PIGEON HAWK. 255 
highly irritated. He frequently flies low, skimming a little 
above the field. I have never seen his nest.* 
The Pigeon Hawk is eleven inches long, and twenty-three 
broad ; the whole upper parts are of a deep dark brown, except 
the tail, which is crossed with bars of white ; the inner vanes 
of the quill-featliers are marked with round spots of reddish 
brown ; the bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light blue 
colour, and tipt with black ; the skin surrounding the eye, 
greenish ; cere, the same ; temples and line over the eye, 
lighter brown ; the lower parts, brownish white, streaked 
laterally with dark brown ; legs, yellow ; claws, black. The 
female is an inch and a half longer, of a still deeper colour, 
though marked nearly in the same manner, with the exception 
of some wdiite on the hind head. The femoral, or thigh 
feathers, in both are of a remarkable length, reaching nearly 
to the feet, and are also streaked longitudinally with dark 
brown. The irides of the eyes of this bird have been hitherto 
described as being of a brilliant yellow ; but every specimen 
I have yet met with had the iris of a deep hazel. I must 
therefore follow nature, in opposition to very numerous and 
respectable authorities. 
I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish 
the history of this species with anecdotes of its exploits in 
falconry. This science, if it may be so called, is among the 
few that have never yet travelled across the Atlantic ; neither 
does it appear that the idea of training our Hawks or Eagles to 
the chase, ever suggested itself to any of the Indian nations 
of North America. The Tartars, however, from whom, 
according to certain writers, many of these nations originated, 
* Mr Hutchins, in his notes on the Hudson’s Bay birds, informs us, that 
this species makes its nest in hollow rocks and trees, of sticks and grass, lined 
with feathers, laying from two to four white eggs, thinly marked with red 
spots. 
This species has the form of the Falcons, with the bill strongly toothed, 
but somewhat of the plumage of the Sparrow Hawks. The colour of the 
eggs is also that of the latter. — Ed. 
