CANADIAN FALCONIDJl. 447 



or even two teeth on eacli mandible, witli a peculiar mode of flight 

 and of seizing its prey. This interesting group is not largely repre- 

 sented amongst us. I have lately seen the Gerfalcon named as shot 

 near Toronto, but I cannot help supposing some mistake. Its most 

 southern limit, according to Eichardson, is about the northern boun- 

 dary of Canada, besides that it is seldom found far from the sea- 

 coast, I can only say that I should be most happy to receive it as a 

 native bird. The peregrine falcon {Falco jperegrinus,) is thought to 

 be found here, but some American naturalists maintain that ours is 

 an analogous species which they have called Falco anatinus. The 

 structure, figure, and colouring of our bird, well-known as the great 

 footed hawk, greatly resembles the European. If there is any differ- 

 ence it is most difficult to discover, and we ought not to multiply 

 species wantonly. I hesitate therefore to admit the claims of this 

 American species. Two others we have, which are peculiar to North 

 America, and which illustrate separate generic forms. Hypotriorchis 

 Colurabarius the representative of the European merlin and one of 

 our commonest falcons, and Tinntmculus sparverius, the American 

 Sparrow-Hawk, — a well-known and handsome bird — the smallest of 

 the whole family in this country. 



In the sub-family Accipitrince, the Hawks, — using that term in its 

 strictly limited acceptation, distinguished from the preceding by 

 having only a festoon on the upper mandible, and by a different 

 mode of seizing their prey, by a swoop off the ground or near to it, 

 instead of a sudden descent in the air, — we have several good native 

 illustrations. 



I have lately had the great satisfaction of receiving from Mr. 

 Passmore, Astur atricapillus, the American gos-hawk, and of thus 

 satisfying myself by careful comparison with our European specimen 

 of the common gos-hawk, Astur palumbarius, of the reality of the 

 alleged specific differences. Our specimen is a very beautiful one, 

 and we possess also what is thought to be the young bird, the mark- 

 ings of which are strikingly different and show the extent of the 

 changes for which we have sometimes to make allowance. My re- 

 ceiving very recently a much larger and seemingly well grown bird, 

 with precisely the same plumage as this young one, has created a 

 doubt in my mind whether its history is well understood. 



Accipiter Oooperi, called by Audubon the Stanley Hawk, is one of 

 our commonest raptorial birds, and I have received it likewise from 



