19G 



NORTH AMERICAN UIUDS. 



The og^'S are described liy Mr. Audubdii as from four to six in number, 

 of a greeiiisb-wliite eolor, witli a few irregidar blotches of dark brown at 

 the larger end. Tiie drawinu of an e''", obtained bv Dr. Trudeau in Lou- 

 isiana, and which was made by tliat gentleman, is very nearly spheroidal, 

 and its measurements are, length 1.75 inches, breatlth 1.5G. It corresponds 

 witb Mr. Audubon's description of the (!gg of tliis Hawk. 



An egg in tlie collection of the Smithsdiiiau Institution, taken in Iowa 

 by Mr. Krider, <loes not correspond very well with the description and figui'c 

 mentioned. It measures l.SU in length by 1.40 in breadth ; its form is very 

 regulaily oval, botli ends being of nearly the same sliape. Tlie ground-color 

 is a creamy white, one end (tlie smaller) splashed with large continent 

 blf)tclies of ferruginous, and tlie remainder of the surface more sparsely spot- 

 ted with the same ; tliese rusty blotches are relieved by smaller, sparser 

 spots of very dark brown. 



Dr. Cooper, in a letter dated Siou.\ City, May 21, 1860, mentions finding 

 tlie nest of this Hawk in a high tree in Northwestern Iowa, latitude 41° 30'. 

 The bird had nut beiiun to lav. 



Genus ELANUS, Savigny, 



Ehtiiis, S,\v. 1809. (Tv]i(', Fnhv mchoKijifcrus, Daudin.) 

 Milans, IJiiii:, 18-22. 



Gkn". CiiAii. Bill latlior siniill ami narrow, tlio tip normal ; commissure moderately 

 siniiatfd ; upper outline of lower niaiulililc greatly arched, the lioiirlit at base less than 

 iialf tliat through middle ; gonys almost straight, doelining downward toward tip. 

 Nostril roundi.sh, in middle of cere. Tarsus and toes (except terminal joint) covered with 

 small roundish scales ; under surface of claws just perceptibly tluttened ; -sharp lateral 



fiso.y 



Elnnns Inieunis. 



S805, 



riilge on middle claw very prominent; a very slight membrane between outer and middle 

 toes. Second quill longest, third very slightly .shorter; first just e.veeeding fourth; second 

 anil third with outer webs ,«lightly .sinuated ; inner web of first cnuu'giuated, of .«ecoud 

 siuuated. Tail ])eculiar, enuu-giuatod, but the lateral feather much shorter than the 

 middle, the one next to it being the longest. 



The species of this well-marked genus are confined to the tropical and 

 subtro])ioal portions of the world, and appear to lie only two in number, of 

 which one is cosmopolitiin, and the other peculiar to the Old World. 



