OF ORNITHOLOGY 89 



True Blizzards and True Hawks. The former are more j)rop- 

 erly " Partridge or Chicken Hawks." The Accipitrin^ are 

 slender built hawks, though in courage equal to Eagles them- 

 selves. Their flight is swift and sure ; and they pursue their 

 prey with a heedlessness and blind obstinacy, regardless of ob- 

 stacles, that is often their own ruin. They often secure their 

 prey only to dash themselves to pieces against some building, 

 window, or other obstruction which lies in their path. In 

 general they have : Bill short, stout, untoothed though cur- 

 ved and of irregular outline (edges) ; nostrils oval, slightly 

 oblonged, without central tubercle ; legs long and rather slen- 

 der, scutellate, and rarely feathered ; wings short, concaved, 

 and powerful, first quill short, third to fifth longest ; tail long, 

 feathers broad, end of tail square, rounded, or often emargin- 

 ated. The general appearance of being long and ' slender 

 rather than short and stoyt distinguishes them at once. 



Genera, Accipiter, The " Sharp-shinned " Hawk (2 species). 

 Astur, The Goshawks (2 species). 



Accipiter and Astur were both formerly classed with Falco, a moment's 

 glance, however, will show the different appearance of the two families ; 

 but, to look at the s.ynonymy of our Hawks and Eajjles, one would think 

 that there was formerly but one family for all, i. e., Falco. 



Sub-family d FALCONING True Falcons 



The Falcoibs proper are historic birds, and their appearance 

 is striking and unmistakable. They are found in all parts of 

 the world, have been referred to by writers as far back nearly 

 as the art of writing itself is known, and gives a character to 

 the whole family which is partaken of to a greater or less de- 

 gree by every individual in it. Yet they differ in appearance 

 from the members of all the other sub-families. They luive 

 the bill supplied with both tooth and notch, (the bill alone 

 would characterize the sub-family and furnish a study in it- 

 self, a single glance will give a better impression of it than 

 pages of descriptive matter) ; cere prominent ; nostril circles 

 with central tubercle and placed near the crown of the cere ; 

 tarsus and toes rather short but very stout, and more or less 



