290 
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 
struck the Ducks with its breast bone, which was universally 
said to project several inches, and to be strong and sharp. 
From the best verbal descriptions I could obtain of this Hawk, 
I have strong suspicions that it is no other than the Black 
Hawk , as its wings were said to be long and very pointed, 
the colour very dark, the size nearly alike, and several other 
traits given, that seemed particularly to belong to this species. 
As I have been promised specimens of this celebrated Hawk 
next winter, a short time will enable me to determine the 
matter more satisfactorily. Few gunners in that quarter are 
unacquainted with the Duck Hawk , as it often robs them of 
their wounded birds before they are able to reach them. 
Since writing the above, I have ascertained that the Duck 
Hawk is not this species, but the celebrated Peregrine Falcon, 
a figure and description of which will be given in our third 
volume. 
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. — FALCO LINEATUS. 
Plate LIII. Fig. 3. 
Arct. Zool. p. 206, No. 102. — Lath. i. 56. No. 36 Turt. Syst. p. 153 
Peale’s Museum, No. 205. 
BUTEOf LINEATUS.— Jardine.* 
Falco (sub-genus Circus') hyemalis, Ponap. Synop. p. 33. — Red-shouldered Hawk, 
Aud. pi. 56, male and female ; Orn. Biog. i. p. 296. 
This species is more rarely met with than either of the 
former. Its haunts are in the neighbourhood of the sea. It 
preys on Larks, Sandpipers, and the small Ringed Plover, 
and frequently on Ducks. It flies high and irregularly, and 
not in the sailing manner of the Long-winged Hawks. I have 
* This bird is certainly distinct from the F. hyemalis of this volume ; and, 
independent of the distinctions of plumage, the very different habits of both 
pointed out by Mr Audubon, can hardly be reconciled. All the characters and 
habits of the bird lean much more to the Goshawks ; it delights in woody 
countries, builds on trees, and is much more active. The plumage generally is 
that of the Buzzards and Circi; but the under parts present a combination of 
the transverse barring of Astur. In addition to the description of Wilson, 
Audubon observes, that this bird is rarely observed in the middle districts, 
