THE EAGLE-LIKE SUBFAMILY 2005 



outskirts of a wood or forest, and may contain from three to four eggs, which are 

 white, and may be either unspotted, or more or less streaked with olive, or flecked 

 with reddish brown. 



Nearly allied to the goshawks is a group of African species (one of 



which is represented on the right side of the illustration on p. 2008), 

 Hawks 



characterized by the possession of a more tuneful voice than hawks in 



general. By recent observers the note of these birds is described as a mellow 

 piping whistle, and, accordingly, it seems better that they should be designated 

 whistling hawks, rather than ' ' chanting goshawks," as they were originally termed, 

 when somewhat exaggerated notions obtained as to the extent of their vocal 

 powers. These hawks differ from the goshawks by the presence of a tubercle in 

 the nostrils, situated near the upper margin; while they are distinguished from an 

 allied South-American genus by the small extent to which the metatarsus is 

 feathered, and by the whole of the outer side of that segment of the leg being 

 covered with reticulate scales. 



The many-zoned hawk (Melierax polyzonus}, which is the species represented 

 in our illustration, is a large and handsomely-colored bird inhabiting Northeastern 

 Africa, and ranging thence across the continent to Senegambia. The males measure 

 twenty and one-half inches, and the females twenty-one inches in length. L,ike all 

 the species save one, the general color of the upper parts is pearly gray, the chest 

 ashy gray, and the abdomen white, barred with a number of very fine grayish-black 

 bands, so as to present a kind of speckled appearance. The species is particu- 

 larly characterized by the absence of bars on the middle tail feathers, and the 

 white upper tail coverts barred with slaty gray. The bill is blackish, with a ver- 

 milion base, the iris pale brown, and the legs, feet, and cere vermilion. A 

 nearly-allied species is the South-African whistling hawk (M. canorus); but the 

 much smaller and widely distributed black whistling hawk {M. niger} differs 

 from all the others by its sable plumage, in striking contrast to which stands out 

 the brilliant red of the iris, cere, base of the bill, and feet and legs. In Abys- 

 sinia the figured species is found at considerable elevations above the sea. Mr. 

 Blanford states that it is usually to be seen perched on a tree, although occa- 

 sionally on the ground, and that its food consists of reptiles and insects. Its 

 flight is rather slow, and somewhat like that of a buzzard, and is seldom pro- 

 longed for any great distance. 



Omitting mention of three unimportant genera, two of which are 



South American and the other West African, we come to the American 

 Hawks 



harrier hawks, and the cosmopolitan harriers; both of which are dis- 

 tinguished from all the foregoing types by having an imperfect disc of feathers 

 round the eyes, thus recalling the owls, and also by the hinder aspect of the 

 metatarsus being covered with reticulate scales, instead of large scutes. With re- 

 gard to the harrier hawks (Micrastur), of which there are several species, ranging 

 from Southern Mexico over the greater part of South America, it will suffice to 

 state that they are distinguished by having circular nostrils with a bony excrescence, 

 and form an intermediate step between the goshawks and the harriers, having the 

 heavy build of the former, and the facial discs of the latter. 



