GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 
27 
are black ; the wings and scapulars are brownisli black, each feather 
edged with paler, the former long and pointed, reaching almost to the 
end of the tail ; the primaries and secondaries are marked transversely, 
on the inner vanes, with large oblong spots of ferruginous white ; the 
exterior edge of the tip of the secondaries curiously scallopped, as if a 
piece had been cut out ; the tertials incline to ash color ; the lining of 
the Avings is beautifully barred with black and white, and tinged with 
ferruginous ; on a close examination, the scapulars and tertials are found 
to be barred with faint ash ; all the shafts are black ; the rump and 
tail-coverts are light ash, marked Avith large dusky bars ; the tail is 
rounding, black, tipped with reddish Avhite, and crossed Avith eight nar- 
row bars of very faint ash ; the chin and breast, encircling the black 
mustaches, are of a pale buff color ; breast beloAV, and loAvor parts, red- 
dish buff, or pale cinnamon, handsomely marked Avith roundish or heart- 
shaped spots of black ; sides broadly barred Avith black ; the femorals 
are elegantly ornamented Avith herring-bones of black, on a buff ground ; 
the vent is pale buff, marked as the femorals, though Avitli less numerous 
spots ; the feet and legs are of a dirty Avhite, stained Avith yellow ochre, 
the legs short and stout, feathered a little beloAV the knees, the l^are part 
one inch in length ; span of the foot five inches, Avith a large protuberant 
sole ; middle toe as long as the tarsus ; the claAA^s are large and black, 
middle one three-quarters of an inch long, hind claAA' seven-eighths of an 
inch. 
The most striking characters of this species are the broad patch of 
black dropping beloAv the eye, and the uncommonly large feet. It is 
stout, heavy, and firmly put together. 
The bird from Avhich the above description was taken, Avas shot in a 
cedar sAvamp, in Cape May county, Noav Jersey. It was a female, and 
contained the remains of small birds, among which were discovered the 
legs of the Sanderling. The figure in the plate is an excellent resem- 
blance of the original, which was handsomely set up in the Philadelphia 
Museum. 
I am indebted to Mr. Titian Pcale, for the vicAV of an immature 
specimen of the Duck HaAvk, Avhich he shot near the Kocky Mountains ; 
it was quite young, having just left the nest. Its colors Avere principally 
a dirty Avhite, and a reddish brown ; the patch beloAV the eye not very 
conspicuous ; but the characters of the bill and feet proved the species. 
According to Temminck, the Peregrine Falcon never inhabits marshy 
countries ; but this, I presume, is a mistake, as our bird is remarkable 
for its attachment to those places Avhich are affected by the water fowl ; 
and it is well knoAvn that the latter abound in all the marshes of the 
coast. 
In the month of November, 1823, I procured a fine living specimen 
of the Duck IlaAvk, which I preserved, with the vieAV of noting its 
