youny : upper parts dark brown, edged with 

 rusty and with hints of white spotting ; under 

 parts white, often tinged with buffy. streaked 

 vertically with brown; sides and flanks barred 

 withreddi.sh brown. Male: length 10.00- 11. •")<». 

 wing().l()-7.1(t, tail 5.S0-(;.1(). Female: length 

 12..")O-14.0l), wing- T.80-8.S0, tail (i.()0-.s.2(). 



Remarks. — The young are decidedly larger 

 than the adults, and the breast markings are 

 vertical instead of honzontal. 



Distribution. — IJreeds throughout the United 

 States, and in the Briti.sh provinces as far north 

 as the Arctic circle ; winters from 40^ nortli : 

 southward to (iuatemala. 



Ne.st. — A remodeled one of crow, magpie, 

 or squirrel, or if n»nv. made of dry sticks sparsely 

 lined with inner l)ark or green leaves ; placed 

 usually in a deusi- <*onifer. about twenty feet 

 from the ground. K'jys : 4 or "», pale bluish or greenish wbite. fading to 

 dull grayish white, most irregularly and heavily blotched. s])otted. and 

 marbled with brown; in some specimens ground color ahnost bidden by 

 conHueiit brown markings. 



Food. — Cbit-Hy birds and young poultry, with a few mice, reptiles, 

 batraciiians. and in.sects. 



Among the; hawks tlic sli;ir|) sliimicd is a veritable bu^-liwhackt'i*. 

 His light body, short wing:s, ami long tail enable him to donble and 

 turn amon<^ the brush and branches, and in a noiseless, fox-like way 

 pounce over a liedgciow (ii- brush heap into ibe midst of a Mock of 

 sparrows, swooj> under tbe low branches aiul pick bis bird from the 

 ground, or dart through the treelops and snatcb (tne in mid air from 

 the inidsl of a startled tlock. 



I'roni Hill 



Urpt. lit .Virri* 

 FiL'. •_'•_': 



