GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 125 



mustaches, are of a pale buff color; breast below and lower parts 

 reddish buff, or pale cinnamon, handsomely marked with romid- 

 ish or heart shaped spots of black ; sides broadly barred with 

 black; the femorals are elegantly ornamented with herring-bones 

 of black on a buff ground ; the vent is pale buff, marked as the 

 femorals, though with less numerous spots ; the feet and legs are 

 of a corn yellow, the latter short and stout, feathered a little be- 

 low the knees, the bare part one inch in length; span of the foot 

 five inches, with a large protuberant sole ; the claws are large and 

 black, hind claw the largest. Whether the cere is yellow, or flesh 

 colored we were uncertain, as the bird had been some time killed 

 when received, supposed the former. 



The most striking characters of this species are the broad 

 patch of black dropping below the eye, and the uncommonly large 

 feet. It is stout, heavy, and firmly put together. 



The bird from which the above description was taken, was 

 shot in a cedar swamp in Cape May county, Newjersey. It was 

 a female, and contained the remains of small birds, among which 

 were discovered the legs of the Sanderling Plover. The figure in 

 the plate is an excellent resemblance of the original, which is 

 handsomely set up in the museum of Mr. Peale. 



VOL. 



IX. 



