Accipiter Fuscus, (Gmelin) Gray. 



SHARP-SHINNED HAWK ; PIGEON HAWK. 

 PLATK IX. 



This neat little Hawk, in common with the Falco columbariiis, 

 figured on Plate II., is generally known as the " Pigeon Hawk " 

 both in Canada and the New England States. But as " Pieeon 

 Hawl^s," "Chicken Hawks," and "Hen Hawks'" are the names 

 given by the majority to every species of Hawk which crosses 

 their path, the sooner these terms are done away with the better 

 for our ornithologists. As the propert itle of this Hawk implies, 

 it is a remarkably slender-legged and neat-shanked bird, and in 

 this respect can easily be distinguished from all others. In 

 size it corresponds closely to the F. cohutibariiis, but is consider- 

 ably shorter in the wing, and consequently less adapted for 

 prolonged flight. The total length of the adult male sharp- 

 shin is from lo to ii inches, and adult female 12 to 14 inches; 

 the wings measuring respectively from 6 to 61^ inches, and 7}4 to 

 8 inches. As we have already seen. Hawks vary greatly in size, 

 color and arrangement of markings in individuals of the same 

 species, acc6rding to their sex and age, and independently of 

 both these. Our last species {A. Cooperi), however, and the 

 present one, are particularly marked in this respect, and hence 

 their synonyms are numerous. Wilson described the Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk under the two distinct headinors of Falco velox and 

 Falco Pcnnsylvaiiicits ; Audubon , as A stiir fuscus ; Gmelin as 

 Falco Dubuuts ; Cuvier as Nisits Pcnusylvanicus ; and Swainson 

 and Richardson, in their Fauna Boreali Americana, as Accipiter 

 Pcnusylvanicus. To all of these authorities I would refer the 

 reader for interesting particulars. 



The Sharp-shinned Hawk inhabits the whole of North 

 America, from Mexico to the shores of the Arctic Sea. It is, 

 however, less numerous in the fur countries and high latitudes 

 than in the more temperate parts — as Richardson observes: " It 

 was not seen by any of the members of. the expedition in their 



