86 
FALCO HYEMALIS. 
He is a dcxterons frog- catcher; and, that he 
pursue his profession with full effect, takes np 
winter residence almost entirely amon^ our meado" 
and marshes. He sometimes stuffs himself so eno,_ 
mously with these reptiles, that the prominency of 
(Taw makes a large hunch, and he appears to fly * j 
difficulty. I hare taken the broken fragments, 
whole carcass(!S of ten frogs, of different dimeusioi'” 
from the croj) of a single individual. Of his genius 
other exploits, I am unable to say much. He appe‘"' 
to be a fearless and active bird, silent, and not very si*. ' 
One which I kept for some time, and which was sliga’A 
wounded, disdained all attempts made to reconcile 'i" 
to confinement; and would not suffer a person 
approach without being highly irritated, throW»>'s 
himself backward, and striking, with expanded talo"“j’ 
with great fury. Though shorter winged than som* ^ 
his tribe, yet I have no doubt, but, with proper eaf ’ 
ho might be trained to strike nobler game, m a bo* • 
style, and with great effect. But the education ^ 
hawks in this country may well be postponed for. 
time, until fewer improvements remain to be made > 
that of the human subject. , 
Length of the winter hawk twenty inches ; ext®** 
forty-one inches, or nearly throe feet six inches; er* 
and legs, yellow, the latter long, and feathered for ^ 
inch below the knee ; bill, bluish black, small, furnish^ i 
with a tooth in the upper mandible ; eye, bright jj i 
cartilage over the eye, very prominent, and of a o' I 
green ; head, .sides of the neck, and throat, dark broo ; 
streaked with white ; lesser coverts with a strong gfo.j, 
of ferruginous; sccondan(|s, pale brown, indistinc^ 
barred with darker; primaries, brownish orange, Spo*' 
with black, wholly black at the tips ; tail, long, sli?** 
rounded, barred alternat(dy with dark and pale broo^'^j 
inner vanes, white, exterior feathers, bromfisb 9'’OOr 
wings, when closed, reach rather beyond the middle 
the tail; tail coverts, white, marked with hra.^j^ 
shaped spots of brown, breast and belly, white, 
numerous long di-ops of brown, the shafts blackis 
