480 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



of wing glossy coal black; under surface of primaries, anterior to their emargination, 

 white mottled with ashy. Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest; third only a little 

 shorter; second a little longer than sixth; first intermediate between seventh and 

 eighth. Wing, 16.50; tail, 9.00; tarsus, 2.50; middle toe, 1.20. 



Young. Similar, but the tail dusky, growing whitish toward the base, and without 

 any bars. 



A very fine adult male, representing the very extreme of the 

 black phase, shot at Mount Carmel, Illinois, December 15, 1874, 

 measured 21.00 inches in length by 50.00 in extent of wings; bill 

 black, light blue basally, the lower mandible tinged with yellow; 

 cere and rictus rich chrome-yellow; eyebrow olivaceous; iris burnt 

 umber; toes rich chrome-yellow, the claws black. 



This fine hawk is a winter resident in Illinois, but its abundance 

 varies greatly with different years. From Dr. Brewer's account of 

 its habits we quote as follows :* 



"Audubon never met with this species south of North Carolina 

 nor west of the Alleghanies. He regarded it as a sluggish bird, 

 confining itself to the meadows and low grounds bordering the rivers 

 and salt marshes, where its principal food appeared to be moles, 

 mice, and other small quadrupeds. He has never known it to at- 

 tack a duck on the wing, although it will occasionally pursue a 

 wounded one. Except when alarmed, it flies low and sedately, and 

 manifests none of the daring courage or vigor so conspicuous in most 

 hawks. They are also described as somewhat crepuscular in habit, 

 watching for their food long after sunset, and Mr. Eichardson speaks 

 of their hunting for their prey 'by the subdued daylight which il- 

 luminates even the midnight hours in the high parallels.' For these 

 nocturnal hunts it is well fitted by the softness of its plumage, which 

 renders its flight noiseless, like that of the more nocturnal birds." 



In his list of the birds of Northeastern Illinois, Mr. Nelson refers 

 to this species (pp. 119, 120) as follows: "Arrives in large num- 

 bers the first of October, and after remaining for a few weeks the ma- 

 jority pass further south for the winter. The last of February and 

 first of March they depart for the north. Exceedingly shy except 

 while migrating, and in consequence but few are shot. Mr. C. 

 H. Smith captured alive a fine specimen in the black plumage, in 

 the spring of 1874, and kept it until the early part of summer, 

 when the hot weather caused its death." 



For noble presence and piercing eye this bird has few equals 

 among our Falconidae. The specimen above mentioned bore a 

 striking resemblance to a Golden Eagle. 



* Hist. 2i. Am. . ill. pp. 307-809. 



