GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 



Family FALCONID^. 

 Sub-Family Falconin.e. The Falcons. 



FALCO, LiNN.EUs. 



Falco, LiNX-EUS, Syst. Nat. I. 124 (1766). 



General form robust and compact. Bill short, curved strongly from the base to 

 the point, which is veiy sharp, and near which is a distinct and generally prominent 

 tooth; nostrils circular, with a central tubercle; wings long, pointed, formed for 

 vigorous, rapid, and long-continued flight; tail rather long and wide; tarsi short, 

 robust, covered with circular or hexagonal scales; middle toe long; claws large, 

 strong, curved, and very sharp. • 



FALCO ANATUM. — Bonaparte. 



The Duck Hawk ; Great-Footed Hawk. 



Falco anatum, Bonap. Comp. List, p. 4 (1838). 



" Falco perer/rimis,^^ Wilson, Audubon, and other authors. 



Description. 



Aihilt. — Frontal band white; entire upper parts bluish-cinereous, with trans- 

 verse bands of brownish-black, lighter on the rump; under parts yellowish-white, 

 with cordate and circular spots of black on the breast and abdomen, and transverse 

 bands of black on the sides, under tail coverts, and tibia^; quills and tail bro^vnish- 

 black, the latter with transverse bars of pale cinereous; checks with a patch of 

 black; bill light-blue; tarsi and toes yellow Sexes alike. 



Younger. — Entire upper parts brown ish-black; frontal spot obscure; large 

 •space on the cheeks black; under parts dull yellowish-white, darker than in adult, 

 and with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black; tarsi and toes bluish-lead color, 

 iris hazel. 



Total length, eighteen to twenty inches; wing, fourteen to fifteen; tail, seven 

 to eight inches.^ 



The Duck Hawk, which by the name of Peregine Falcon 

 is known to my readers as one of the most rapacious of 

 our birds of prey, is not nncommon in many portions of 

 New England. It is nearly identical with the European 

 species, and its habits and dcstructiveness are equally great 

 with tliat bird. In its habitat, it is oftener found in the 

 neiohborhood of the sea-coast than in the interior. It is a 

 powerful bird, of rapid flight and great boldness and cour- 



1 See Introduction. 



