70 
FALCO PENNSYLVANICUS. 
cliin, white ; breast the same, streaked with brown ; 
bars on the tail rather narrower, but in tint and number 
the same ; belly and vent, white ; feet and shins exactly 
as in the female ; the toes have the same pendulous 
lobes which mark those of the female ; the wings barred 
with black, very noticeable on the lower side. 
Since writing the above, I have shot another spe- 
cimen of this hawk, corresponding in almost every 
particular with the male last mentioned; and which 
on dissection also proves to be a male. This last had 
within the grasp of his sharp talons a small lizard, just 
killed, on which he was about to feed. How he con- 
trived to get possession of it appeared to me matter of 
surprise, as lightning itself seems scarcely more fleet 
than this little reptile, which is known in many parts of 
the country by the name of the swift. So rapid are its 
motions, that, in passing from one place to another, it 
vanishes, and actually eludes the eye in running a dis- 
tance of twelve or fifteen feet. It is frequently seen 
on fences that are covered with gray moss and lichen, 
which in colour it very much resembles ; it seeks shefter 
in hollow trees, and also in the ground about their 
decayed roots. They are most numerous in hilly parts 
of the country, particularly on the declivities of the 
Blue Mountain, among the crevices of rocks and stones. 
When they are disposed to run, it is almost impossible 
to shoot them, as they disappear at the first touch of 
the trigger. 
14 . FALCO PENNSYLVANICUS , * WILSON. 
SLATE COLOURED HAWK. OLD BIRD. 
WILSON, PLATE XLVI. FIG. I. 
This elegant and spirited little hawk is a native of 
Pennsylvania, and of the Atlantic states generally ; and 
* This bird is the adult of the falco velox. 
