Part 28

1. Elanus leucurus. (Vieill.) The Black-shouldered Hawk. The White-tailed Hawk. Milvus leucurus. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., XX. p. 563. (1818.) Falco dispar. Temm., Pl. Col., I. (Liv. 54, about 1824.) “Falco melanopterus. Daud.” Bonap., Jour. Acad. Philada., V. p. 28. “Falco dispar. Temm.” Aud., Orn. Biog., IV. p. 367.

Bonap., Am. Orn., II. pl. 11, fig. 1; Temm., Pl. col. 319; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 352, oct. ed. I. pl. 16. Gay’s Chili Orn., pl. 2.

Head above, entire under-parts, and tail, white, the middle-feathers of the latter usually tinged above with ashy, and the head posteriorly tinged with the same color, which gradually shades into a fine light-cinereous, which is the color of the upper-parts of the body, quills, and greater wing-coverts. Lesser wing-coverts glossy black, which forms a large oblong patch; inferior wing-coverts white, with a smaller black patch. Bill dark; tarsi and feet yellow.

Dimensions. Female—total length, 15½ to 17 inches; wing, 12; tail, 7½ inches. Male—smaller.

Hab. Southern States; California (Dr. Heermann); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes); Chili (Lieut. Gillis). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. An abundant species in the Southern and South-western States. It is larger than the African E. melanopterus, with which it has been confounded, but considerably resembling it and the Australian species in form and general characters.

III. GENUS ICTINIA. Vieill., Analyse, p. 24. (1816.)

NERTUS. Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 314. PŒCILOPTERYX. Kaup, Class., p. 112. (1844.)

Bill short, tip emarginated; wings long, pointed; tail rather short; usually emarginated; tarsi short. Two American species constitute this genus.

1. Ictinia mississippiensis. (Wilson.) The Mississippi Kite. Falco mississippiensis. Wilson, Am. Orn., III. p. 80. (1811.) Falco ophiophagus. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., XI. p. 103. (1817.) “Ictinia plumbea. Gm.” Aud., Orn. Biog., II. p. 108.

Vieill., Gal., I. pl. 17; Wilson, Am. Orn., III. pl. 25, fig. 1; Aud., B. of Am. pl. 117, oct. ed. I. pl. 17.

Head, exposed ends of secondary quills, and entire under-parts, light-cinereous, palest and nearly white on the tips of the secondaries. Back, wing-coverts, and rump dark lead-color; primaries and tail brownish-black, the latter with a tinge of bluish. Bill dark; tarsi and feet lighter.

Dimensions. Total length, female, about 15 inches; wing, 11 to 11½; tail, 6½ inches. Male—smaller.

Hab. Southern States; Texas (Mr. Audubon); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. This bird is quite different from the South American I. plumbea, for which it has been mistaken by American naturalists; in fact, it is so little like it, that a comparison of specimens of the two species would render a suspicion of their identity quite impossible.

IV. GENUS ROSTRHAMUS. Lesson, Traité d’Orn., I. p. 55. (1831.)

Bill long, very slender, hooked, and sharp at the tip; wings long, pointed; tail rather long, emarginate; tarsi and toes rather long; claws very long, slender, acute. The present is the only species.

1. Rostrhamus sociabilis. (Vieill.) The Hooked-billed Hawk. Herpetotheres sociabilis. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., XVIII. p. 318. (1817.) Cymindis leucopygius. Spix, Av. Bras., I. p. 7. (1824.) Rostrhamus niger. Less., Traité, I. p. 56. (1831.) “Falco hamatus. Illiger.” Lesson, as above.

Temm., Pl. col. I. 61, 231; Spix, Av. Bras., I. pl. 2; Guerin, Mag. de Zool., 1834, pl. 20.

Adult. Tail at base, and under tail-coverts, white; all other parts black. Naked space before the eye yellow, which is also the color of the feet; bill and claws black. Tail usually tipped with pale-cinereous. Younger. Throat and line over and behind the eye yellowish-white; general plumage brownish-black, mixed with yellowish-white on the under-parts of the body. Young. Forehead—stripe behind the eye and throat reddish or ferruginous-white; upper-parts brown, many feathers edged with pale-ferruginous; under-parts yellowish, with longitudinal stripes of black; tail at tip and base, and under tail-coverts, yellowish-white. Legs yellowish-green.

Dimensions. Female—total length (of skin), 16 inches; wing, 14; tail, 7½ inches. Male—smaller.

Hab. Florida (Mr. Harris, Dr. Heermann). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. This bird is remarkable for its slender and hooked bill, unlike that of any other Falcon. It is well known as a South American bird, and was first noticed in Florida by Mr. Edward Harris; subsequently by Dr. Heermann. Both these gentlemen having obtained specimens of young birds, it is probably a constant resident of that State.

V. GENUS CIRCUS. Lacepede, Mem. d’Inst., III. p. 506. (1803.)

STRIGICEPS. Bonap., Comp. List., p. 5. (1838.)

Size medium; head rather large; face partially encircled by a ring or ruff of short projecting feathers (as in the Owls). Bill rather short, compressed, curved from the base; nostrils large; wings long, pointed; tail long, wide; tarsi long and slender, compressed; toes moderate; claws long, rather slender. Embraces about fifteen species, of all parts of the world.

1. Circus hudsonius. (Linn.) The Marsh Hawk. The Harrier. Falco hudsonius. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 128. (1766.) Falco uliginosus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 278. (1788.) Falco europogistus. Daudin, Traité, II. p. 110. (1800.) “Falco uliginosus.” Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. p. 67. “Falco cyaneus. Linn.” Aud., Orn. Biog., IV. p. 396.

Edw., Birds, VI. pl. 291; Vieill., Ois. d’Am., pl. 9; Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. pl. 51, fig. 2; Bonap., Am. Orn., II. pl. 12; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 356, oct. ed. I. pl. 26; Faun. Bor. Am., Birds, pl. 29; De Kay, Nat. Hist. N. Y. Orn., pl. 3, figs. 6, 7.