280 ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS. 



valley, and when they are hungry, nothing of a suitable size, which has life, is safe from 

 their attacks. They not only catch Grouse, squirrels, and rabbits but will also capture 

 Ducks upon the water, and I have frequently seen them searching for Snipe along the 

 marshy edges of the rivers in Florida. 



These Hawks, according to my experience, usually pLice their nests in the tops of 

 high pines, breeding about the middle of May in New England and a little earlier in Penn- 

 sylvania. The parents are quite solicitous for the safety of their young, even after they 

 have left the nest and I once witnessed an instance where this trait was displayed in a 

 somewhat peculiar manner. A young Hawk in endeavoring to cross from a piece of wood- 

 land, where it had evidently spent its short life, to a grove not far distant, had. miscalcu- 

 lated its ability to fly so far and its strength giving out, it fell against a building, when it 

 was captured by a boy who, after examining it for a time, concluded to liberate it and 

 carrying it to a neighboring field, set it free. The little fellow rose promptly in air but, 

 exhausted by its struggles when in captivity, was only able to fly a short distance, when 

 it fell toward the ground. Just at this moment, however, the adult female which, without 

 doubt, had watched the whole proceeding, emerged from the; adjacent woods, flew rapidly 

 to her offspring, antl, as near as I could make out, passed beneath it and supported it up- 

 on her back uatil she reached the shelter of some pines, where I lost sight of her. 



As these Hawks are partly migratory, they are much more abundant in New England 

 in spring and autumn than at any other season, yet they are far from being uncommon 

 during summer but are (juite rare in winter as the majority then pass south of us. 



GENUS II. ASTUR. THE BLUE HAWKS. 



(Je\. Oil. BUI, shnrl, broad, well curved, wi/h the cutting edi/e of upper mandili/e sli(/htly lohcd, hut the lower is not 

 notched. Tnrsus, moderately long and locll feathered in front. Tail, not romukd, considerably exceeding in lenijth one 

 half the length of the winys which are short and not pointed. Nostril, without central tubercle. 



Members of this genus do not have the leg strikingly long and although the tarsus is usually naked to the heel behind 

 it is feathered in front for half its length. Tlie toes are long and the claws are quite lono; and pointed. Five outer quills 

 are noticeably incised on the inner webs. 



The trachea is a little flattened throughout. The sterno-trachealis is short and stout, having its origin quite near the 

 larjTix, and there is a slender bronchialis extending over all the half rings, but there are no other laryngeal muscles. The 

 tym|_)aniform memlirane is jirescnt and althougli there is a thin os transversale, it does not support a semilunar membrane. 

 The walls of the oesophagus are thin: this is at fii-st nearly straight, then is dilated into a crop, and is again straight and 

 opens into a large sized proventriculus with numerous small, simple, closely packed, oval glands arranged in a zonular band 

 which measures 1-15 in alricapillus, from which this and the following dimensions were taken. The stomach is of a small 

 size, somewhat globular in form, with thin but soft walls, and Ls lined with a soft membrane which lies in longitudinal 

 ridges. The fold of the duodenum is long, measuring 3-s!5, inclosing a small, irregularly formed pancreas which only occu- 

 pies a small portion of its length. The coeea, when present, are very small. The spleen is a spherical body lying on the 

 proventriculus or near it. Both Ljbes of the liver are short, thick, and nearly equal in size. The heart is large and trian- 

 gular in form. There is l)ut one species within our limits. N. B. In litth Kne, ]iage 302, for a single genus read two genera. 



ASTUE ATRICAPILLUS. 



Goshawk. 

 AstuT alricapillus Jard. & Selbt, IUus.: 1825, pi. 131. 



DESCRIPTION. 

 Sp. Cu. Form, rohust. Size, large. Sternum, stout but rather narrow, with the marginal indentations quite large- 

 Tongue, quite horny, rounded but not hilid at tip. Coeca, present but small. Sexes, similar in color. 



