GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 87 



that they would abandon the place. However, I fortunately shot the 

 depredator. 



They occasionally feed on dead fish that have floated to the shores or 

 sand bars. I saw several of them thus occupied while descending the 

 Mississippi on a journey undertaken expressly for the pvirpose of observ- 

 ing and procuring different specimens of birds, and which lasted four 

 months, as I followed the windings of that great river, floating down it 

 only a few miles daily. During that period, I and my companion count- 

 ed upwards of fifty of these Hawks, and killed several, among which was 

 the female represented in the plate now before you, and which was found 

 to contain in its stomach bones of birds, a few downy feathers, the giz- 

 zard of a Teal, and the eyes and many scales of a fish. It was shot on 

 on the 26th December 1820. The ovary contained numerous eggs, two 

 of which were as large as pease. 



Whilst in quest of food, the Great-footed Hawk will frequently alight 

 on the highest dead branch of a tree in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 such wet or marshy grounds as the Common Snipe resorts to by prefer- 

 ence. His head is seen moving in short starts, as if he were counting 

 every little space below ; and while so engaged, the moment he spies a 

 Snipe, down he darts like an arrow, making a rustling noise with his 

 wings that may be heard several hundred yards off", seizes the Snipe, 

 and flies away to some near wood to devour it. 



It is a cleanly bird, in respect to feeding. No sooner is the prey 

 dead than the Falcon turns its belly upward, and begins to pluck it with 

 his bill, which he does very expertly, holding it meantime quite fast in 

 his talons ; and as soon as a portion is cleared of feathers, tears the flesh 

 in large pieces, and swallows it witli great avidity. If it is a large bird, 

 Jie leaves the refuse parts, but, if small, swallows the whole in pieces. 

 Should he be approached by an enemy, he rises with it and flies off" into 

 the interior of the woods, or if he happens to be in a meadow, to some 

 considerable distance, he being more wary at such times than when he 

 has alighted on a tree. 



The Great-footed Hawk is a heavy, compact, and firmly built bird 

 for its size, and when arrived at maturity, extremely muscular, with very 

 tough flesh. The plumage differs greatly according to age. I have seen 

 it vary in different individuals, from the deepest chocolate-brown to light 

 grey. Their grasp is so firm, that should one be hit while perched, and 

 not shot quite dead, it will cUng to the branch until life has departed. 



