HAWKS— BLACK DUCK— BLACK-TAILED GODWIT-GOLDEN EAGLE. 



8S 



PLATE LVIII. 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk — Pigeon Hawk. (Nisus fuscus.") 



Fig. x. 



This beautiful little Hawk is one of the most common of the 

 North American Falconidae. Its geographical range covers the 

 entire continent from Hudson's Bay to Mexico. It is one of the 

 most destructive birds, living almost entirely on smaller birds, 

 and extending its forays into the farm-yard. Its flight is peculiar — 

 swift, spirited, and irregular, now soaring high into the air, then 

 suddenly sweeping close to the ground. It seems to advance by 

 sudden dashes, and when once its prey is discovered, will pounce 

 upon it with a swiftness which makes escape impossible. It usually 

 builds its nest in thickets of spruce or hemlock, using fine twigs 

 and bits of scaly bark, and rarely lining them with any more 

 pliable substance. These nests are shallow and broad, containing 

 four or five eggs y ground color white with large blotches of sepia 

 running into each other, and measuring about 1.35 by 1.15 inches. 

 The same nest is used year after year, and if the female is robbed 

 of her eggs she immediately replaces them. The male assists in 

 incubating. Notwithstanding the great abundance of these birds 

 the nests are but rarely met with ; Audubon having found three, and 

 Wilson and Nuttall none at all. Dr. Brewer describes several 

 which were discovered by more recent ornithologists. 



Broad-winged Hawk, op Buzzard. (Buteo fennsyhanicus.) 



Fig. 2. 



This Hawk, though nowhere very common, is distributed over 

 eastern North America, from the Mississippi, north to the British 

 Provinces and south as far as Florida. It is also found in Cuba 

 and Central America. It arrives at the north about the first of 

 May and returns to winter quarters early in October. It prefers 

 wild and lonely districts, where, soaring above some somber forest 

 of pine and hemlock, it will for hours hover, watching its prey, 

 giving utterance to a shrill "key, ky-ah, ky-ah-ke-ee." Its food 

 consists of small birds, reptiles, insects, and squirrels. Fierce in 

 the defense of its nest, it has been known to attack man with intense 

 rage, and not to surrender until life itself was extinct. Its nest is 

 rarely found, and is composed of coarse sticks and twigs loosely 

 wattled together, and lined with bits of bark and a few leaves and 

 feathers. The eggs vary from three to five, and measure about 2.10 

 by 1. 61 inches, slightly rounded oval, of a grayish or dirty white, 

 covered with many blotches of various colored brown. Its flight is 

 easy, gliding with closed wings in long circles, or propelling with 

 short rapid strokes until great speed is attained. It usually flies 

 singly, and when its appetite is appeased, will rest for hours upon 

 the top of some favorite hemlock or spruce. 



Dusky Duck — Black Duck. (Anas obscura.) 

 Fig- 3- 



The Dusky Duck is one of the most abundant water-birds in 

 eastern North America, where it breeds from Labrador to Texas. 

 It is only partially migratory, spending its winters in the bays and 

 small creeks of the New England coast. Its nest is usually built 

 early in May, a meadow near a pond or stream being the favorite 

 locality, and is composed of pieces of grass and weeds neatly 

 arranged, nearly eighteen inches in diameter and four or five in 

 depth, and lined with the parents' down and feathers. The eggs 

 vary from seven to ten in number, are of a dirty yellowish-white 

 in color, and average about 2.30 by 1.60 inches. This bird is 



familiar to all sea-shore shooters, and immense numbers are yearly 

 offered in all the Eastern markets. They are very wary, and swim 

 and fly with great velocity. Owing to this peculiarity, sportsmen 

 resort to many stratagems in order to secure them; sometimes 

 skulking along the sea-marshes where they are known to feed at 

 night, and in the gloaming mowing them down. Another method 

 is to build a bower near the water, and using tame ducks secured 

 by a string for a decoy, entice the wild game within the reach of 

 the gun, when allowing them to settle down upon the water, open 

 the attack, and thus secure three or four shots before the birds are 

 out of reach. 



Hudsonian, op Black-tailed Godwit. (Limosa hudsontca.') 



Fig. 4. 



This Godwit is rather a rare bird throughout the United States. 

 It is, however, more frequent along the Atlantic coast, though rarely 

 found further south than New Jersey. It breeds in the far north, 

 where it is more abundant. Its flesh is said to be excellent eating. 

 But little is known regarding its habits of nidification. A set of 

 four eggs, from the Anderson river, are in the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution at Washington, which measure from 2.15 to 2.20 inches in 

 length by about 1.40 in breadth. The ground of these eggs is 

 a heavily shaded olive-drab, with shadings of the same in darker 

 colors. This species strongly resembles the Back-tailed Godwit 

 of Europe, but may be distinguished by its inner wing-coverts, 

 which are black. 



PLATE LIX. 



Golden Eagle — Ring-tailed Eagle. (Aquila canadensis,) 



Fig. 1. 



The Golden Eagle is an inhabitant of all North America north 

 of Mexico, of Europe, and of Asia. Its favorite haunts are in the 

 extreme north, though it nidifies in Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- 

 mont, and in the Adirondack regions of New York. The nests 

 are used for many years in succession, and the older they grow, 

 the more formidable appearance do they present. A projecting 

 shelf of rock, jutting from some inaccessible cliff, and many feet 

 from the earth, is selected; though, when nature fails to provide 

 such a place, tall pines or other evergreens are made to do service. 

 A platform, from six to eight feet, is first laid, upon which a quan- 

 tity of dried sticks and twigs are placed lengthwise, the interstices 

 filled in with smaller twigs, mosses, dry grass, and over the center 

 an extra layer of the two latter materials is evenly spread. The 

 female is usually the architect, the male bringing the material for 

 her use. When first constructed, the nest is small; but every 

 year a new layer, varying from six to eighteen inches, is added, 

 and nests more than six feet in height have been discovered. The 

 female lays from one to three eggs, varying in size from 2.65 by 

 2.15 to 3.50 by 2.50 inches. The ground color is whitish, variously 

 spotted, speckled, and splashed with colorings that range from a 

 rich red-brown to umber. The food consists of ducks, rabbits, 

 mice, partridges, the fawn of deer, and other small animals. 

 Though frequently captured, they have never been more than 

 partially tamed, and resent with the utmost fierceness the least 

 approach at familiarity. Cleanly in all their habits, after partak- 

 ing of food they take especial pains to remove every stain of 

 blood from their feathers. When in the act of feeding, they drop 

 their wings, and grasping the food with the talons of either leg, 

 tear it to pieces with their beak. The flight of the Golden Eagle 

 is powerful, and is capable of long continuance. MacGillivray, in 

 a poetic outburst in praise of the Golden Eagle, says that "in ten 



