^°l89o"''] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 527 



106. Accipiter velox. Sharp-shinued Hawk. 



Summer residents of woodlands. Dufferiu : Arrived before April 15 

 (Dawson). Mouse Eiver at the boundary (Ooues). Winnipeg: Summer 

 resident; tolerably common; Aj)ril 15 to October 15 (Hine). Specimens 

 in Smithsonian Institution from Red River Settlement, and from 

 between Hudson's Bay and Lake Winnipeg (Blakiston). Portage la 

 Prairie: Common in spring and autumn, but not often seen during the 

 summer; arrives in April and departs in October; in 1884 arrived, 

 tirst appearance, April 16 (Nash). Carberry : One taken October 5 

 (Thompson). Observed in Winnepegosis county; saw a number near 

 Oote's Reserve, and shot one at Livingston, September 11, 1881 (Macoun). 



This audacious little robber is about the commouest hawk in the wooded section 

 about Portage la Prairie, but owing to his hiding propensities he is not so much 

 noticed as the others. His usual habit of hunting is thus : He skims along low 

 amongst bushes and shrubs, constantly alighting on the branches, and woe to the 

 unfortunate sparrow or other small bird that fails to drop into the grass before he 

 arrives, for if the little bird is once seen it rarely escapes ; for, unlike most hawks, this 

 fellow will follow his prey through the thickest places, hopping and running after 

 him with the greatest rapidity. I have, when quietly seated in the brush, been fre- 

 quently warned of the approach of this hawk by the sudden cessation of song around 

 me, and the utterance of a peculiar plaintive squeak by the small birds in the vicinity, 

 upon which they all drop down and hide, and in a moment my ghost-like friend glides 

 like a shadow on the scene, drops on a low branch for a second, and then passes on. 

 Sometimes, however, I have seen this hawk strike at and pursue a bird in the air, 

 like a true falcon, and on one occasion an impudent villain of this species glanced 

 past my head and snatched up a plover I had shot, carrying it off in front of my dog's 

 nose, and this he did before the report of my gun had died away, and through the 

 smoke from the charge. The act so astonished me that I forgot to shoot at him until 

 he was too far off; when I did remember, I sent the other charge after him, but 

 without effect ; he did not even drop his ill-gotten spoil. On another occasion one 

 followed a redpoll almost into my buggy. On the 22d of August I saw one strike at 

 a Bronzed Grackle and carry it off from where it was feeding in a public street, at 

 Portage la Prairie, although there were many people about. 



I have occasionally seen this bird hover like the kestril, but very rarely. (Nash, in 

 MSS.) 



107. Accipiter cooperi. Cooper's Hawk. Chicken Hawk. 



Winnipeg: Summer resident ; tolerably common (Hine). I have seen 

 them at Oak Lake, west of Brandon, where they breed; and saw a 

 pair on 10th May, 8 miles south of Troy depot, Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 way, west (R. H. HuDter). North to the Saskatchewan (Brewer). 



108. Accipiter atricapillus. American Goshawk. 



Tolerably common fall and winter visitant; usually appealing m 

 August. Winnipeg: Winter visitant abundant; November 15 to 

 March 1 (Hine). Portage la Prairie (Nash). Carberry : Tolerably com- 

 mon in fall and early winter ; usually appearing in August ; not noted 

 during breeding season. Rat Portage: Fall (Thompson). A regular but 

 uncommon winter visitor; more frequently seen near the Red River 

 near Winnipeg (Nash). 



