RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 381 



was large for the size of the bird. The female was shot on the nest, and 

 one of the eggs, of which there were only two, was broken in descend- 

 ing. This species also nestles in Louisiana." According to Dr Bach- 

 man, " this bird is very destructive to poultry in South Carolina, breed- 

 ing in the neighbourhood of the plantations, and often persecuting a hen 

 with half-grown chickens vmtil the whole brood is seized." 



The dimensions of an adult male are : — Length to end of tail 21^ 

 inches, to end of wings 19, to end of claws 19 ; extent of wings 44 ; 

 wing from flexure 13^ ; tail 9 ; bill along the ridge l/g, along the edge 

 of lower mandible 1t% ; tarsus 3 ; hind toe 1, its claw ItV ; second toe 

 1, its claw lij ; middle toe I4, its claw ^§ ; outer toe \^, its claw j%. 



The mouth is 1 inch in width ; the palate flat, with two longitudi- 

 nal papillate ridges, and an anterior median smooth ridge ; the poste- 

 rior aperture of the nares oblong, 5 twelfths in length, with an ante- 

 rior slit of the same length. The tongue is 10^ twelfths long, emar- 

 ginate and papillate at the base, concave above, horny beneath, its 

 breadth 3 twelfths, its sides parallel, its tip rounded. The oesophagus 

 is 6 inches long, 1 inch in width at the commencement, dilated into a 

 large crop 2 inches long and 1 inch 9 twelfths in its greatest breadth, 

 and on entering the thorax contracted to 10 twelfths. The stomach 

 is very large, roimdish, 2^ inches long, 2 inches and 1 twelfth in breadth ; 

 its muscular coat very thin, being composed of a single series of fasci- 

 culi ; the tendons 7 twelfths in breadth ; the inner surface smooth. The 

 pylorus is very small, with two knob-like valves ; around it the surface 

 covered with minute hairs, which are, however, adventitious. The 

 proventricular glands occupy a belt 1^ inch in breadth. The intestine 

 is 50 inches long, its width from 3 twelfths to 1^ twelfth. The coeca 

 are 2^ twelfths long, 1| twelfth in width, and placed at the distance 

 of 3 inches from the anus. The cloaca is globular, 1^ inch in diame- 

 ter. The stomach contained remains of bones of frogs and insects of 

 different species. 



The trachea is 4 inches 10 twelfths long, much flattened ; its breadth 

 at the upper part 4f twelfths, at the lower 2f twelfths ; its rings, 78 

 in number, slender and partially ossified. The bronchi, of moderate 

 length and width, have 15 and 18 half rings. The lateral muscles are 

 rather large, the stemo-tracheal rather slender ; and there is a single 

 pair of inferior laryngeal muscles. 



