28 
GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 
change of plumage. It was a female, and -was allowed the free range 
of a stable and garden. Notwithstanding my care, it lived but nine 
months. On dissection, I found her eggs very small, although she had 
every appearance of being an adult. Around the base of the heart, 
and near the ovaries, I discovered two or three round worms, of about 
nine inches in length. 
During the time that she was in my possession she did not moult ; 
and the change in the color of the plumage was but shght. In winter, 
the upper parts were dark brown, but in the summer there was an 
appearance of ash color on the back and wing-coverts. The fact, that 
the plumage of birds undergoes a change of color, independent of moult- 
ing, appears to be now well ascertained ; and it is with pleasure that 
I can add my testimony, on this subject, to the sensible "Kemarks on 
the Changes of the Plumage of Birds," which were published in the 
twelfth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 
The paper in question was written by the Rev. William Whitear. 
My Duck Hawk never became sufficiently domesticated to permit me 
to handle her ; and if an attempt were made to touch her, she would 
either hop away in anger, or, if prevented from retreating, she would 
spring upon me, and strike, furiously, Avith one of her powerful feet, 
which were capable of inflicting severe Avounds. Unless when very 
hungry, she would not touch cooked food ; she preferred fresh-killed 
meat, especially tender beef and mutton, generally rtyecting the fat. 
She was fond of small birds, but a live duck was her supreme delight ; 
the sight of one would make her almost frantic ; at such times the 
vigor and activity of her movements, and the animation of her eye, 
were truly admirable. Her antipathy to cats was great, and when one 
of these animals approached her, she manifested her displeasure by 
raising her plumes, opening her mouth, and uttering some sounds, Avhich 
were doubtless intended as a premonition of danger. If, regardless of 
all these, the cat got within striking distance, one blow from the Hawk 
was generally sufficient to compel the intruder to a hasty retreat.* 
* From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. 
