Dr. Suckley, who met with this bird on Puget Sound, where a specimen was shot on a salt marsh, states that, while soaring about, it resembled in its motions the common Marsh Hawk, or Hen Harrier (Circus hudsonius).
Subgenus ASTUR, Lacepede.
- Astur, Lacép. 1800. (Type, Falco palumbarius, Linn.)
- Dædalion, Savig. 1809. Dædalium, Agass.
- Sparvius, Vieill. 1816.
- Aster, Swains. 1837.
- Leucospiza, Kaup, 1844. (Type, Falco novæ-hollandiæ, Gmel.)
The characters of this subgenus have been sufficiently indicated on page 221, so that it is unnecessary to repeat them here. The species of Astur are far less numerous than those of Nisus, only about six, including geographical races, being known. They are found in nearly all parts of the world, except tropical America, the Sandwich Islands, and the East Indies.
58982, ♀. ½
58982, ♀. ½
Astur atricapillus.