294 



RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 



Since writing the above, I have ascertained that the duck 

 Jiaivk is not this species, but the celebrated peregrine falcon, 

 a figure and description of which will be given in our third 

 volume. 



BED-SHOULDERED HAWK. (Falco lineaius.) 



PLATE LIIL— Fig. 3. 



Arct. Zool. p. 206, No. 102.— Lath. i. 56, No. 36.— Turt. Syst. p. 153.— 

 Peale's Museum, No. 205. 



BUTEO? LIJSrEATVS.—jAumsE* 



Falco (sub-genus Circus) hyemalis, Bonap. Synop. p. 33. — Red-shouldered Hawk, 

 And. pi. 56, male and female; Orn. Biog. i. p. 296. 



This species is more rarely met with than either of the 

 former. Its haunts are in the neighbourhood of the sea. It 

 preys on larks, sandpipers, and the small ringed plover, and 

 frequently on ducks. It flies high and irregularly, and not 

 in the sailing manner of the long-winged hawks. I have 

 occasionally observed this bird near Egg Harbour, in New 



* This bird is certainly distinct from the F. hyemalis of this volume ; 

 and, independent of the distinctions of plumage, the very different 

 habits of both pointed out by Mr Audubon can hardly be reconciled. 

 All the characters and habits of the bird lean much more to the gos- 

 hawks ; it delights in woody countries, builds on trees, and is much 

 more active. The plumage generally is that of the buzzards and Circi ; 

 but the under parts present a combination of the transverse barring of 

 Astur. In addition to the description of Wilson, Audubon observes, 

 that this bird is rarely observed in the middle districts, where, on the 

 contrary, the winter falcon usually makes its appearance from the north 

 at the approach of autumn. " It is one of the most noisy of its genus, 

 during spring especially, when it would be difficult to walk the skirts 

 of woods bordering a large plantation, without hearing its discordant 

 shrill notes, ka-hee, ka-hee, as it sails in rapid circles at a very great 

 elevation. The interior of the woods seems the fittest haunts for the 

 red-shouldered hawk, where they also breed. The nest is seated near 

 the extremity of a large branch, and is as bulky as that of a com- 

 mon crow. It is formed externally of dry sticks and Spanish moss, 

 and is lined with withered grass and fibrous roots. The female lays 

 four eggs, sometimes five ; they are of a broad oval form, granulated 

 all over, pale blue, faintly blotched with brownish red at the smaller 

 end."— Ed. 



