National Museum, 13; Philadelphia Academy, 3; Boston Society, 5; Cab.
G. N. Lawrence, 1; R. Ridgway, 2. Total, 24.
_Measurements._
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
|Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. |Middle Toe.|Specimens.|
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
| ♂ | 9.80–11.50| 7.20–7.80| .85–.95|2.50–2.70| 1.55–1.70| 7 |
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
| ♀ | 9.50–11.30| 6.70–8.00| .80–1.00|2.75–2.70| 1.40–1.75| 4 |
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
| ⚪? |10.00–11.70| 6.80–8.00| .90–.95|2.65–2.80| 1.50–1.65| 4 |
+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+
HABITS. This is a Mexican and Central American Hawk, which occasionally
crosses the borders of the United States, having been seen by Mr.
Ridgway in Southern Illinois, and found breeding, by Captain Bendire,
in Arizona, near Tucson. It has been found in the State of New Leon,
one of the most northern provinces of Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, who
has, however, supplied no notes as to any peculiarities in its habits.
It was said to breed in the tops of lofty trees, and to have eggs of a
greenish-white, resembling those of _Astur atricapillus_. In Central
America it is said by Salvin to be abundant in the hot country on both
coast regions of the Republic of Guatemala, but it is not found in the
temperate regions. Its food consists of lizards, and its flesh is in
consequence very rank.
[Illustration: _Asturina plagiata._]
Mr. Robert Ridgway has met with this Hawk as far to the north as
Southern Illinois. It was seen and twice shot at on the 19th of August,
1871, on Fox Prairie, in Richland County. Mr. Ridgway came across it
while hunting Swallow-tail and Mississippi Kites. The bird, while being
annoyed by these Hawks, was well seen, and there cannot be the slightest
doubt as to its identity.
Mr. Robert Owen found this Hawk, known in Guatemala by the local name of
_Gavilan_, a common name for the whole race of birds of prey, breeding
at San Geronimo, April 3, 1860. The nests are usually found in the
high trees which are scattered over the plain, and not unfrequently
within a few yards of the Indian ranchos. Two eggs seemed to be the
complement laid by one bird. These eggs are described by Mr. Owen as all
white, without any natural coloring. The inner coating of the shell is
sea-green, seeming to confirm the apparently close connection between
the genera of _Astur_ and _Asturina_.
Mr. G. C. Taylor met what he presumed to be this Hawk in great abundance
at Comayagua, Honduras, in January. He saw a pair making their nest on
the top of a lofty cotton-tree.
Captain Bendire found this species not uncommon and breeding in the
vicinity of Tucson, in Arizona. He found two nests, one of which was
taken June 6, the other a few days later. They were very slightly built
of sticks and strips of bark, and placed in low trees on the banks of
Reledo Creek. The nest contained two eggs. These are of a rounded oval
shape, are quite tapering at one end and rounded at the other. They are
of a uniform bluish-white color and unspotted, and measure 2.00 inches
in length by 1.60 inches in breadth.