300 BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 



tipt also slightly with whitish ; tail coverts, spotted with white; 

 wings, dusky brown, indistinctly barred with black ; greater 

 part of the inner vanes, snowy ; lesser coverts and upper part 

 of the back, tipt and streaked with bright ferruginous ; the 

 bars of black are very distinct on the lower side of the wing ; 

 lining of the wing, brownish white, beautifully marked with 

 small arrow-heads of brown ; chin, white, surrounded by 

 streaks of black ; breast and sides, elegantly spotted with 

 large arrow-heads of brown, centred with pale brown ; belly 

 and vent, like the breast, white, but more thinly marked with 

 pointed spots of brown ; femorals, brownish white, thickly 

 marked with small touches of brown and white ; vent, white ; 

 legs, very stout ; feet, coarsely scaled, both of a dirty orange 

 yellow ; claws, semicircular, strong and very sharp, hind one 

 considerably the largest. 



While examining the plumage of this bird, a short time 

 after it was shot, one of those winged ticks with which many 

 of our birds are infested appeared on the surface of the 

 feathers, moving about, as they usually do, backwards or side- 

 ways like a crab, among the plumage with great facility. 

 The fish hawk, in particular, is greatly pestered with these 

 vermin, which occasionally leave him, as suits their convenience. 

 A gentleman who made the experiment assured me, that on 

 plunging a live fish hawk under water, several of these winged 

 ticks remained hoveling over the spot, and, the instant the 

 hawk rose above the surface, darted again among his plumage. 

 The experiment was several times made, with the like result. 

 As soon, however, as these parasites perceive the dead body of 

 their patron beginning to become cold, they abandon it ; and, 

 if the person who holds it have his head uncovered, dive in- 

 stantly among his hair, as I have myself frequently experienced; 

 and, though driven from thence, repeatedly return, till they 

 are caught and destroyed. There are various kinds of these 

 ticks : the one found on the present hawk is figured beside 

 him. The head and thorax were light brown ; the legs, six 

 in number, of a bright green, their joints moving almost hori- 



