falconioe. 53 



of land, almost encircled by a bend of the Saskatchewan. They sailed round the 

 spot in a wide circle, occasionally settling- on the top of a tree, but were too wary 

 to allow us to come within gunshot ; so that, after spending- much time in vain, 

 we were fain to relinquish the chase. In the softness and fulness of its plumage, 

 its feathered legs, and habits, this bird bears some resemblance to the Owls. It 

 flies slowly, sits for a long time on the bough of a tree, watching for mice, frogs, 

 &c, and is often seen skimming over swampy pieces of ground, and hunting for 

 its prey by the subdued daylight, which illuminates even the midnight hours in the 

 high parallels of latitude. Wilson observes that, in Pennsylvania, it is in the 

 habit of coursing over the meadows long after the sun has set. It is fitted for 

 this nocturnal chase by the softness of its plumage, which contributes to render its 

 flight noiseless, like that of an Owl. — R. 



The small bill of the B. lagopus, with scarcely an indication of the festoon or 

 sinus, and its long and attenuated wings, may be thought to place it as a typical 

 example of this division ; but the foregoing observation renders the accuracy of 

 this supposition very questionable. — Sw. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen in very perfect plumage, killed near the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, lat. 55°, Sept. 1826, 



supposed to be a male. 



Colour. — The head and adjoining part of the neck are pale wood-brown approaching to 

 white, streaked longitudinally with liver-brown. The remainder of the neck, the back, scapu- 

 laries, and lesser wing coverts, are liver-brown, each feather bordered laterally, but not at 

 the end, with reddish-orange or bright rust-colour. These edgings are darker and very nar- 

 row on the rump ; but they are broad on the tail coverts, which are also tipped with white. 

 The outer webs of the bastard wing, greater coverts, and secondaries, are liver-brown ; their 

 inner webs are mostly white, barred next the shafts with brown. The ends of the primaries 

 are blackish-brown, with a greyish tinge on the outer webs ; the inner webs next the quills are 

 pure white, with some slight brown markings along the shaft. The tail is brownish-white on 

 the basal half, and blackish-brown on the remainder, with a narrow tip of soiled white. The 

 feathers have a ferruginous border posteriorly ; and there is much white on their inner webs. 

 Under surface. The throat and under aspect of the neck are coloured like the upper surface, 

 but the brown streaks are narrower. The breast is wood-brown, with liver-brown shafts. The 

 belly and flanks are dark umber-brown, which, towards the vent, is mixed with ferruginous ; 

 and in the outer thigh feathers these two colours are equal in quantity, the dark one being con- 

 fined to the centres of the feathers. The under tail coverts are white, tinged with brown. The 

 under surface of the tail is yellowish-white on the basal, and slate-grey on the distal half. The 

 linings of the wings are mostly wood-brown : there is a large blackish -brown patch near the 

 outer edge of the wing; and the under primary coverts are blackish-grey. The inner surfaces 

 of the quill feathers are pure white at the base and shining blackish-brown towards their tips. 



