316 
BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 
the limb of a large elm directly over the road. It did not appear to pay the slightest at¬ 
tention to me, for it allowed me to approach very near it and just as I was passing beneath 
the tree, it launched into air, flew over me, darted into a brush heap on the opposite side 
of the way, and, taking a few quick turns, emerged bearing a Brown Thrush in its talons. 
It flew a short distance with its prey and, alighting on a small tree near, coolly began to 
devour it. This, I say, was my first acquaintance with the species and the peculiarities 
displayed by this individual, I have since found to be characteristic of the Broad-winged 
Hawks wherever they occur. They seldom hunt by circling in air, like the Red-shoul¬ 
dered and other allied species, but pounce upon their prey from some elevation, or hawk 
about, close to the thickets. They are also more agile than the species just mentioned 
and are much tamer; indeed, it would be difficult to find Hawks more unsuspicious and 
the following instances, with the one related, will illustrate this trait. I was searching 
for birds on Key West one day and when crossing a clearing, I observed a small Hawk 
perched on a tree not far away. As I approached, it darted downward and disappeared 
behind a large hedge of oleanders, then in full bloom. I cautiously made my way among 
the shrubbery until I reached the opposite side, then I carefully examined the bushes and 
adjacent ground in search of the Hawk, but not seeing it, concluded that it had escaped, 
so stepped carelessly out into the open; and was proceeding on my way, when, glancing 
downward almost at my feet, I was astonished to see the Hawk quietly engaged in eating 
a mouse that it had captured in a bunch of weeds near. I was obliged to make a move¬ 
ment with my gun in order to make the bird rise, when I shot it. Last summer, when in 
company with the Bangs Brothers at Tyngsborough, I noticed a small Hawk perched on 
top of a dead stub in a wood. While 1 was endeavoring to obtain a shot, it fleiv a short 
distance, alighting in a spot where I could not see it, but I continued to walk in the di¬ 
rection that it took and, after going as far as I thought it had flown, stopped to examine 
the branches of the trees, when I was surprised to see the object of my search, sitting on 
a low limb a few yards away, gazing quietly at me. 
The Broad-winged Hawks breed a little later than members of the same genus, nest¬ 
ing about the first week in May in New England, usually choosing pines in which to build 
their domiciles. The young appear in due course and accompany their parents for a short 
time, after which they learn to hunt for themselves. Like most Hawks, these birds moult 
in August, and in October, migrate southward. 
GENUS n. ARCHIBUTEO. THE FEATHER-LEGGED HAWKS. 
Gen. Ch. Sternum, rather wide and short, being much wider than it is high, including the keel. Tarsus, feathered 
to the toes in front. 
The sterno-trachealis varies in thickness and there is a small bronchialis, but no other laryngeal muscles. The trachea 
is a little flattened throughout. The oesophagus is dilated near the middle into quite a large crop, and the walls are very 
thin. The proventriculus is rather large, with quite small, simple, oval glands, arranged in a zonular band which meas¬ 
ures from 1‘00 to 125 in width. The stomach is somewhat globular in form, with very thin walls, lined with a soft mem¬ 
brane. The fold of the duodenum is long, inclosing a small, irregularly formed pancreas which only occupies a short por¬ 
tion of its entire length. The cceca are very small. Both lobes of the liver are about equal in size, and the heart is large 
and pointed. The spleen is an oval shaped body situated on the proventriculus. There is but one species found within our 
limits. 
