BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 
67 
brown ; belly and vent, like tlie breast, white, but more 
thinly marked with pointed spots of brown; femorals, 
brownish white, thickly marked with small touches of 
brown and white ; vent, white ; legs, very stout ; feet, 
coarsely scaled, both of a dirty orange yellow; claws, 
semicircular, strong and very sharp, hind one consider- 
ably the largest. 
While examining the plumage of this bird, a short 
time after it was shot, one of those winged ticks with 
which many of our birds are infested, appeared on the 
surface of the feathers, moving about, as they usually 
do, backwards or sideways like a crab, among the 
plumage, with great facility. The fish-hawk, in par- 
ticular, is greatly pestered with these vermin, which 
occasionally leave him, as suits their convenience. A 
gentleman who made the experiment, assured me, that, 
on plunging a live fish-hawk under water, several of 
these winged ticks remained hovering over the spot, 
and, the instant the hawk rose above the surface, darted 
again among his plumage. The experiment was several 
times made, with the like result. As soon, however, 
as these parasites perceive the dead body of their patron 
beginning to become cold, they abandon it ; and, if the 
person who holds it have his head uncovered, dive 
instantly among his hair, as I have myself frequently 
experienced; and, though driven from thence, repeatedly 
return, till they are caught and destroyed. There are 
various kinds of these ticks. Of the one found on the 
present hawk, the head and thorax were light brown ; 
the legs, six in number, of a bright green, their joints 
moving almost horizontally, and thus enabling the 
creature to pass with the greatest ease between the 
laminae of feathers; the wings were single, of a dark 
amber colour, and twice as long as the body, which 
widened towards the extremity, where it was slightly 
indented ; feet, two clawed. 
This insect lived for several days between the crystal 
and dial-plate of a watch, carried in the pocket ; but, 
being placed for a few minutes in the sun, fell into 
convulsions and died. 
