ACCIPITER FUSCUS, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 333 



acters to the Carolinas ; but it has more than once occurred in the Mid- 

 dle States. The Eev. Dr. Turnbull mentions an instance of its capture 

 near Philadelphia, in 1857, probably the same that Mr. Cassiu speaks of. 

 The juiine occurs in Mr. Lawrence's New York List, and Dr. DeKay 

 figures it among the birds of that State. But its greatest extension is 

 through the Mississippi Valley, where it regularly occurs above the 

 mouth of the Missouri. Dr. Woodhouse found it common in Texas and 

 the Indian Territory, and especially so along the Arkansas River. Dr. 

 Hoy records it from Wisconsin. Prof. Snow says it is rare iu Kansas, 

 wliere, however, Mr. Allen states that several pairs arrived about May 

 15, 1871, near Topeka. The northernmost quotation I have found is 

 that of Mr. Trippe, who observed the bird in Minnesota, north of Mille 

 Lao, at latitude 47°, and states that it is rather common, especially in 

 the immediate vicinity of the Mississippi. Finally, I may add, lijmad 

 the pleasure of observing it myself in Missouri, opposite Fort Leaven- 

 worth, in May, 1804, when a magnificent specimen shaped its course 

 across my path, so near that I could see the tiash of its eye as it swept 

 by in fall career. It was a beautiful sight, upon which no one could 

 look unmoved, nor without feeling that his excited senses borrowed a 

 plume from the bird itself to follow in imagination when the Kite was 

 lost to view. 



I have before me an egg of this species, from the Smithsonian col- 

 lection, taken in Iowa. It measures 1.90 by 1.50 ; one end is smaller 

 than the other, though the greatest diameter is nearly equidistant from 

 either. The ground-color is white, but tinged, as if soiled or otherwise 

 mechanically discolored, with a faint brownish shade ; it is marked with 

 large irregular blotches of rusty and chestnut-brown, most numerous 

 around the smaller end. Besides these there are some specks and small 

 spots of blackish-brown. Audubon describes other eggs, no doubt cor- 

 rectly, as being "of a greenish- white color, with a few irregular blotches 

 of dark brown at the larger end," and states they were from four to six 

 in number. "The nest," he observes, "is usually placed on the top 

 branches of the tallest oak or pine-tree, situated on the margin of a 

 stream or pond. It resembles that of the common Crow externally, 

 being formed of dry sticks, intermixed with Spanish moss, and is lined 

 with coarse grasses and a few feathers." 



As if iu compensation for its powers of flight, this bird's legs are so 

 short as to be scarcely serviceable for locomotion, and it rarely, if ever, 

 alights on the ground. Its food is principally reptiles and insects. It 

 is found in winter in Central and South America, and is said, whether 

 or not with entire truth I do not know, to withdraw altogether from the 

 United States in September, to return in April. It appears to breed 

 indifferently throughout its normal United States range, 



./ 



ACCIPITER FUSCUS, (Gm.) Gray. 



Sharp-shinned Hawk; Pigeon Hawk. 



Falcofuseus, Gji., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 280.— Lath., lud. Orn. i, 1790, 43.— Baud., Tr. Orn. 

 ii, 1800, 86.— Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii, 161.- Bp., Syn. 1828, 433.— Nutt., Man. i, 

 1832, 87.— AUD., Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 522, pi. 474.— Pbab., Eep. Orn. Mass. 1839, 

 78.— Brew., ed. Wils. 1840, 685. 



Aceipiter fuscus, Bp., Comp. List, 1838, 5 ; Consp. i, 1850, 32.— Woodh., Sitgr.Eep. 1853, 

 61.— Cass., 1)1. i, 1854, 95; Pr. Pliila. Acad. 1855, 279.— Brew., N. A. 051. 1857, 

 18.— Bd., B. N. a. 1858, 18.— SCL., P. Z. S. 1858, 295 (Oasaca).-SCL., Ibis, i, 

 1859, 218 (Central America).— Bry., Pr. Bost. Soc. vii, 1859 (Baliamas).— Coop. 



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