86 
THE GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 
one of the holes, seize a bird, and issue by another hole in an instant, causing 
such terror among the rest as to render me fearful that they would abandon 
the place. However, I fortunately shot the depredator. 
They occasionally feed on dead fish that have floated to the shores or sand 
bars. I saw several of them thus occupied while descending the Mississippi 
on a journey undertaken expressly for the purpose of observing and procuring 
different specimens of birds, and which lasted four months, as I followed the 
windings of that great river, floating down it only a few miles daily. During 
that period, I and my companions counted upwards of fifty of these Hawks, 
and killed several, among which was the female represented in the plate now 
before you, and which was found to contain in its stomach bones of birds, a 
few downy feathers, the gizzard of a Teal, and the eyes and many scales of a 
fish. It was shot on the 26th December, 1820. The ovary contained 
numerous eggs, two of which were as large as peas. 
Whilst in quest of food, the Great-footed Hawk will frequently alight on 
the highest dead branch of a tree in the immediate neighbourhood of such 
wet or marshy grounds as the Common Snipe resorts to by preference. His 
head is seen moving in short starts, as if he were counting every little space 
below ; and while so engaged, the moment he spies a Snipe, down he darts 
like an arrow, making a rustling noise with his wings that may be heard 
several hundred yards off, seizes the Snipe, and flies away to some near wood 
to devour it. 
It is a cleanly bird, in respect to feeding. No sooner is the prey dead 
than the Falcon turns its belly upward, and begins to pluck it with his bill, 
which he does very expertly, holding it meantime quite fast in his talons ; 
and as soon as a portion is cleared of feathers, tears the flesh in large pieces, 
and swallows it with great avidity. If it is a large bird, he leares the refuse 
parts, but, if small, swallows the whole in pieces. Should he be approached 
by an enemy, he rises with it and flies off into the interior of the woods, or 
if he happens to be in a meadow, to some considerable distance, he being- 
more wary at such times than when he has alighted on a tree. 
The Great-footed Hawk is a heavy, compact, and firmly built bird for its 
size, and when arrived at maturity, extremely muscular, with very tough 
flesh. The plumage differs greatly according to age. I have seen it vary in 
different individuals, from the deepest chocolate-brown to light grey. Their 
grasp is so firm, that should one be hit while perched, and not shot quite 
dead, it will cling to the branch until life has departed. 
Like most other Hawks, this is a solitary bird, except during the breeding 
season, at the beginning of which it is seen in pairs. Their season of breeding 
is so very early, that it might be said to be in winter. I have seen the male 
caressing the female as early as the first days of December. 
