LOUISIANA HAWK. 33 



belief, aided as this bird is by rather long and sharp wings, as well 

 as an elongated tail, and sustained by well regulated beats, that of 

 the Goshawk or of the other species of this group so very far surpasses 

 it, that they can overtake it with as nnuch ease as that with which the 

 pike seizes a carp. I have often thought that the comparatively long 

 tarsi of these Hawks, as well as their elongated and padded toes, are 

 of considerable assistance in securing their prey on wing, as they throw 

 these members to the right and left, upward or downward, when about 

 to come into contact with the object of their pursuit. In boldness and 

 ferocity they probably surpass all other birds of prey. 



The next race is composed of the species called " True Falcons," 

 of which we have the Jer Falcon, Falco Islandicus, the Peregrine 

 Falcon, F. Peregrinws, the Pigeon Hawk, F. Columbarius, and the Spar- 

 row Hawk, F. Sparverius. These birds are probably the most highly 

 organized of the series. Their wings are pointed and somewhat broad ; 

 their tail is not only considerably elongated, but has a firmness and 

 elasticity not seen in that of the other species. While in Eagles and 

 other sluggish birds of prey, the motions of the wings are slow, in the 

 species now under consideration they are strong and quickly repeated. 

 They moreover possess the power of swooping in a higher degree than 

 even the Eagles, for although much smaller birds, they are if any thing 

 still more compactly formed, whilst they are at the same time endowed 

 with at least a fair power of flight, so that they give chase to the swift- 

 est birds, and not unfrequently overtake and destroy them. In their 

 migrations they differ from the slow-flying species, which seldom re- 

 move far from the place of their birth, for they appear to delight in 

 following the myriads of the feathered tribes from which they have de- 

 rived their subsistence during summer in the northern regions, to those 

 southern countries in which they are sure of obtaining an ample sup- 

 ply, each species pursuing those on which it more usually preys. Thus, 

 some, as the Peregrine Falcon, will remove as far as the confines of 

 Mexico or the extreme portions of California. The Jer Falcon, which 

 mostly feeds on hares and grous, belonging to northern countries, and 

 which of course migrate southward to a very short extent, rarely ad- 

 vances far ; while the Pigeon Hawk, as daring as the Peregrine, follows 

 the Red-wings, Rice-Birds, and other small migratory species, with a 

 pertinacity not in the least surpassed by that of the Peregrine Falcon 

 itself. 



VOL. v. C 



