CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 79 
ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS (Wils.) Bp. 
(71.) THe AMERICAN GOSHAWK. 
Wherever the Ptarmigan is found in the vicinity of the wooded country, and frequently far 
distant from a tree or bush, this bold, hardy bird is found as its unwelcome companion. In spring 
the Goshawk is occasionally seen passing over Saint Michael’s as the first warm, sunshiny days 
begin. Then on, until the breeding season is over, it is seen no more. But in autumn it 
returns to the sea-coast in considerable numbers; about equaling the Gyrfaleon in abundance 
for a time, and like that species preying upon the migrating Ptarmigan. 
Among the many records of this bird’s boldness, I possess an additional one obtained during 
the visit of the Corwin to Kotzebue Sound in September, 1831. I had winged a Ptarmigan on 
the top of the famous ice cliff of Escholtz Bay and the bird fell just beyond a small knoll from 
me; the instant the Ptarmigan struck the ground, I was surprised to see a Goshawk dart out 
from a small alder patch near at hand and with a graceful inclination pick up the bird and make 
off with it; which so surprised me that I stood watching the performance until the hawk had 
made good its escape. As it flew away a second bird, evidently its mate, joined it, and the two 
passed over the hill and disappeared from view. 
By a careful comparison of specimens in the Smithsonian Institution with the considerable 
series obtained by me in the north, I have reached the conclusion that Mr. Ridgway’s variety 
Striatutus is nothing but the plumage assumed by the older birds, as is readily shown by several 
specimens in which the change made from the immature plumage to that of the adult is taking 
place. Mr. Ridgway has examined the same series and concurs with me in this conclusion. 
ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS SANCTIC-JOHANNIS (Gmel.) Ridgw. 
(72.) THE AMERICAN ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 
Along the entire Alaskan coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic, including at least the eastern 
portion of the Aleutian Islands, the Rough-legged Hawk is a common resident in summer. At 
Ounalaska I found a pair breeding upon a cliff near the village, and secured one of the birds with 
their eggs in May, 1877. At Saint Michael’s it was found nesting upon cliffs on the border of a 
small lake.in the interior of the island, and the bird was among the most common of the migrating 
birds of prey. The Ounalaskan specimen is indistinguishable in every particular from a European 
specimen in the Smithsonian collection, and the basis for the separation of the American bird from 
that of Europe and the northern portions of the Old World generally is merely in the black phase 
assumed by the American bird in the Hudson Bay and adjoining region. In Alaska this phase is 
unknown as far as my observation goes, and is totally unrepresented in the considerable series of 
specimens ob ained by myself and various others in that region. This being the case, and various 
Alaskan birds which I have examined being so closely related to the old world form, it appears 
necessary to recognize them under the name of the old world bird. Thus limiting the geographical 
variety, Sancti Johannis, to that portion of the continent where it actually occurs. 
The Rough-Leg occurs in Siberia, and in China is a species with dark feathers to the thighs, 
but very similar in other respects to lagopus. 
AQUILA CHRYSAETUS CANADENSIS (Linn.) Ridgw 
(73.) THE GOLDEN HAGLE. 
This is one of the rarest among the birds of prey on the shores of Bering Sea and the adjoining 
portion of the Arctic Ocean. I know of no record of its occurrence on the Asiatic shore nor on 
the islands of Bering Sea, but in the winter of 1879 [ saw portions of one of these birds in a 
native village near Bering Strait, and fragments of their skins were brought to me in one or two 
instances from the shore of Norton Sound during my residence at Saint Michael’s. The quills and 
tail of this bird, like those of the Bald Hagle, are highly prized by the Eskimo for use in their 
religious festivals. 
