THE BLACK HAWK. 45 



AECHIBUTEO SANCTI-JOHANNIS. Gray. 

 The Black Hawk. 



Falco sancti-johannis, Gm. Syst. Nat., 273 (1788). 

 Falco novce-terrce, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 274 (1788). 

 Falco niger, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. 82 (1812). 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. Entire plumage glossy black, in many specimens with a brown tinge; 

 forehead, throat^ and large partially concealed spot on occiput, white; tail with 

 one transverse well-defined band of white, and irregularly marked towards the base 

 with the same color; quills with their inner webs white, readily seen from below; 

 cere and toes yellow ; iris hazel ; tarsi densely feathered in front, naked behind. 

 Other specimens are entirely dark chocolate-brown, with the head more or less 

 striped with yellowish-white and reddish-yellow; tail with several transverse 

 bands of white, more or less imperfect and irregular. 



Young. Upper parts light umber-brown, with the feathers more or less edged 

 with dull-white and reddish-yellow; abdomen with a broad transverse band of 

 brownish-black; other under parts pale yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes 

 of brownish-black, frequently giving the predominating color on the breast and 

 sides; wings and tail brown, tinged with cinereous, the former marked with white 

 on their inner webs, the latter white at their base ; tarsi and tibiae pale reddish- 

 yellow, spotted with brown; cere, feet, and iris the same as in adult. 



Total length, female, twenty-two to twenty-four inches; wing, seventeen to seven- 

 teen and a half; tail, nine inches. Male, twenty to twenty-two inches ; wing, sixteen 

 to sixteen and a half; tail, eight to eight and a half inches. 



This species, so often confounded in the immature plu- 

 mage with the preceding, but which may be separated 

 from it by its greater size and more numerous dark spots 

 beneath, is a rare winter visitor in New England. Like 

 the Rough-legged Hawk, it prefers the marshes and low, 

 swampy woods to the higher localities, and preys upon 

 mice, wounded ducks, and small birds. I have known of it 

 being killed while pursuing a flock of Snow Buntings 

 (Plectrophanes nivalis), and have heard of its attacking a 

 flock of domestic poultry. Its habits, therefore, are differ- 

 ent from those of the A. lagopus, as given by Audubon ; 

 but it lacks the courage and vigor of most of our other 

 rapacious birds, and is hardly worthy of the immortality it 

 has received from the pens of some of our writers. 



The distribution of this species is limited to the north- 

 ern regions of the continent in summer, and is very rarely 



