306 
A ST UR A TRICAP ILL US. 
valley, and when they are hungry, nothing of a suitable size, which has life, is safe from 
their attacks. They not only catch Grouse, squirrels, and rabbits but will also capture 
Ducks upon the water, and I have frequently seen them searching for Snipe along the 
marshy edges of the rivers in Florida. 
These Hawks, according to my experience, usually place their nests in the tops of 
high pines, breeding about the middle of May in New England and a little earlier in Penn¬ 
sylvania. The parents are quite solicitous for the safety of their young, even after they 
have left the nest and I once witnessed an instance where this trait was displayed in a 
somewhat peculiar manner. A young Hawk in endeavoring to cross from a piece of wood¬ 
land, Avhere it had evidently spent its short life, to a grove not far distant, had miscalcu¬ 
lated its ability to fly so far and its strength giving out, it fell against a building, when it 
was captured by a boy who, after examining it for a time, concluded to liberate it and 
carrying it to a neighboring field, set it free. The little fellow rose promptly in air but, 
exhausted by its struggles when in captivity, was only able to fly a short distance, when 
it fell toward the ground. Just at this moment, however, the adult female which, without 
doubt, had watched the whole proceeding, emerged from the adjacent woods, flew rapidly 
to her offspring, and, as near as I could make out, passed beneath it and supported it up¬ 
on her back until she reached the shelter of some pines, where I lost sight of her. 
As these Hawks are partly migratory, they are much more abundant in New England 
in spring and autumn than at any other season, yet they are. far from being uncommon 
during summer but are quite rare in winter as the majority then pass south of us. 
GENUS II. ASTUR. THE BLUE HAWKS. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, short, broad, well curved, with the cutting edge of upper mandible slightly lobed, but the lower is not 
notched. Tarsus, moderately long and well feathered in front. Tail, not rounded, considerably exceeding in length one 
half the length of the wings which are short and not pointed. Nostril, without central tubercle. 
Members of this genus do not have the leg strikingly long and although the tarsus is usually naked to the heel behind 
it is feathered in front for half its length. The toes are long and the claws are quite long and pointed. Five outer quills 
are noticeably incised on the inner webs. 
The trachea is a little flattened throughout. The sterno-trachealis is short and stout, having its origin quite near the 
larynx, and there is a slender bronchialis extending over all the half rings, but there are no other laryngeal muscles. The 
tympaniform membrane is present and although there is a thin os transversale, it does not support a semilunar membrane. 
The walls of the oesophagus are thin: this is at first nearly straight, then is dilated into a crop, and is again straight and 
opens into a large sized proventriculus with numerous small, simple, closely packed, oval glands arranged in a zonular band 
which measures 1-15 in atricapillus, from which this and the following dimensions were taken. The stomach is of a small 
size, somewhat globular in form, with thin hut soft walls, and is lined with a soft .membrane which lies in longitudinal 
ridges. The fold of the duodenum is long, measuring 3',25, inclosing a small, irregularly formed pancreas which only occu¬ 
pies a small portion of its length. The coeca, when present, are very small. The spleen is a spherical body lying on the 
proventriculus or near it. Both lobes of the liver are short, thick, and nearly equal in size. The heart is large and trian¬ 
gular in form. There is but one species within our limits. N. B. In 19th line, page 302, for a single genus read two genera. 
ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS. 
Goshawk. 
Astur atricapillus Jard. & Selby, Illus.; 1825, pi. 121. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, large.' Sternum, stout but rather narrow, with the marginal indentations quite large. 
Tongue, quite horny, rounded but not bifid at tip. Coeca, present but small. Sexes, similar in color. 
