CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTOBY OF ALASKA. 157 



334. Accipiter atrioapillus (Wils.). American Goshawk. 



The American Goshawk is a common species throughout the Yukon Valley, and apparently 

 confines itself entirely to the mainland, although plentiful along the seashore. Specimens were 

 obtained from Fort Yukon, Yukon Delta, and the vicinity of Saint Michael's. The tracts preferred 

 by this Goshawk are the narrow valleys, borders of streams, and the open tundra, which it con- 

 stantly scans for Ptarmigan and small mammals; the Lemming forming a considerable portion of 

 its food. It will sit for hours in some secluded spot, awaiting a Ptarmigan to raise its wings. No 

 sooner does its prey rise a few feet from the earth than with a few rapid strokes of the wing, and a 

 short sail, the Goshawk is brought within seizing distance; it pounces upon the bird, grasping it 

 with both feet under the wings ; and after giving it a few blows on the head they both fall to the 

 ground; often tumbling several feet before they stop; the Hawk not relinquishing its hold during 

 the time. During the mating season of the Ptarmigans many males suffer death while striving to 

 gain the affection of the female, for as he launches high in air, rattling his hoarse note of defiance 

 to any other male of its kind in the vicinity, the Goshawk darts from a patch of alders or willows, 

 or from the edge of the neighboring bluff, and with a dash they come to the ground, often within 

 few yards of the terror-stricken female, which now seeks safety in flight as distant as her wings 

 will carry her. I have seen this hawk sail without a quiver of its pinions, until within seizing 

 distance of its quarry, and suddenly throw its wings back, when with a clash they came together, 

 and the vicinity was filled with white feathers, floating peacefully through the air. I secured both 

 birds, and found the entire side of the Ptarmigan ripped open. 



On another occasion I shot a fine individual as it rose from a small clump of willow, to which 

 I had approached unobserved by the bird. It had been devouring a Ptarmigan, which it had se- 

 cured but a little while before. The flesh of the bird was yet warm, though nearly all devoured. 

 The Goshawk was only wing-tipped with shot and proved to be quite vicious, seizing my boot 

 with its talons and striving to grasp my hand with its beak. The bird was so quick that I had to 

 call the assistance of a native to detach the claws from my clothing. Upon skinning the bird I 

 found its crop to be full of the fles-h of the bird it was eating when I flushed it. I am under the 

 impression that the Goshawk is not able to fly with the weight of a Ptarmigan in its claws. It is 

 a resident of the interior and comes to the coast quite early in spring, as is attested by the fact 

 that I killed one specimen April 28, and a fine example was brought to me from the mouth of 

 the Upturn (part of the northern Yukon Delta), where it was killed April 25. It was a female, 

 and contained an egg quite ready for extrusion, and had already received a pale bluish-green color 

 on the shell. The bird was shot while on the nest, placed in a small poplar tree. The nest was 

 composed of sticks and a few blades of grass. The size was quite bulky, measuring nearly two feet 

 in extreme diameter, and having but a slight depression. The bird was extremely vicious, choosing 

 to remain on the nest rather than desert it. The male attacked the native and tore his cotton shirt 

 into shreds and snatched the cap from the head of the astonished man, who was so surprised, at 

 the impetuosity of the attack, that he struck wildly at the bird with his arms, and before he could 

 reload his gun the bird took flight. This Goshawk breeds wherever found in summer, placing its 

 nest in a tree or shrub, or even on the ledge of a cliff, inaccessible to foxes or other enemies. 



The Innuit prize the tail and wing feathers of the Goshawk very highly for tipping the shafts 

 of their arrows and darts. The relative value of one of these birds is that of two skins of the adult 

 reindeer. They give the name l7v ing u likh tuk to this species, in allusion to the bars on the tail- 

 feathers. The iris of this species is yellowish, the feet nearly the same color, lighter and brighter 

 in spring and summer and darker in winter. The cere in fresh specimens is pale greenish, becom- 

 ing yellow on drying. The beak is pale bluish, to dusky or clouded, and always having a black 

 tip. Claws always black. The eyelids yellowish or yellowish -green. This species apparently 

 prefer tracts of country the opposite to that chosen by its near relative, A. atricapillus striatulus, of 

 the lower portion of the Alaskan territory ; the latter preferring the more heavily wooded por- 

 tions. I was led to conclude that the American Goshawk is not apt to wander over great areas of 

 country, but that after it has chosen a locality, which will afford a supply of food, it remains in that 

 immediate vicinity, changing its location only in winter upon stress of weather. 



