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PIGEON HAWK 



The Pigeon Hawk is eleven inches long, and twenty-three 

 broad; the whole upper parts are of a deep dark brown, except 

 the tail, which is crossed with bars of white; the inner vanes of 

 the quill feathers are marked with round spots of reddish brown; 

 the bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light blue color, and tipped 

 with black; the skin surrounding the eye greenish; cere the same; 

 temples and line over the eye lighter brown; the lower parts 

 brownish white, streaked laterally with dark brown ; legs yellow, 

 claws black. The female is an inch and a half longer, of a still 

 deeper color, tho marked nearly in the same manner with the ex- 

 ception of some white on the hind head. The femoral or thigh 

 feathers in both are of a remarkable length, reaching nearly to the 

 feet, and are also streaked longitudinally with dark brown. The 

 irides of the eyes of this bird have been hitherto described as being 

 of a brilliant yellow; but every specimen I have yet met with had 

 the iris of a deep hazel. I must therefore follow nature, in oppo- 

 sition to very numerous and respectable authorities. 



I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish the 

 history of this species with anecdotes of its exploits in falconry. 

 This science, if it may be so called, is among the few that have 

 never yet travelled across the Atlantic; neither does it appear 

 that the idea of training our Hawks or Eagles to the chace ever 

 suggested itself to any of the Indian nations of North America. 

 The Tartars, however, from whom, according to certain writers, 

 many of these nations originated, have long excelled in the prac- 

 tice of this sport; which is indeed better suited to an open country 

 than to one covered with forest. Tho once so honorable and so 

 universal, it is now much disused in Europe, and in Britain is 

 nearly extinct. Yet I cannot but consider it as a much more noble 

 and princely amusement than horse-racing and cock-fighting, cul- 

 tivated in certain states with so much care ; or even than pugilism, 

 which is still so highly patronized in some of those enlightened 

 countries. 



