SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 65 



hairs ; crown and whole upper parts very dark brown, every feather 

 narrowly skirted Avith a bright rust color ; over the eye a stripe of yel- 

 lowish white, streaked with deep brown ; primaries spotted on their inner 

 vanes with black ; secondaries crossed on both vanes with three 

 bars of dusky, below the coverts ; inner veins of both primaries and 

 secondaries brownish white ; all the scapulars marked with large round 

 spots of white, not seen unless the plumage be parted with the hand ; 

 tail long, nearly even, crossed with four bars of black, and as many 

 of brown ash, and tipped with white ; throat and whole lower parts 

 pale yellowish white ; the former marked with fine long pointed spots 

 of dark brown, the latter with large oblong spots of reddish brown ; 

 femorals thickly marked with spade-formed spots, on the pale rufous 

 ground ; legs long and feathered a little below the knee, of a greenish 

 yellow color, most yellow at the joints ; edges of the inside of the 

 shins below the knee, projecting like the edge of a knife, hard and 

 sharp, as if intended to enable the bird to hold its prey with more 

 security between them ; eye, sunk below a projecting cartilage, iris 

 bright yellow. 



The male was nearly two inches shorter ; the upper parts dark brown ; 

 the feathers skirted with pale reddish, the front also streaked with the 

 same ;- cere greenish yellow ; lores bluish ; bill black, as in the female ; 

 streak over the eye lighter than in the former ; chin white ; breast the 

 same; streaked with brown ; bars on the tail rather narrower, but in 

 tint and number the same ; belly and vent white ; feet and shins exactly 

 as in the female ; the toes have the same pendulous lobes, which mark 

 those of the female, and of which the representation in the plate will 

 give a correct idea ; the wings barred with black, very noticeable on the 

 lower side. 



Since writing the above, I have shot another specimen of this Hawk, 

 corresponding in almost every particular with the male last mentioned ; 

 and which, on dissection, also proves to be a male. This last had 

 within the grasp of his sharp talons a small lizard, just killed, on which 

 he was about to feed. How he contrived to get possession of it appeared 

 to me matter of surprise, as lightning itself seems scarcely more fleet 

 than this little reptile. So rapid are its motions, that, in passing from 

 one place to another, it vanishes, and actually eludes the eye in running 

 a distance of twelve or fifteen feet. It is frequently seen on fences that 

 are covered with gray moss and lichen, which in color it very much 

 resembles ; it seeks shelter in hollow trees, and also in the ground about 

 their decayed roots. They are most numerous in hilly parts of the 

 country, particularly on the declivities of the Blue Mountain, among 

 the crevices of rocks and stones. When they are disposed to run, 

 it is almost impossible to shoot them, as they disappear at tlic first 

 touch of the trigger. For the satisfaction of the curious, I have intro- 



VoL. I.— 5 



