AMERICAN BUZZARD 



79 



The White-breasted Hawk is twenty-two inches long, and 

 four feet in extent; cere pale green; bill pale blue, black at the 

 point; eye bright straw color; eyebrow projecting greatly; head 

 broad, flat and large; upper part of the head, sides of the neck 

 and back, brown streaked and seamed with white and some pale 

 rust; scapulars and wing-coverts spotted with white; wing quills 

 much resembling the preceding species; tail coverts white, hand- 

 somely barred with brown; tail slightly rounded, of a pale brown 

 color, varying in some to a sorrel, crossed by nine or ten bars of 

 black, and tipt for half an inch with white ; wings brown, barred 

 with dusky; inner vanes nearly all white; chin, throat and breast 

 pure white, with the exception of some slight touches of brown that 

 enclose the chin; femorals yellowish white, thinly marked with 

 minute touches of rust ; legs bright yellow, feathered half way 

 down ; belly broadly spotted with black or very deep brown; the 

 tips of the wings reach to the middle of the tail. 



My reasons for inclining to consider this a distinct species 

 from the last, is that of having uniformly found the present two or 

 three inches larger than the former, tho this may possibly be owing 

 to their greater age. 



