( 10 7 ) 
The R I N G-T A I L ’d H A W K. 
r | 1 HIS Bird Seemed to me to be of the Size of a Common Crow. The Wing 
. 1 , when clofed is fourteen Inches long; the Leg from the Foot to the Knee is 
three Inches long. It differs from other Hawks of its Size, in having a fmaller Bill, 
and longer and flenderer Legs, in Proportion, than I have obferved in any of the greater 
Kinds of Hawks. It refembles our Sparrow-Hawk in the Slendernefs of its Legs, and 
fmall Bill, and is fomething like it in Colour, tho’ at lead four Times its Magnitude. 
Its Bill is of a dark Horn-Colour, or blackifh, the Nodrils cover’d with a yellow 
Skin, which encompaffes the upper and lower Chaps, and extends from the Angles 
of the Mouth as far back as the Eyes; this Skin is befet thinly with black ftiff Fea¬ 
thers ; the Bill is hooked, as in all of this Kind, but hath no Angle on the Edges of 
the upper Chap, as is common, but only a little Bend or Wave; the Head is of a 
dufky or blackifh Colour, having a little White on the Forehead joining to the Bill, 
and a light Mark palling above each Eye; the Feathers beneath the Bill are alfo light 
colour’d for a little Space; the Fore-part of the Neck and Hinder-part of the Head are 
of a Clay-colour, intermixed with a dufky Brown ; the upper Part of the Neck, the 
Back and Wings, are of a dark dufky Brown; the Edges of fome of the Middle 
Quills are Afh-colour; the In fide of the Wing is White, except the Ends of the 
Quills, which are dufky ; the inner Coverts are fprinkled with fmall brown Spots, and 
the inner Webs of the Quills are faintly barred a-crofs with narrow dufky Lines, the 
Rump and Covert Feathers of the Tail are white ; which Whitenefsjoining with the 
white Feathers beneath the Tail, forms a white Ring round the Tail; the middle 
Feathers of the Tail are dufkv, the next on each Side of a blueifh Afh-colour, the 
outermofl White, all tranfverfly marked with feven or eight dufky Lines; the Tail 
beneath is almort White, the Bars hardly appearing through the Feathers; the Bread:,. 
Belly, Thighs, and Covert Feathers under the Tail are White, intermixed with fome 
Reddifh-brown Spots tranfverfly waved on the Bread and Thighs, in the Form ^f 
Hearts on the Belly, and in half-moon-like Spots on the lower Belly and the Coverts 
under the Tail; the Legs and Feet are of a bright Yellow or Gold-colour, the outer 
Toe joined the middlemod by a Membrane, the Claws are Black. 
Hudjon' &~Bay in North America is the native Place of this Bird, from whence it was- brought,, 
with many others, by Mr. Ijham , who has obliged me extremely by furnifhing me with more 
than thirty different Species of Birds, of which we have hitherto had little or no Knowledge, 
the far greateft Part of them being Non-defcripts. As I fhall in the Courle of this Work have 
Occafion frequently to mention the above curious Gentleman’s Name, it will be here neceffary 
to let the Reader know, that Mr. Ijham has been employ’d for many Years in the Service of the 
Hudjon’s-Bay Company, and has, for fome Years paft, been Governor under them at different 
Times, of feveral of their Forts and Settlements in the moft Northern habitable Parts of America ; 
where at his leifure Times, his commendable Curiofity led him to make a Colledlion of all the 
Beafts,Birds, and Fifties of thofe Countries, as well as the Habits,Toys,and Utenfils of the native 
Americans. The Furs of the Beafts, and the Skins of the Birds were fluffed, and preferved very 
clean and perfect, and brought to London in the Year 1745. Mr. Ijham is now in London , 
[1749] where he will flay for a fhort Time, and has favour’d me with the Pleafure of his 
Converfation. 
Nothing exadlly agreeing with the above defcrib’d Bird, can be met with in our natural Hif- 
torians. What comes nearefl its Description, is the Ring-Tail deScribed by JVillughby , P. 72. 
The 
