AMERICAN GOSHAWK. 



BLUE HEN HAWK. 

 ACCIPITER ATRICAPILLUS. 



Char. Above, dark bluish gray ; top of head black, the feathers be- 

 neath the surface white ; white stripe over the eye : tail with four dark 

 bands ; below, white barred and streaked with narrow dark lines. Young 

 very different ; above, brown, edges of feathers bufifish ; tail lighter, tipped 

 with white and crossed by four or five dark bands ; below, buffish, streaked 

 with brown. Length 22 to 24 inches. 



Nest. In a tree ; made of twigs. 



Eg,s:s. 3-4 ; bluish white, with buff or reddish brown markings ; 2.30 

 X 1.75. 



The foreign representative of this elegant and spirited spe- 

 cies of Hawk appears to be common in France, Germany, the 

 northern parts of Great Britain, Russia, and Siberia, and ex- 

 tends into Chinese Tartary. Our species, so nearly related to 

 the European bird, is very rare, migrating to the South ap- 

 parently at the approach of winter. On the 26th of October, 

 1830, I received one of these birds from the proprietor of 



