DUCK HAWK 53 



In fresh ju venal plumage the crown is mainly "cinnamon-buff" to 

 "cinnamon", lightly streaked with blackish; the lores, auriculars, 

 and a broad rictal band are brownish black; the upper parts are 

 "bone brown", broadly edged or tipped, especially on the lesser wing 

 coverts, with "orange-cinnamon"; the under parts are from "Mikado 

 brown" to "light pinkish cinnamon", fading later to "cream-buff", 

 broadly streaked, except on the throat, with "bone brown" or "fus- 

 cous"; the dark brown tail is banded with broken bars of "cinnamon" 

 and broadly tipped with "light pinkish cinnamon", fading later to 

 pale buff. 



The juvenal plumage is worn for a year or more, with only slight 

 changes by wear and fading; the buffy edgings on the upper parts and 

 the buff tips on the tail fade and wear away; and the under parts fade 

 out to nearly white. The molt into the adult plumage is complete 

 but varies greatly as to time in different individuals and is generally 

 much prolonged ; it sometimes begins in spring, when the bird is about 

 a year old, but oftener it occurs during the following summer and 

 fall. 



The adult plumage is characterized by the gray upper parts, darkest 

 on the head, where it is nearly black, and lighter gray, banded with 

 darker, on the mantle; the under parts are white, often more or less 

 washed with "pinkish buff" on the belly, sparingly spotted or streaked 

 on the breast and belly and barred on the flanks with black. Adults 

 have one annual complete molt, which is irregular and prolonged, as 

 in the young bird. Signs of molting may be found during almost any 

 month. 



There is a tendency toward melanism even in eastern individuals. 

 This is so well marked in some immature birds that they are almost as 

 dark as young pealei. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1905) describe 

 one, taken near Chicago, Illinois, that is "above continuously pure 

 black", and "beneath ochraceous-white ; the neck, breast, and abdomen 

 thickly marked with broad longtitudinal stripes of clear black." Of 

 an adult, taken in Connecticut, they say: "The upper surface is 

 plumbeous-black, becoming deep black anteriorly, the head without 

 a single light feather in the black portions; the plumbeous bars are 

 distinct only on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, and are just 

 perceptible on the secondaries. The lower parts are of a very deep 

 reddish-ochraceous, deepest on the breast and abdomen, where it 

 approaches a cinnamon tint — the markings, however, as in other 

 examples." 



Food. — The duck hawk is primarily a bird killer ; nearly all its food 

 consists of birds, ranging in size from mallard ducks down to warblers 

 and nuthatches. The following long list includes many, though 

 probably not all, of the birds that have been recorded in its food: 

 Domestic pigeons and other poultry, grebes, auklets, murrelets, small 



