62 BIRDS OF THE WORLD 



than in the Sparrow Hawks ; they also diif er greatly 

 in colour, the female lacking the beautiful chestnut 

 colour that is on the breast of the male. See Plate 

 3, Fig. 12. , 



Here, the place of the European Sparrow Hawk is 

 taken by two quite distinct species — the Sharp-shinned 

 and Cooper's Hawk, both, however, bearing a very 

 close resemblance to the Old World form. The bird 

 known as Sparrow Hawk in this country belongs to 

 a different section of the Hawk tribe. The two 

 American species mentioned are similar in colour — - 

 greyish above, white barred with reddish below, with 

 the shafts of the feathers blackish, and tail crossed 

 with black bars. The tail of the Sharp-shinned Hawk 

 is square at the end, while that of Cooper's Hawk is 

 rounded. Both of these varieties are very destructive 

 to poultry. Cooper's Hawk is considerably larger 

 than the other species. 



Among other common American Hawks are the 

 Red-shouldered, so called from the rich reddish color 

 of the lesser wing-coverts; the Red-tailed, from its 

 reddish-brown tail, a larger species, but similar in 

 habits; the Broad- winged, and the Zone-tailed. 



We pass now to the Buzzards and Eagles, which 

 blend one into the other. 



The Common European Buzzard is still met with, 

 although it is now a misnomer to call it "common." 

 Sixty years ago it bred throughout Great Britain in 

 considerable numbers, but to-day it is only occasion- 

 ally seen. In the matter of plumage this species 

 varies greatly, especially in the character of the mark- 

 ings. Some birds are a mixture of very dark and 



