468 PIGEON HAWK. 



When wounded in the wing, it shakes the other as it falls, describing 

 the spiral curves of a screw ; and, if no person is near to secure it, makes 

 its way by long leaps to the thickets, where it is very difficult to find it. 

 But if the gunner is at hand, and attempts to lay hold of it, the little 

 ruffian erects his feathers, screams shrilly and piercingly, and, like the 

 rest of his tribe, throws himself on his back, to be ready to clutch his 

 enemy. 



Falco columbarius, Lin7i Syst. Nat. p. 128 — Lalh. Ind. Omith. vol. i. p. U.—Ch. 



Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 28. 

 Pigeon Hawk, Lath. Synops. vol. i. p. 101 — Wils. Amer. Omith. vol. ii. p. IO7. 



PL 25. fig. 3. 



Adult Male. Plate XCII. Fig. 1. 



, BiU shortish, as broad as long, the sides convex,- the dorsal outline 

 convex from the base; upper mandible with the edges slightly inflected, and 

 forming a projecting process, the tip trigonal, acute, descending obliquely ; 

 lower mandible inflected at the edges, with a notch near the end, abrupt 

 at the tip. Nostrils roundish, with a central tubercle, perforated in the 

 short cere. Head rather large, flattened above. Neck "shortish. Body 

 ovate. Legs short, roundish ; tarsi covered before with transverse scuta, 

 on the sides with scales ; toes scutellate above, scabrous and tuberculate 

 beneath ; middle toe much longer than the outer, which is connected with 

 it at the base by a membrane; claws long, curved, roundish, very acute. 



Plumage ordinary, compact on the upper and fore parts, lax beneath. 

 Feathers of the head and neck narrow, of the back rather short, broad 

 and rounded, of the breast oblong. Space between the beak and eye 

 covered with bristly feathers. Orbital spaces bare. Wings nearly as 

 long as the tail ; the primary quills narrow, tapering, cut out on the in- 

 ner web towards the end, rounded, the second longest ; the secondary 

 quills short, obtuse. Tail longish, nearly even. Tibial feathers long, 

 forming a large tuft externally. 



Bill bluish-black at the tip, blue towards the base ; cere, margin, and 

 bare orbital space greenish-yellow. Iris dark brown. Feet greenish- 

 yellow ; claws brownish-black, The general colour of the upper parts 

 is deep chocolate ; a Une above the eyes, the tips of the first row of wing- 

 coverts the outer margins and tips of the secondaries, and the inner mar- 

 gins and tips of the primaries, whitish. The inner webs of the quills 



