SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 527 
Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXIV. Fig. 1. 
Bill short, with the dorsal line of the upper mandible curved from 
the base, so as to form nearly the fourth of a circle, the sides sloping 
rapidly and convex toward the end, the edges sharp anteriorly, with a 
broad tooth-like process or prominent festoon about the middle, the tip 
very acute and decurvate ; the cere rather short, its margin forming a 
convex curve before the nostrils, which are oblique, oblongo-ovate, 
broader behind ; the lower mandible with the angle broad and short, 
the dorsal line convex, the back broad at the base, the sides convex, 
the edges inflected, the tip obliquely truncate, rounded, with a very 
faint sinus behind: 
Head of moderate size, broad, rather flattened above ; neck very 
short ; body very slender, remarkably attenuated behind. Legs long 
and very slender; tarsus rather long, extremely slender, compress- 
ed, anteriorly covered with fifteen scutella disposed in a longitudinal 
plate, of which the inner sharp edge projects considerably, whence the 
name of ‘¢ Sharp-shinned” given to this species, the sides with hexago- 
nal scales, the hind part with numerous scutella. Toes slender, the 
third and fourth connected at the base by a web, extending beyond the 
second joint of the latter, and curving forward as far as that of the for- 
mer ; first and second toes strongest and about equal ; third extremely 
elongated, fourth very slender ; tuberculate and papillate beneath, there 
being a long fleshy tubercle on the last joint of each toe, and one on 
the next joint of the two outer. Claws very long, arched, gradually 
attenuated to a fine point. 
Plumage full, soft, blended, somewhat distinct on the upper parts. 
Wings of moderate length, reaching beyond the middle of the tail ; the 
fourth quill longest, the fifth scarcely shorter, the third intermediate 
between the fifth and seventh, the second a little longer than the se- 
venth, the first generally shorter than the outer secondary ; the first five 
quills cut out on the outer, the first four more deeply on the inner edge. 
The tail is long, even, of twelve rather broad, rounded feathers. 
The bill is light blue at the base, bluish-black at the end; the cere 
and eyelids yellowish-green ; the iris bright reddish-orange ; the tarsi 
and toes yellow ; the claws black, pale bluish at the base. The general 
colour of the plumage on the upper parts is deep greyish-blue, or dark 
slate-blue, the shafts darker ; the feathers on the occiput are white at 
the base, that colour appearing more or less as they are raised ; and on. 
