Body above, bluish slate color; beneath, ferruginous, with transverse
white bands; chin white; bill bluish-black; feet orange; cere and
edges of the mouth dull green; quills and tail brownish-black;
eyebrows dull white; tail slightly forked. North America.
Possibly _Accipiter fuscus_, but we regard it as quite remarkable that
Vieillot, at so late a date, should have again described that species,
being undoubtedly well acquainted with North American birds. We
recollect no bird which exactly suits this description.
10. Falco Bachmanii. Aud., Orn. Biog., V. p. 334. (1839, the date on
the title-page of this volume is erroneously printed 1849.)
“I have several times seen in South Carolina a Hawk flying, equal in
size to _Falco lineatus_, and remarkable for the great breadth of its
wings. It was of a uniform brown color, excepting the tail, which was
barred with white. The same bird has also been repeatedly observed by
my friend, Dr. Bachman, who feels assured of its being distinct from
any other Hawk hitherto found in North America.” (Audubon, as above.)
This is the entire and only description published and the species
alluded to has never been identified, to our knowledge.
11. Milvus leucomelas. Rafinesque, Annals of Nature, part I. p. 4.
(1820.)
“White, unspotted; top of head and part of the back, wings, tail, and
bill, black; feet yellow. It is found in West Kentucky and Illinois;
it feeds on fishes, and is therefore called Fishing Hawk. Size small,
tail quite forked.” (Raf., as above.)
This is a puzzler. If any such bird exists, it has escaped late
researches, though we very much suspect that Rafinesque ventured a
description on reports, rather oddly confounding the Forked-tailed Hawk
(_Nauclerus_) and the Osprey, or Fish Hawk (_Pandion_).