THE BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 41 



with a patch of hrown on each side running from the hase of the lower mandible ; 

 breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and sagittate spots and trans- 

 verse bands of reddish-ferruginous tinged with ashy ; other under parts white, with 

 numerous sagittate spots of reddish on the flanks, abdomen, and tibiae. In some 

 specimens, the ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the 

 under tail coverts, and all the feathers have large circular or ovate spots of white 

 on both edges; under tail coverts white; quills brownish-black, widely bordered 

 with white on their inner webs ; tail dark-brown, narrowly tipped with white, and 

 with one wide band of white and several narrower bands near the base. 



Young. Upper parts dull umber-brown, many feathers edged with fulvous and 

 ashy-white; upper tail coverts spotted with white; under parts white, generally 

 tinged with yellowish, and having longitudinal stripes and oblong and lanceolate 

 spots of brownish-black ; a stripe of dark-brown on each side of the neck from the 

 base of the under mandible ; tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of 

 the same color, and of white on the inner webs, and narrowly tipped with white. 

 Bill bluish-black at the tip, blue towards the base ; cere and margin yellow ; iris 

 hazel; feet gamboge-yellow; claws brownish-black. 



Total length, female, seventeen to eighteen inches; wing, eleven; tail, six and a 

 half to seven inches. Male, total length, sixteen to sixteen and a half inches ; wing, 

 ten inches ; tail, six to six and a half inches. 



This bird, until quite recently, has been regarded as rare 

 in all the New-England States; and even now it is by no 

 means common, although it is much oftener found here than 

 formerly. It occurs in these States only as a summer 

 visitor, arriving in the spring about the middle of April, and 

 departing for the South in October. The flight of this 

 Hawk is quite rapid, consisting of long intervals of soaring, 

 with shorter periods of flappings of the wings. It seems to 

 prefer the wilder districts to the more thickly settled ones, 

 and is most often met with in the interior of the country. 

 I noticed several individuals, in the course of a day's march 

 in Northern Maine, soaring above the hemlock and pine 

 forests, and uttering their shrill key, ky-ah, ky-ah-ke-ee, 

 ke-ee, as they were searching for prey beneath them. Small 

 birds, reptiles, squirrels, and insects constitute the principal 

 portion of their food ; and they seldom attack a bird larger 

 than a pigeon or quail. 



Once, while listening to the beautiful song of the White- 

 throated Sparrow, I was startled by the sudden appearance 

 of one of these hawks, which, flying within a yard of my 

 head, as I sat in some bushes on the shores of Lake Urnba- 



