AVES. 307 
This sub-family is represented by several African and Asiatic species, of 
which may be mentioned those composing the genera Avicida and Baza, 
while in South America we find the genus Cymindis, of which there arc 
several common species. The C. cayanensis is one of the most numerous ; 
another remarkable for its disproportionately large bill (Cymindis wilsonii) 
inhabits the Island of Cuba. 
Sub-fam. 6. Accipitrine, or Sparrow Hawks. Bill short, much curved 
from the base to the tip, which is very sharp, margins conspicuously festooned ; 
head small; wings moderate ; tail ample. ‘Tarsi lengthened, middle toe much 
the longest, anterior claws very unequal, the inmost being much the strongest. 
Size generally small, never decidedly large. 
The numerous birds of this large sub-family are distributed throughout 
the world, though each continent has peculiar species. They are generally 
characterized by their slender elongated bodies, rounded wings, and long 
tail, and are amongst the fiercest and most destructive of all the hawks. 
While the true falcons, eagles, and buzzards, are in great measure 
restricted to such prey as may be accidentally exposed, the sparrow- 
hawks push boldly into the densest thickets and deepest recesses of the 
forest in pursuit of birds. and small quadrupeds which habitually resort to 
such localities. 
The most remarkable species of this sub-famity are the goshawks, the 
European species of which is the Astur palumbarius (pl. 105, fig. 5). It 
is a beautiful bird, with lead-colored and white plumage, and was formerly 
held in high estimation for the purposes of falconry. This species is more fre- 
quently represented in pictures having falconry for their subject than any 
other. The American species, A. atricapillus, is very similar to its European 
brother ; it is frequently met with along the northern frontier of the United 
States, and occasionally ventures as far south as Philadelphia. Little is known 
of its history. 
A second American species, Cooper’s hawk (A. cooperi), is much more fre- 
quent. It is about one third less than the goshawk, and of the same active 
and destructive habits ; it is very extensively diffused over the continent, hav- 
- ing been observed from the sea-coast of New Jersey to the Rocky Mountains 
and Mexico. ‘ 
The genus Accipiter, which belongs to this sub-family, contains the 
smallest hawks of Europe and America. Of the former continent the 
common sparrow-hawk, A. nisus (pl. 105, fig. 6), is the smallest. It is 
widely distributed, and is a very bold and successful little hunter after 
small mammalia, birds, and insects. The smallest American species is the 
sharp-shinned hawk of Wilson, A. fuscus, which is remarkable for pos- 
sessing almost exactly the plumage of the much larger Cooper’s hawk, and 
resembles to a considerable degree also the sparrow-hawk of Europe. 
Incapable, of course, on account of its diminutive size, of seizing any other 
than the smallest animals, it is yet conspicuous for the ferocity of its 
attacks upon small birds or young chickens. It is the “chicken hawk” of 
the farmer, and has well earned its appellation. Rather less than the 
sparrow-hawk, it may at once be distinguished by its more slender form, 
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