AVES. 307 



This sub-family is represented by several African and Asiatic species, of 

 which may be mentioned those composing the genera Avicida and Baz<i. 

 while in South America we find the genus Cymindis^ of which there aic 

 several common species. The C. cayanensis is one of the most numerous ; 

 another remarkable for its disproportionately large bill [Cyniindls ivilsonu) 

 inhabits the Island of Cuba. 



Suh-fam. 6. AccipitrincB, or Sparrow Hawks. Bill short, much curved 

 from the base to the tip, which is very sharp, margins conspicuously festooned ; 

 head small ; wings moderate ; tail ample. Tarsi lengthened, middle toe much 

 the longest, anterior claAvs very unequal, the inmost being much the strongest. 

 Size generally small, never decidedly large. 



The numerous birds of this large sub-family are distributed throughout 

 the world, though each continent has peculiar species. They are generally 

 characterized by their slender elongated bodies, rounded wings, and long 

 tail, and are amongst the fiercest and most destructive of all the hawks. 

 While the true falcons, eagles, and buzzards, are in great measure 

 restricted to such prey as may be accidentally exposed, the sparrow- 

 hawks push boldly into the densest thickets and deepest recesses of the 

 forest in pursuit of birds and small quadrupeds Avhich habitually resort to 

 such localities. 



The most remarkable species of this sub-family are the goshawks, the 

 European species of which is the Astur palumbarlus {pi. 105, fig. 5). It 

 is a beautiful bird, with lead-colore<l and white plumage, and was formerly 

 held in high estimation for the purposes of folconry. This species is more fre- 

 quently represented in pictures having falconry for their subject than any 

 other. The American species, A. atrlcapilhrs, is very similar to its European 

 brother ; it is frequently met with along the northern frontier of the United 

 States, and occasionally ventures as far south as Philadelphia. Little is known 

 of its history. 



A second American species. Cooper's hawk {A. cnoperi), is much more fre- 

 quent. It is about one third less than the goshawk, and of the same active 

 and destructive habits ; it is very extensively diffused over the continent, hav- 

 ing been observed from the sea-coast of New Jersey to the Rocky Mountains 

 and Mexico. 



The genus Accipiter, which belongs to this sub-family, contains the 

 smallest hawks of Europe and America, Of the former continent the 

 common sparrow-hawk, A. ni.9Hs (pi. 105, ßg. G), is the smallest. It is 

 widely distributed, and is a very bold and successful little hunter after 

 small mammalia, birds, and insects. The smallest American species is the 

 sharp-shinned hawk of Wilson, ^4. fiisais, which is remarkable for pos- 

 sessing almost exactly the plumage of the much larger Coopers hawk, and 

 resembles to a considerable degree also the sparrow-hawk of Europe. 

 Incapable, of course, on account of its diminutive size, of seizing any other 

 than the smallest animals, it is yet conspicuous for the ferocity of its 

 attacks upon small birds or young chickens. It is the " chicken hawk" of 

 the farmer, and has well earned its appellation. Rather less than the 

 sparrow-hawk, it may at once be distinguisheil by its more slender form, 



511 



