Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/593

Rh when placed obliquely it shews a slight undulation. Nostrils round, basal, lateral, with a soft papilla in the centre, connected with the upper edge. Head rather large and round ; neck shortish ; body ovate, ante- riorly broad ; the whole conformation indicative of great strength and ac- tivity, such as befit a hunter. Legs robust, short ; tarsus feathered more than half way down, their exposed part covered anteriorly with small quincuncial transversely oblong scales, as is the proximal portion of all the toes, posteriorly with smaller papillar scales (there are no broad scales or other scutella on the tarsus, as in most other Hawks, and in the Pere- grine). Toes, excepting at the base, covered above with broad scales or scutella, scabrous and tubercular below ; middle and outer toes connected by a membrane ; second and fourth toes nearly equal, the latter very little longer, the hind toe shortest, but with the longest claw ; claws strong, curved, acute, marginate beneath, convex above.

Plumage compact, imbricated. Feathers of the head short and nar- row, of the back rounded, of the neck and breast broadly oblong, of the thighs long and rounded. Space between the bill and eye covered with short bristly feathers. Wings long, about four inches shorter than the tail ; the third quill longest, but scarcely longer than the second, the first and fourth of the same length. The first and second are cut out or si- nuated on the inner edge towards the tip, the second slightly. The tail is long, straight, slightly rounded, of twelve broad feathers, which at the end suddenly taper to a point. When worn, they seem rounded, but in my specimens the plumage was new.

Bill and cere pale blue, the rather narrow ridge of the upper mandible darker. Iris brownish-black. Feet greyish-blue, the under parts of the toes greenish-yeUow ; claws dusky. The general colour of the plumage above, is brownish-grey, the feathers having a very narrow margin of paler. Some of the upper tail-coverts are tipped with brownish-white, and the base or concealed part of the posterior cervical feathers is of that colour. The quills are more or less mottled with brownish-white on the inner webs. The tail is transversely barred with thirteen rows of transversely oblong spots of brownish-white, confined chiefly to the inner webs, although there are some on the outer ones towards their end; the tips are of the same light colour. A few of these spots appear on the upper surface of the feathers towards their extremities. The tail is moreover very obscurely barred with darker. The two middle feathers are without white spots. The throat is brownish-white, finely streaked with brown.