FALOONin.K — THE FALCONS, 



205 



HAniTS. Tlii.s ITiiwk apiicars to lu; conrniud to thf oxtrcmc aoutlii'ni niul 

 soulliwfstnni iKirtiiui nl' tlic (lulf Status. It is not kiidvii to dcciir liiitlicr 

 north tliaii South Caioliua i>ii the Atluiitii', llioiij,'li i>ii tlii^ Mississippi it lias 

 liiicn traced imich farther north. It is most aluiiulaiit aiioiit the Mississippi. 

 It was lirst (hscovered liy Wil.soii near Natchi;/, where, lie found it ((uile 

 ahundaiit. Mr. Say al'tcrwards oh.servud it I'ar up tliu Mississijipi, at one of 

 Arajor Lony's cantonments. On ('ajitain Sitj^reavc's expedition to tiie Znni 

 and (_'oh)rado llivers, it was found to he o.xceedin^dy ahuiidant in Eastern 

 Te.xas, as well as in the Indian Territory, more particularly on the Arkau.sa9 

 Iiiver and its trihutaries. 



l)re.s.ser status that ho found this 

 Hawk l)y no means an unfrucpieut bird 

 in Te.xas, and };uuerally in the .same lo- 

 calities with the iV<ii«;lcrun Jhr/intlns, 

 It was not very common near San An- 

 tonio, hut was occasionally found, a'ul 

 even breeds there, as he iirocured both 

 the ohl and the young birds during the 

 sunnuer. In travelling eastward in the 

 month of May, he lirst noticed them 

 near the Kio Colorado, and was told by 

 the negroes on one of the jjlantations 

 that they wore then nesting. On the 

 20th of Alay he shot a female on the 

 banks of that river, from which he ex- 

 tracted a fully formed egg. It was al- 

 most round, and rather large fur the 

 size of the bird. Eastward from the Colorado he also saw this Hawk iiuite 

 often. 



Though the species, no doubt, occurs :.. Mexico, Mr. bclater states that all 

 the Mexican Idinicc which he has seen, collected by Salle, lioucard, and 

 others, hu 'e b.'longed to /. plnmhca (Ibis, 1800, j). 104). A single specimen 

 from Cohan, Ce-Jtral America, was obtained by Mr. Salvin, but /. plinnhcu 

 was by far the most common species of letinia in Vera I'az. 



This species was first discovered within the territory of the United States 

 by Wilson, in his visit to Natchez. He had noticed the liird sailing about 

 in easy circles, and at a considerable height in the air, generally in company 

 with the Turivty IJuzzards, whose manner of flight it almost exactly imi- 

 tated, so much so ;is to make it appear either a miniature of that species, or 

 like one of them at a gr-jat distance, both hoing observed to soar at great 

 heights previous to n storm. Wilson conjectures that this apparent similar- 

 ity of manner of flight niuy be attributable to their pursuit of their respective 

 kinds of food, — the Buzzard on the lookout for carrion, and the birds of the 

 present species in search of those large beetles that are known to fly in the 



Iclinia mi.ssissippiensij. 



