war-cry of the Cock, and at the same time observed the Hawk rising, as if
without effort, a few yards in the air, and again falling towards the ground
with the rapidity of lightning. I proceeded to the spot, and found the
Hawk grappled to the body of the Cock, both tumbling over and over, and
paying no attention to me as I approached. Desirous of seeing the result,
I remained still, until perceiving that the Hawk had given a fatal squeeze
to the brave Cock, I ran to secure the former ; but the marauder had kept
a hawk's eye upon me, and, disengaging himself, rose in the air in full
confidence. The next moment I pulled a trigger, and he fell dead to the
ground. It proved a young male, such as you see, kind reader, represented
in the Plate, pursuing a lovely Blue-bird nearly exhausted. The
Cock was also dead ; its breast was torn, and its neck pierced in several
places by the sharp claws of the Hawk.
Some years afterwards, not far from the famed Falls of Niagara, in the
month of June, one of these Hawks, which on being examined proved to
be a female, attacked a brood of young chickens, yet under the care of
their mother. It had just struck one of the chickens, and was on the
eve of carrying it off in its claws, when the hen, having perceived the
murderous deed, flew against the Hawk with such force as to throw it
fairly on its back, when the intrepid mother so effectively assailed the miscreant
with feet and bill, as to enable me, on running up, to secure the latter.
This species frequently kills and eats the bird commonly called the
Pheasant (Tetrao UmbeUus). Partridges and young hares are also favourite
dainties. It also follows the Wild Pigeons in their migrations,
and always causes fear and confusion in their ranks.
I t breeds in the mountainous districts of the Middle and Northern
States, to which it returns early in spring from the Southern States, where
it spends the winter in considerable numbers, and is known by the name
of the Great Pigeon Hawk. So rapidly must they travel from one extremity
of the country to another, to reach the places to which they resort for
the purpose of breeding, that I have seen them copulate in Louisiana, where
they never breed, in the month of February, and have found their nest
with eggs in which the chick was far advanced, in the State of Connecticut,
on the 20th of April.
The nest is usually placed in the forks of the branch of an Oak-tree
towards its extremity. In its general appearance it resembles that of the
Common Crow, for which I have several times mistaken it. It is composed
externally of numerous crooked sticks, and has a slight lining of
grasses and a few feathers. The eggs are three or four, almost globular,
STANLEY HAWK. 189
large for the size of the bird, of a dullish-white colour, strongly granulated,
and consequently rough to the touch. It was on discovering one of
these nests that I wounded the second adult male winch I have seen, but
which never returned to its nest, on which I afterwards shot the female represented
in the Plate, in the act of pouncing. I have several times found
other nests of birds of tins species, but the owners were not in full plumage,
and their eyes had not obtained the rich orange colouring of the adult birds.
Those which I have observed near the Falls of Niagara were generally
engaged in pursuing Red-winged Starlings, over the marshes of the neighbourhood.
When this Hawk is angry, it raises the feathers of the upper
part of the head, so as to make them appear partially tufted. The cry
at this time may be represented by the syllable kee, kee, kee, repeated
eight or ten times in rapid succession, and much resembling that of the
Pigeon Hawk (Falco columbarius) or the European Kestril. The young
of this species bear no resemblance to those of the Goshawk, of which a
figure will be given in the same Plate with the adult of the Stanley Hawk.
STANLEY HAWK, FALCO STANLEII.
Adult Male.
Bill short, robust, cerate ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline
curved from the base, the back rounded, the sides sloping at the base,
convex toward the end, the margin sharp, overlapping, having an obtuse
lobe, the tip trigonal, very acute, and curved downwards ; lower mandible
broadly rounded on the back, convex on the sides, acute in the edges,
somewhat abrupt at the end. Nostrils oval, oblique, in the fore-part of
the cere. Head rather large, flat above ; eyebrow acute and projecting.
Neck strong. Body rather elongated. Legs long ; tarsi rather long,
and with the toes somewhat slender, the former scutellate anteriorly, the
latter scutellate above, papillar and tuberculate beneath ; claws long,
curved, roundish, rather slender, and extremely acute.
Plumage compact, imbricated, glossy. Space between the beak and
eye sparsely covered with bristly feathers. Tibial feathers rather compact,
and not much elongated. Wings long: fifth quill longest, sixth
and fourth nearly equal, first very short. Tail long, straight, a little
rounded, of twelve rather broad feathers.
Bill light blue at the base, black at the tip. Cere greenish-yellow.
Iris reddish-orange. Tarsus and toes bright yellow ; claws brownish