34 LOUISIANA HAWK. 



The group of our American birds of prey of which the species dif- 

 fer most strikingly from the rest, contains the Bird of Washington, 

 Falco Washingtonii, the White-headed Eagle, F. leiicocephalus, and 

 the Fishing Hawk or Osprey, F. Ossifragus. Looking upon these 

 three species as more or less connected in respect to their general 

 habits, while each of them differs from the rest, I hope you will ex- 

 cuse me, Reader, if I now take a glance at them separately. He who 

 generalizes at random might perhaps be induced to compare the Fish- 

 ing Hawk to nothing else than a very large and clumsy Tern, for like 

 most birds of that group, it is known to range in a desultory manner 

 over the waters of our bays and estuaries, and along the shores of the 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It poises itself a while on spying its prey 

 just beneath the surface of the water, glides or plunges headlong upon it, 

 and thus secures it at once, or experiences the same disappointment that 

 Terns themselves do on many occasions. It is true, however^ that the 

 Fishing Hawk does not, Tern-like, secure its finny prey with its bill ; 

 but what of that, if it plunges into the deep and seizes its quarry there .? 

 The Bird of Washington which is also a fishing Eagle, glides over its 

 prey, and seizes it mostly in the manner exhibited by Gulls. The 

 White-headed Eagle, which, as I have told you before, also dives after 

 fish on some occasions, and pursues the smaller kinds in shallow water 

 by wading after them, will also attack birds and quadrupeds of various 

 species, and thus may be looked upon as one of the most singularly 

 gifted of oiu' diurnal birds of prey. 



The species now before you belongs to the group of what may be 

 called indolent or heavy-flying Hawks. The specimen from which I 

 made my drawing, was procured by a gentleman residing in Louisiana, 

 who shot it between Bayou Sara and Natchez. A label attached to one 

 of its legs authorizes me to say that it was a female ; but I have re- 

 ceived no information respecting its habits ; nor can I at present give 

 you the name of the donor, however anxious I am to compliment him 

 upon the valuable addition he has made to om' Fauna, by thus enabling 

 me to describe and portray it. I have much pleasure in naming it af- 

 ter my friend Edward Harris, Esq., a gentleman who, independently 

 of the aid which he has on many occasions affbrded me, in prosecuting 

 my examination of our birds, merits this compliment as an enthusias- 

 tic Ornithologist. 



