wh$l§> us well as those first on the
black;, irides brownish-red; eye-lids white;, cilia long and black;
Orbits black, wider before Ahneye; front line «over ..the*orbits, sides
of the. head* neck, -and body, and whole ihferian sjirfacie ofjthe bird,
together .with the thighs^ pmre; w hite;;head pearl-gray, hemming
gradually darker, from the .pure-white, front towards, the -neck, and
back, which are. entirely, bluish- ash, as .well as the rump, scapulars;
secondaries* .and greater wing-eoyerts; smaller and middle wing^
coverts,, deep glossy Alack; spurious wing blackish;, lining of the
wing, andinfeiupriCovertapure whitej the.latter With a wide black
patch;; primaries on both. surfaces - slate-colour, the shafts black,
and, the first excepted, marginpdexteriorty and slightly :at tip with
dusky, and interioriy*with whitish; theunargin. of the %ner web is
of a remarkably close texturey .with a.very soft .surface; the first
primary is a litile shorter than the third;sthe second longest ;06be
two outer ones are slightly serrated on. their outer, web.; When
closed, the wings reach within less than; an inch of >the tip of the
taiL The tail is aeven inches, lnng, slightly emarginated, and
with.the .outer feather mere than half an inch, shorter-than the
adjoining one; the middle feathers are very ,-pale »bluish-slate, all
the others pure white; shafts above,, black towards th e tip, and
beneath white; ffmt n f the nxteriortail-feather white,.ripped with
d u ^p;^bove <towa®du the buse? feet b right yelfow^oraoge; tarsus
one «inch. and a half long# feathered: in front .half its length,» the
remainder covered, with, small reticulated scales; toes separated
to the base; nails large,.black, very.acute,. and with the exception
of the, middle Otne^^perfectly rounded beneath; the middle one is
very «sharp on the inner, side*«-1
1 1 The -JVfele iisj of a smaller size; the .upper, surface, instead. of
being bluish'slate, is more of a dirty grayish, slightly tinged with
ferruginous; the tail is less' purely white. These sexual «differences
are ,t|ie more worthy of note, as they are the reverse of | what is
exhibited in other Hawks. It ^lâ|^,oweyer3i pQssible, that .they ére
nOtifo be found in very -old males1. :
of -both. s b u t ,especially.;the; young males, are
•somewhat darker,^ and are < strongly, tinged with ferruginous, principally
on the head, neck; ,and.wings-; th e breast-Jbeing entirely of
tbatvcplour,. ; specimen of‘ the Afoeican-'S'peeie.s in this state^-fis
figured ^byu l^e.ïWaillant, whosfc plates in ig§nera«l are tolerably
aecup.ate ; shut how great, is the disappointment iof thCiOrnithologist
to find . the t a r s i , represehted4asue®y,eued distinctly With plates* a.s
in-othenHawks;!; Wè? cannotffeti pass, this, opportunity n f, exhorting
engfcaversy dr aftsmenjiand* all. artists'employed on-.Wtnks, of Natural
Histsàry; never to depend Önfphat.'ïbéysare^^^ömed.igfrfgïifjliit
in. all eases copyrfiiithfully whattt^y^Mtt©
otherwise;;:takingg for •grantedfe -whut • they^ougfeW ifotritbftp*riiJU
inevitably falMnto th®e-''g®osS^irtiölisï;
himself, or rathe® perhaps his engraver, has. coinmitted the same
ersbr" in ;represaBting' the";f©eti©i^thef i
what eonsequeéce, will it .perhaps b e said, is lithe form j of the
®tenles »covtering;the- tfaét-of ,a Hawk afford »pÉecisely
one' of the best representative char acters «of groups, and it will,
therefore, not be thought- unnecessary -to cautiofi rUrtists un this,
and similar, bases.-
young, asdCseribed by Temminck, is in a. moré .advanced
stage oL plnmage ; the front* forepart of? th e neck, thighs* flanks,
and under tail-coverts are-pure white; the’breast and belly;are of
the-: same cbloiir, but are marked with reddish spots, and brown
dines ;> the. e^iput^mieba; backhand scapulars are brownish, mixed
with , whitish, and moref or#|essH ftinged with cinereous; all these
feathers having y id ^ margins* of whitish, and< reibUsh ; the upper
taibeoyertu Ufb. black, Witb reddish imapginfe; t|i^ in fi^ i# j^ a rb ié d
with black and white ; the quills arèbluis'b&terfoina’ted with white;
the tail is ,of a grayish-white, with blaek'shufts ; all the feathers baye
darkminereoius, towards the pnint,, and are tipped with white-. • <