AMERICAN OSPREY 235 



HAWKS, ETC.: SUBORDER FALCONBS 

 HAV^KS AND EAGLES : FAMILT FALCONIDiE 



Thirteen species of Hawks (including the Bald Eagle) 

 occur regularly in New York and New England. Of these, 

 nine belong to three genera, Falco, Buteo, and Aecipiter, 

 which differ so much in their proportions and in the char- 

 acteristics of their flight, that it is important to become 

 familiar with them. The Sparrow Hawk, the Eed-shoul- 

 dered Hawk, and the Cooper's Hawk are the commonest 

 representatives of these three genera. All these species hunt 

 in country where woods alternate with open land, and are seen 

 most "frequently flying overhead or perched upright on some 

 lookout post. 



The Marsh Hawk, which belongs to a different genus, is 

 often commoner than the Sparrow Hawk, while the little 

 Sharp-shinned Hkwk is common everywhere in spring and 

 fall. The frontispiece and the plate facing page 246 illus- 

 trate the difierences between the four common genera. The 

 Marsh Hawk hunts low over extensive meadows ; the Eish 

 Hawk plunges into the water from a great height ; the 

 Eagle, too, is generally seen near large bodies of water ; the 

 Eough-legged Hawk is a rare migrant or ■printer visitant to 

 extensive meadows ; the Goshawk and the Pigeon Hawk are 

 rare, and the Broad-winged Hawk is only locally common. 



American Ospeey ; Fish Hawk. Pandion haliaetus 



earolinensis 



23.10 



Ad. $. — Upper parts grayish-brown ; head, neck, and under 

 parts white; sides and top of head marked with dusky. Ad. 9 • — 

 Similar to $ , but with breast spotted with brown. 



Nest, in trees or on poles near the water. Eggs, varying from 

 bufEy-white to reddish-brown, spotted with dark brown. 



