18 



U. S. p. R. E. EXP. AKT> SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



The young male oi' A. Cooperi may be mistaken for the ymiiig female of the present bird. The 

 three American species of Accipiter, however, may be said to be so much alike in color as to 

 almost represent different sizes of one species. It is a group in which size is a specific character. 



List of specimens. 



ACCIPITER FUSCUS, Gmelin. 



Sharp-shinned UaAvk. 



Falcofuscus et duHus, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 280, 281, (1788.) 

 Jlccipiter slriatus, ViEiLL. Ois. d'Am. Sept. I, 42, (1807.) 



Falco velox et pennnylvanicus, Wilson Am. Orn. V, 116, and VI, p. 13, (1812.) 

 Sparvius lintatus, Vieill. Ency. Meth. Ill, 1266, (1823.) 

 J^isus Malfini, Lesson. Traito d'Orn. I, 58, (1831.) 

 PiGCREs. — Temm. pi. coL 67 ; Vieill. Ois. d'Am. Sept. pi. 14 ; Wilson Am. Orn. V, pi. 45, fig. 1, and VI, pi. 46, fig. 1 ; 

 Aud. B. of Amer. pi. 374, Oct. cd. I, pi. 25. 



,3iult. — Small, tail rather long ; legs and toes slender ; entire upper parts brownish black, tinged with ashy; occiput mixed 

 with white ; throat and under tail coverts white, the former with lines of black on the shafts of the feathers ; other under parts 

 fine light rufous, deepest on the tibiic, and with transverse bands of white ; shafts of the feathers with lines of dark brown ; tail 

 ashy brown, tipped with wliilo, and with about four bands of browni.sh black ; quills brownish black, with bands of a darker shade, 

 and of white on their inner webs; secondaries and tertiaries with large partially concealeil sjtuts of white. 



Young'. — Entire upper parts dull umber brown, tinged with ashy; neck behind mixed with white ; greater wing coverts and 

 shorter quills, with largo partially concealed spots of white ; under parts white, with longitudinal stripes and circular and ovato 

 spots of reddish brown, changing into IransvcrBe bands on the flanks and tiblic ; under tail coverts white ; bill dark bluish horn- 

 color ; cere and tarsi yellow. 



Total length, female, 12 to 14 inches ; wing 7^ to 8, tail G.J to 7 inches. Male, 10 to 11 inches ; wing 6 to 6^, tail 5 to 5; inches. 



Hab. — Throughout North America and Mexico. Spec, in Nat. Mus. Washington and Mus. Acad. Philadelphia. 



Apparently, this handsome little hawk inhahits the whole of North America, from Mexico to 

 the confines of the frigid zone. Numerous specimens, from various localities, arc in the collec- 

 tions of tlie expeditions. 



This little hawk, wlien in adult plumage, much rescmhlea Accipiter nisus of Europe ; hut the 

 young are quite different, as is the case with nearly all the species of this family inhabiting 

 North America, which resemble species of the Old World. 



