60 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Fakt I. 



THE FISH HAWK. 



THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 



Description. — General color "ravish choco- 

 late brown resulting from the feathers being dark 

 cliocolate edged with brownish ash ; feathers 

 white at the base, which nialtes it appear spotted 

 with while wlicn the feathers are disturbed ; tail 

 with irregular whitish marks towards the base. 

 Bill clear blue-black: upper mandible obtusely 

 toothed; tarsus roundish, two thirds feathered; 

 feet strong, toes rasp-like on the underside. Lonmh 

 from the point of the bill to the end of the tail 3 

 feet 7 inches, folded wing 26 inches ; tail beyond 

 the folded wii gs 6.5 inches ; from the tip of the 

 upper mandib'e along the curve to the cere 2.5, 

 width of the rero .9, imder mandible 2.9, depth 

 of the upi)er bill 1.2, middle toe without the nail 

 2.5 inches. 



This eagle was killed several years aso near 

 BurlingliiM. It vvis discovered silting upon the 

 beach apparently asleep, and in that condition it 

 was approached and killed with an oar. It would 

 appear from the partially feathered tarsus to be- 

 long to the family of sea eagles, and 1 was at first 

 disposed to consider it the young of the Bald Ea- 

 gle, but by measuring i found it to be larger than 

 the adult of thai spei:irs. Though itdifi'ers some- 

 what in color, it resembles Audubon's figure of the 

 Vv^asiiington Eagle more nearly than any other. 



THE FISH HAWK. 

 Fulco halitrtus. — Savig. 



Description. — General color of the 

 upper parts dusky brown, tail barred with 

 pale-brown. The upper part of the head 

 and neck white, tiie middle part of the 

 crown dark brown. A broad band of 

 brown from the bill down each side of the 

 neek ; upper parts of the neck streaked 

 with brown ; under parts whitish; anterior 

 tarsal featliers tinged with brown. Bill 

 brownish black, blue at the base and mar- 

 gin ; core light blue ; iris yellow ; feet pale 

 greenish blue tinged with brown ; claws 

 black. Length 23 inches ; spread of the 

 wings 54 ; bill, along the back, 2 ; tarsus 

 2,J ; middle toe 3. — Jiuduhon. 



HisTORv. — The Fish Hawk is quite 

 common during the summer along the 



whole coast of the United States and is 

 also seen along the lakes and rivers in 

 the interior. It usually arrives in New 

 England about the first of April and de- 

 I)arts to the south again in the fall. Ac- 

 cording to Audubon some of them winter 

 about New-Orleans. This hawk subsists, 

 as its name would imply, principally up- 

 on fish, which it takes by hovering ov(;r 

 the water and plunging upon them as they 

 rise near the surface and then bears tlicni 

 off in its talons. They sometimes catch 

 fishes in this way weighing four or five 

 pounds. They breed all along the coast 

 of the middle states. Their nest is usu- 

 ally placed in the top of a large tree near 

 the shore and is of great size, sometimes 

 measuring four feet in diameter and the 

 same in height. It is composed of sticks 

 intermingled and lined with seaweed and 

 grass. The eggs are 3 or 4 in number, of 

 an oval form, yellowish white color and 

 spotted with reddish brown. The arrival 

 of the Fish Hawk along the sea coast in 

 the sprinir is hailed with joj^ by the fish- 

 ermen, who regard it as the harbinger of 

 the arrival of shoals of fishes. 



THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 

 Fulco Lineatus. — Gmel. 

 Description. — Color of the head, neck 

 and back, yellowish brown, resulting from 

 tlie feathers being dark brown, edged with 

 ferruginous ; wings, and wing coverts 

 spotted and tipped with white ; tail dark 

 brown, tipped with white, crossed by four 

 narrow grayish white bars. Breast and 

 belly bright ferruginous, with a black lino 

 along the shafts of the feathers, and spots 

 of yellowish white. Vent, femorals, and 

 under tail coverts, of a light ochrey tint, 

 with some of the feathers spotted with 

 brown, and the outer femorals long and 

 barred with ferruginous. Legs and feet 

 bright yellow ; bill and claws dark horn 

 color. Length of the specimen before me, 

 19 inches; folded wing 13, reaching be- 



