BLACK-SHOULDERED HAWK. 369 
Briacx-winceD Hawk, Fatco mELanorprerus, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Orn. vol. ii. 
pl. 11. fig. 1. Female, 
FaLco MELANOPTERUS, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 31. 
Fatco pispar, Temm. Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis. Append. p. 435. 
Adult Male. Plate CCCLII. Fig. 1. 
Bill short, broader than deep at the base, with the gape very wide. 
Upper mandible with the cere covered at the base with bristly feathers, 
the dorsal line convex and declinate to the end of the cere, then curved 
downwards in about the third of a circle, the sides at the base sloping, 
towards the end convex and erect, the sharp edges with a distinct fes- 
toon, the tip narrow and acute. Lower mandible with the angle very 
wide and long, the dorsal outline very short, ascending and slightly 
convex, the sharp edges inflected, the tip obliquely truncate and nar- 
row. Nostrils elliptical, rather large, in the fore part of the cere. 
Head rather large, broad, flattened above, with the superciliary 
ridges prominent. Eyes large, directed obliquely forwards. Neck 
short ; body compact. Legs of moderate length ; tibia long and mus- 
cular ; tarsus very short, stout, roundish, covered anteriorly with feathers 
for half its length, the rest with small roundish scales , toes short, thick, 
tuberculate and papillate beneath, scaly above, like the tarsus, but with 
three large scutella at the end. Claws long, curved, conical, extremely 
pointed, that of middle toe with an inner edge. 
Plumage soft, blended, full, on the back rather compact. Feathers 
of the cere, lore, and eyelids, bristle-pointed. Wings very long and 
pointed, the second quill longest, the third nearly as long, the first 
longer than the fourth ; the first, second, and third with the outer web 
attenuated toward the end; the first and second with the inner web 
sinuated ; secondaries very broad, rounded, the inner web exceeding 
the outer. Tail of twelve feathers, of moderate breadth, long, emargi- 
nate and rounded, the middle and lateral feathers being about equal, 
and eight-twelfths of an inch shorter than the second feather from the 
side. ; 
Bill black ; the cere and soft basal margins yellow. Iris bright 
red. Tarsi and toes yellow, of a darker tint than the cere; claws 
black. All the lower parts are pure white, with the exception of a 
patch on five or six of the larger wing-coverts; the forehead is also 
white, as are the cheeks ; the superciliary bristles black, the white of 
VOL. Iv. Aa 
