158 NORTH AMERKJAN BTRDS. 



times hovering in the manner of tiio coniinou Sparrow Hawk {Ttnnunculus 

 sjHtrrcrins). It appears to be resitltMit tlirou;4hout a large part of ^lexico, 

 and in Central and South America. The other is from the IJio Pecos of 

 Texas, collected Ity Dr. W. W. Anderson. 



^Ir. Darwin, in his Zoiilogy of the Voyage of the IJeagle, mentions obtain- 

 ing one specimen in a small valley on the plains of Patagonia, at Port 

 Desire, in latitude 47" 44' south. M. D'Orhigny su))posed latitude ;>4° to bo 

 the extreme southern limit of the species. Lieutenant (iilliss brought .speci- 

 mens fnun Chile. 



Mr. Darwin .states that the /'. /c/now/ts nests in low bushes, this corre- 

 sipondiiig with the observations of Mr. Bishop. He found the female sit- 

 ting on her eggs in the beginning of January. According to M. D'Orl)igny, 

 it ])n'fers a dry, oixn country with scattered bushes, which ^Ir. Darwin con- 

 firms. ^Ir. Ijishoj) informs me that he met with this Hawk in the greatest 

 abundance upon those vast ]ilains of South America known as the Pam]ia.s, 

 in which no trees except the ombfi are found, and that it there nests exclu- 

 sively on the tojis of low Iiushe.s, hardly more than a foot or two i'roni the 

 ground. The bird was not at all shy, like most Hawks, but was easily 

 a]iproached so nearly as to be readily recogui/ed. 



Mr. J'.ridgcs states, in the Proceedings of the London Zoiilogical Society 

 (1S4;>, p. IdU), that the TLf()iior((lis is trained in some ])arts of South Amer- 

 ica for the piu'suit of smaller gallinaceous birds, and tiiat it is highly 

 csteemetl by the Chilian falconers. It very soon becomes ([uite docile, and 

 will even follow its master within a few weeks of its cajjture. 



T am indebted to ^fr. X. H. r)ishop for specimens of the eggs of this 

 Hawk obtained by him on the Pampas. Tiie nes contained but two, and 

 was built on the top of a low bush or stunted tree, hardly two feet from the 

 ground. It was constructed, with some jiains and elaboration, of withered 

 grasses and dry lea\es. 



The eggs measure, one 1.81 inches in length by 1.69 in breadth, the other 

 1.78 by l.G;'>. This does not materially vary from the measurement given 

 by Darwin. The ground-color of the egg is white. This, however, is so 

 thickly and so generally studded with fine brown markings, that the white 

 ground to the eye has a rusty ajjpearance, and its real hue is hardly distin- 

 guishalile. Over the entire surface of the egg is distributed an infinite 

 numl)er of fine dottings, of a color most nearly approaching a raw terra- 

 sienna brown. Over this again are larger blotches, lines, and splashes of a 

 handsome shade of vandyke-brown. In one egg these larger markings are 

 much more frequent than in the other. The latter is chiefly marked with 

 the finer rusty dottings, and has a more dingy appearance. 



