Plate CCCLXXIV. Adult Male and Female.
Tail even, tarsi extremely slender. Adult male bluish-grey above; the
tail with four broad bands of blackish-brown, and tipped with white;
upper part of head darker; lower parts transversely barred with light
red and white, the throat white, longitudinally streaked. Female
similar, more tinged with yellow beneath, and with the bands on the
breast broader. Young umber-brown above, more or less spotted with
white, the tail with four dark brown bars; lower parts white, each
feather with a longitudinal narrow, oblong, brown spot. Miniature of
_Falco Cooperii_, and intimately allied to _Astur Nisus_.
_Male_, 11-1/4, 20-1/2. _Female_, 14, 26.
Generally distributed. Not very abundant. Migratory.
Slate-coloured Hawk, Falco Pennsylvanicus, Wils. Amer. Ornith.
v. vi. p. 13. Adult Male.
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Falco velox, Wils. Amer. Ornith. v. vi. p.
116. Young Female.
Falco velox, Bonap. Syn. p. 29.
Falco fuscus, Bonap. Syn. Append. p. 433.
Accipiter Pennsylvanicus, Slate-coloured Hawk, Swains. & Rich.
F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 44.
American Brown or Slate-coloured Hawk, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p.
87.
Sharp-shinned or Slate-coloured Hawk, Falco fuscus, Aud. Amer.
Orn. v. iv. p. 522. Adult.
GENUS XI. CIRCUS, Bechst. HARRIER.
Bill short, compressed; upper mandible with the dorsal line sloping to
beyond the cere, then decurved, the sides sloping, the edge with a
festoon a little anterior to the nostril, the tip acute; lower
mandible with the dorsal line ascending and convex, the tip rounded.
Nostrils large, ovato-oblong, with an oblique ridge from their upper
edge. Head of moderate size, oblong, neck rather short; body slender.
Legs long and slender; tarsi long, compressed, anteriorly and
posteriorly scutellate; toes slender, scutellate unless at the base;
claws long, compressed, moderately curved, flat beneath, acuminate.
Plumage very soft; a distinct ruff of narrow feathers from behind the
eye on each side to the chin, the aperture of the ear being very
large. Wings long, much rounded, the fourth quill longest; outer four
quills with their inner webs sinuate. Tail straight, long, slightly
rounded. Quills and tail-feathers covered with velvety down.