FALCONID^E. 33 



bird that happened to come within its reach. It is the least shy of any of the Ame- 

 rican hawks, and when on its perch will suffer the fowler to advance to the foot of 

 the tree, provided he has the precaution to make a slow and devious approach. 

 He is not, however, unnoticed; for the bird shows, by the motion of its head, 

 that it is carefully watching his manoeuvres ; yet, unless he walks directly to- 

 wards it, it is not readily alarmed. When at rest, its wings are closely applied 

 to the sides, with their tips lying over the tail about one-third from its end, and 

 the tail itself, being closely shut up, looks long and narrow. If its suspicions 

 be excited, it raises and depresses its head quickly two or three times, and 

 spreads its tail, but does not open its wings until the instant it takes flight. 

 The individuals shot at Carlton had mice or small birds in their stomachs. Wilson 

 enumerates, also, snakes, lizards, and grasshoppers, as part of its food. It is said 

 to make its nest in a hollow tree, and to lay four or five eggs, which are of a light 

 brownish-yellow colour, spotted with a darker tint*. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a male, in full plumage, killed in the vicinity of Carlton House, lat. 53°, May, 1827- 



Colour. — The crown of the head is occupied by a circular patch of deep orange-brown, 

 which is enclosed by a coronet of clear blackish-grey. Beneath this there are seven conspi- 

 cuous black marks ; one situated on the nape of the neck, and blending with the grey coronet, 

 and three on each side of the head below the level of the eye : the two anterior of these marks 

 form together almost two-thirds of a circle, which includes the white cheek; and the third 

 and smaller one, situated farther back, is surrounded by a pale-brown tint. There is a narrow 

 white line between the forehead and the base of the bill, and another over the eye. 



The dorsal aspect of the neck, the back, and the scapularies, are of a clear-brown colour, 

 considerably paler than the crown of the head; and on the tips of the scapularies and between 

 the shoulders there are a few oval spots and transverse bars of black. The rump and tail 

 coverts are of a brighter and purer orange-brown than the crown of the head, and, like the 

 neck, are unspotted. The tail feathers are precisely of the same colour with their coverts ; 

 but a subterminal band of black crosses both webs, and they are narrowly tipped with white : 

 the exterior feather has a white outer web, with an undulated black line along its shaft ; 

 and there is a narrower interrupted black bar behind the subterminal one on the other fea- 

 thers. The lesser wing coverts and the secondary coverts are pure bluish-grey, regularly 

 marked with round spots about the size of peas. The bastard wing and the primary coverts 

 are marked alternately with black and bluish-grey. The quill feathers are brownish-black, with 

 black shafts, and on their inner webs there are from five to eight semi-oval white marks, regu- 

 larly alternating with narrower processes of the black. A square black patch is formed by 

 the bases of the outer webs of the secondaries being of that hue : their tips are bluish-grey 



* Wilson, ii. p. 118. 



