86 THE GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 



one of the holes, seize a bird, and issue by another hole in an instant, causing 

 such terror among the rest as to render me fearful that they would abandon 

 the place. However, I fortunately shot the depredator. 



They occasionally feed on dead fish that have floated to the shores or sand 

 bars. I saw several of them thus occupied while descending the Mississippi 

 on a journey undertaken expressly for the purpose of observing and procur- 

 ing different specimens of birds, and which lasted four months, as I followed 

 the windings of that great river, floating down it only a few miles daily. 

 During that period, I and my companion counted upwards of fifty of these 

 Hawks, and killed several, among which was the female represented in the 

 plate now before you, and which was found to contain in its stomach bones 

 of birds, a few downy feathers, the gizzard of a Teal, and the eyes and many 

 scales of a fish. It was shot on the 26th December, 1S20. The ovary con- 

 tained numerous eggs, two of which were as large as peas. 



Whilst in quest of food, the Great-footed Hawk will frequently alight on 

 the highest dead branch of a tree in the immediate neighbourhood of such 

 wet or marshy grounds as the Common Snipe resorts to by preference. His 

 head is seen moving in short starts, as if he were counting every little space 

 below; and while so engaged, the moment he spies a Snipe, down he darts 

 like an arrow, making a rustling noise with his wings that may be heard 

 several hundred yards off, seizes the Snipe, and flies away to some near wood 

 to devour it. 



It is a cleanly bird, in respect to feeding. No sooner is the prey dead 

 than the Falcon turns its belly upward, and begins to pluck it with his bill, 

 which he does very expertly, holding it meantime quite fast in his talons; 

 and as soon as a portion is cleared of feathers, tears the flesh in large pieces, 

 and swallows it with great avidity. If it is a large bird, he leaves the refuse 

 parts, but, if small, swallows the whole in pieces. Should he be approached 

 by an enemy, he rises with it and flies off into the interior of the woods, or 

 if he happens to be in a meadow, to some considerable distance, he being 

 more wary at such times than when he has alighted on a tree. 



The Great-footed Hawk is a heavy, compact, and firmly built bird for its 

 size, and when arrived at maturity, extremely muscular, with very tough 

 flesh. The plumage differs greatly according to age. I have seen it vary in 

 different individuals, from the deepest chocolate-brown to light grey. Their 

 grasp is so firm, that should one be hit while perched, and not shot quite 

 dead, it will cling to the branch until life has departed. 



Like most other Hawks, this is a solitary bird, except during the breeding, 

 season, at the beginning of which it is seen in pairs. Their season of breed- 

 ing is so very early, that it might be said to be in winter. I have seen the 

 male caressing the female as early as the first days of December. 



