14 
NEW-YORK FAUNA 
BIRDS. 
Color. Bill bluish; darker at the tip. Summit of the head uniform dark brown. Space 
round the eyes, legs and cere yellow. Iris hazel. Dark blackish brown above. Wings pale 
ash. Tail-coverts plumbeous, with heart-shaped blackish brown marks. Tail barred alter¬ 
nately with deep brown and slate, tipped with whitish. Chin and throat white unspotted ; 
fore part of the breast with a few drop-shaped streaks. Transverse interrupted brown bars 
on the flanks and belly. Thigh-feathers barred, or with arrow-head spots of brown. Under 
tail-coverts with distant interrupted bars or spots. The black on the sides of the head ad¬ 
vances on the cheek below the eyes, and forms a sort of notch or sinus on the sides of the 
neck: this contrasts strongly with the white of the neck, and forms a very characteristic 
specific mark. Female: Breast inclines more to buff; darker above. Young: Feathers 
above edged with rusty; beneath entirely white, with a central oblong brownish mark on 
each feather. 
Length, 15'0-18 - 0. Alar extent, 30'0-44'0. 
I have followed Bonaparte in considering this species as distinct from its closely allied con¬ 
gener, the Peregrine Falcon of Europe. It is frequently taken in various parts of the State, 
and known under the various popular names of Hen Hawk , Chicken Hawk and Pigeon 
Hawk. It is said to breed in Cedar swamp, New-Jersey, and perhaps in this State. It has 
a wide geographical range, being found from 54° south to 74° north latitude. 
Its usual food consists of birds, which are struck on the wing. When falconry formed the 
chief amusement of the princes and nobility of Europe, a species so closely allied to the Duck 
Hawk as to have been hitherto confounded with it, was that chiefly employed. 
