be seen except under most favorable circumstances. The 
scream of the latter bird is a familiar one as it is frequently 
imitated by the Blue-Jay, while the Red-tailed Hawk’s 
scream is strongly suggestive of the sound of escaping steam. 
The Rough-legged Hawk is the largest in the class and can 
be distinguished at a great distance in the light-phase by its 
white rump and also by the black band which may generally 
be seen on the lower chest. In the dark-phase it may be as 
black as a Crow even to its rump and lower parts, but its 
Buteo-shape makes its recognition easy in either phase. 
HI. Accipiters. From the smallest to the largest these 
are the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the Cooper’s Hawk and the 
Goshawk, the last named properly an Astur. The Sharp- 
shinned Hawk is the smallest, but it must be remembered that 
female hawks, especially in this group, are so much larger 
than the male; that the female Sharp-shinned Hawk is nearly 
as large as the male Cooper’s Hawk. The shape of the ends 
of the tails in these two hawks is the crucial point: in the 
Sharp-shinned it is square-cut, in the Cooper’s it is rounded, 
like a coop, an easy mnemonic. 
The immature Goshawk is larger than a Cooper’s Hawk, 
but resembles it in form and general coloration. The Adult 
Goshawk, however, is noticeable by reason of its slaty gray 
back, black top to the head and black cheek patch, and by 
the fine barring on the white under parts. 
This leaves the Marsh Hawk, the Bald Eagle and the Fish 
Hawk. 
A long-winged, long-tailed hawk swinging gracefully over 
the meadows, quartering the ground like a harrier and show¬ 
ing on the favorable turns a white rump is none other than a 
Marsh Hawk. A huge bird with snowy white head and tail 
is a Bald Eagle, but as the immature birds lack the white, 
one is obliged to depend on the great size in the absence of 
markings. The Fish Hawk or Osprey can be known by the 
fact that it is a large hawk that is dark above and white below 
and by its white line plainly showing in good lights over the 
eye. If it indulges in its usual occupation of plunging in the 
water with a splash, a child of three may identify it. 
12 
