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ing a wounded duck or teal; but does not visit the farm-yard in pursuit of 
poultry. His favorite hunting-grounds are swamps, the banks of rivers 
and lakes, and marshes in the neighborhood of the sea. In such places 
his food is abundant and easilv procured. His flight is not rapid, and he 
never attempts to capture birds by this means. Endowed with great size 
and strength, his habits are more like those of an owl than a falcon, and 
he pursues his game long after sunset, in dusky twilight. 
The plumage of our hawk is more. soft than that of other buzzards or 
hawks, and in this there is a resemblance to the owls. The same may be 
said of the feathered tarsi. 
Having no set of specimens of this bird, from which a description can 
be given, we subjoin that of Cassin’s Synopsis: 
“Large, and rather heavy ; wings long; tarsi feathered, a narrow space 
naked behind; toes naked, and rather short. ’ 
‘“ApuLttT—Entire plumage glossy black, in many specimens with a 
brown tinge; forehead, throat, and a large space on the head behind, 
mixed with white. Tail with one well-defined band of white, and irregu- 
larly marked towards the base with the same color. Quills with their inner 
webs white, most readily seen on the under surface of the wing. Some 
specimens have several well-defined bands of white in the tail. Others 
have the entire plumage dark chocolate-brown, with the head more or less 
striped with yellowish-white and reddish yellow. Cere and legs yellow. 
‘““Y OUNGER— Upper parts light umber-brown, with the feathers more or 
less edged with yellowish-white and reddish-yellow; abdomen with a 
broad transverse band of brownish-black; other under parts pale yellow- 
ish-white, lonvitudinally striped on the neck and breast with brownish- 
black; wings . ud tail brown, tinged with cinereous; quills for the greater 
part of their icugth white on their inner webs; tail-feathers white at their 
bases; plumage of the tibiz: and tarsi pale reddish-yellow, spotted with 
brown. Other specimens have the throat and breast with the black color 
predominating. 
“Youna MALE ?—Entire upper-parts light ashy-brown, more or less 
mixed with white, especially on the head and fulvous; under-parts yellow- 
ish-white and dark-brown, the latter assuming the form of longitudinal 
stripes on the breast, and narrow transverse stripes on the abdomen ; tarsi 
and tibiz dark-brown, striped with dull-white, and reddish; greater part 
of quills and tail white; cere and legs yellow. 
