BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 67 



given, and which is a good likeness of the original, the following 

 particulars of its size and plumage. 



Length fourteen inches, extent thirty-three inches ; bill black, blue 

 near the base, slightly toothed ; cere and corners of the mouth yellow ; 

 irides bright amber ; frontlet and lores white ; from the- mouth back- 

 wards runs a streak of blackish brown ; upper parts dai'k brown, the 

 plumage tipped, and the head streaked, with whitish ; almost all the 

 feathers above are spotted or barred with white ; but this is not seen 

 unless they be separated by the hand ; head large, broad and flat ; cere 

 very broad, the nostril also large ; tail short, the exterior and interior 

 feathers somewhat the shortest, the others rather longer, of a full black, 

 and crossed with two bars of white, tipped also slightly with whitish ; 

 tail-coverts spotted with white ; wings dusky brown, indistinctly barred 

 with black ; greater part of the inner vanes snowy ; lesser coverts, and 

 upper part of the back, tipped and streaked with bright ferruginous ; 

 the bars of black are very distinct on the lower side of the wing ; 

 lining of the wing brownish white, beautifully marked with small arrow- 

 heads of brown ; chin white, surrounded by streaks of black ; breast 

 and sides elegantly spotted with large arrow-heads of brown, centred 

 with pale brown ; belly and vent, like the breast, white, but more thinly 

 marked with pointed spots of brown ; femorals brownish white, thickly 

 marked with small touches of brown and white ; vent white ; legs very 

 stout ; feet coarsely sealed, both of a dirty orange yellow ; claws 

 semicircular, strong and very sharp, hind one considerably the largest. 



While examining the plumage of this bird, a short time after it was 

 shot, one of those winged ticks, with which many of our birds arc infest- 

 ed, appeared on the surface of the feathers, moving about, as they 

 usually do, backwards or sidewise, like a crab, among the plumage, 

 with great facility. The Fish-Hawk, in particular, is greatly pestered 

 with these vermin, which occasionally leave him as suits their conve- 

 nience. A gentleman, who made the experiment, assured me, that on 

 plunging a live Fish-Hawk under water, several of these winged ticks 

 remained hovering over the spot, and the instant the hawk rose above 

 the surface, darted again among his plumage. The experiment was 

 several times made, with the like result. As soon, however, as these 

 parasites perceive the dead body of their patron beginning to become 

 cold, they abandon it ; and if the person who holds it have his head 

 uncovered, dive instantly among his hair, as I have myself frequently 

 experienced; and though driven thence, repeatedly return, till they are 

 caught and destroyed. There are various kinds of these ticks : the 

 one found on the present Hawk is figured beside him. The head and 

 thorax were light brown ; the legs, six in number, of a bright green, 

 their joints moving almost horizontally, and thus enabling the creature 

 to pass with the greatest ease between the laminae of feathers ; the 



