PIGEON-HA WK. 2 $ 5 



liiglily irritated. He frequently flies low, skimming a little 

 above the field. I have never seen his nest.* 



The pigeon-hawk is eleven inches long, and twenty-three 

 broad ; the whole upper parts are of a deep dark brown, 

 except the tail, which is crossed with bars of white; the inner 

 vanes of the quill-feathers are marked with round spots of 

 reddish brown ; the bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light 

 blue colour, and tipt with black ; the skin surrounding the 

 eye, greenish ; cere, the same ; temples and line over the eye, 

 lighter brown ; the lower parts, brownish white, streaked 

 laterally with dark brown ; legs, yellow ; claws, black. The 

 female is an inch and a half longer, of a still deeper colour, 

 though marked nearly in the same manner, with the excep- 

 tion of some white on the hind head. The femoral, or thigh 

 feathers, in both are of a remarkable length, reaching nearly 

 to the feet, and are also streaked longitudinally with dark 

 brown. The irides of the eyes of this bird have been hitherto 

 described as being of a brilliant yellow ; but every specimen 

 I have yet met with had the iris of a deep hazel. I must 

 therefore follow nature, in opposition to very numerous and 

 respectable authorities. 



I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish 

 the history of this species with anecdotes of its exploits in 

 falconry. This science, if it may be so called, is among the 

 few that have never yet travelled across the Atlantic ; neither 

 does it appear that the idea of training our hawks or eagles 

 to the chase ever suggested itself to any of the Indian 

 nations of North America. The Tartars, however, from 

 whom, according to certain writers, many of these nations 



* Mr Hutchins, in his notes on the Hudson's Bay birds, informs ns, 

 that this species makes its nest in hollow rocks and trees, of sticks and 

 grass, lined with feathers, laying from two to four white eggs, thinly 

 marked with red spots. 



This species has the form of the falcons, with the hill strongly 

 toothed, but somewhat of the plumage of the sparrow-hawks. The 

 colour of the eggs is also that of the latter. — Ed. 



