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"Astragalinus tristis. American Goldfinch. Yellow-bird. Thistle-bird. In summer: Rich yellow, changing to whitish on the tail-coverts; a black patch on the crown; wings black, ore or less edged with white; lesser wing-coverts white or yellow; greater coverts tipped with white; tail black, every feather with a white spot; bill and feet flesh-colored. In September, the black cap disappears; the general plumage changes to a pale flaxen-brown above and whitey-brown below, with traces of the yellow, especially about the head; wings and tail much as in summer; sexes then much alike: this continues until the following April or May." Elliot Coues, 1884

American Goldfinch

"Astragalinus tristis. American Goldfinch. Yellow-bird. Thistle-bird. In summer: Rich yellow, changing…

"Circinae. Harriers. Face surrounded with an incomplete ruff (as in most owls); orifice of ear about as large as the eye, and in some cases at least with a decided conch (in this picture). Bill rather weak, not toothed or notched. Bill thickly beset with many curved radiating bristles surpassing in length the cere, which is large and tumid; tomia lobed or festooned, but neither toothed nor notched. Nostrils ovate-oblong, nearly horizontal. Superciliary shield prominent. Tarsus long and slender, scutellate before and mostly so behind, reticulate laterally; toes slender, the middle with its claw much shorter than the tarsus; a basal web between the outer and middle; all tuberculate underneath; Claws very large and sharp, much curved. Wings very long and ample; 3d and 4th quills longest; 1st shorter than 6th; outer 3-5 (in our species 4) emarginate on inner webs; 2d-5th emarginate on outer webs. Tail very long, about 2/3rds as long as the wing, nearly even or rounded, the folded wings falling short of its end. " Elliot, Coues, 1884

Harrier Ear Parts

"Circinae. Harriers. Face surrounded with an incomplete ruff (as in most owls); orifice of ear about…

"Falco sparverius. Rusty-crowned Falcon. Sparrow Hawk. Adults: Crown ashy-blue, with a chestnut patch, sometimes small or altogether wanting, sometimes occupying nearly all the crown. Conspicuous black maxillary and auricular patches which, with three others around the nape, make seven places in all, usually evident, but some of them often obscure or wanting. Back cinnamon-rufous, or chestnut, like the crown-patch, in the male with a few black spots or none, in the female with numerous black bars. Wing-coverts of the male fine ashy-blue, like the crown, with or without black spots; of the female cinnamon-rufous and black barred, like the back. Quill feathers in male, female blackish, usually with pale edges and tips, and the inner webs with numerous white indentations, or bars continuous along the inner webs, leaving the black chiefly in a series of dentations proceeding from the shafts; ends of secondaries usually also slaty-blue like the coverts. Tail bright chestnut, in the male with white tip, broad black subterminal zone, and outer feathers mostly white with several black bars, in the female the whole tail with numerous imperfect black bars. Under parts white, variously tinged with buff or tawny, in the male with a few black spots or none, in the female with many dark brown streaks; throat and vent usually immaculate. Bill dark horn; cere and feet yellow or orange. Elliot Coues, 1884

Sparrow Hawk

"Falco sparverius. Rusty-crowned Falcon. Sparrow Hawk. Adults: Crown ashy-blue, with a chestnut patch,…

Falco tinnunculus. Common Kestral. This bird is a European bird of prey. Plumage on upperside, chestnut-brown with black spots; underside narrow black streaks; tail has a black tip with thin white rim; male has bluish-gray head; female has a brown tail with black bars.

Common Kestral

Falco tinnunculus. Common Kestral. This bird is a European bird of prey. Plumage on upperside, chestnut-brown…

An Osprey catching a fish. "Pandion haliaetus. Fish Hawk. Osprey. Adult. dark vandyke- brown, blackening on the quills, the feathers of the upper parts more or less completely edged with white - the older the bird, the more conspicuous the white markings. Tail dark brown with dusky bars, white tip and shafts, and inner webs of all but the middle pair of feathers regularly barred with white and dark. Head, neck, and under parts white, the crown more or less extensively streaked with blackish, and a heavy blackish postocular stripe to the nape; the breast more or less spotted with dusky brown; the white more or less tinged with tawny in some places, especially under the wings and on the head. Coloration very variable in the relative amounts of the dark and white colors; young darker, the upper parts without the white crescents. Bill blackish, bluing at base and on cere; feet grayish-blue; claws black; iris yellow or red." Elliot Coues, 1884

Osprey

An Osprey catching a fish. "Pandion haliaetus. Fish Hawk. Osprey. Adult. dark vandyke- brown, blackening…

"Asio accipitrinus. Short-eared Owl. Marsh Owl. Ear-tufts inconspicuous, much shorter than middle toe and claw, few-feathered. First and 2d primaries emarginate on inner webs. Above, completely variegated, chiefly in streaks, with fulvous or tawny, and dark brown; breast much the same, but other under parts paler ochrey, usually bleaching on the belly, which in sparely but sharply streaked (never barred) with dark brown; feet pale tawny or whitish, usually immaculate; lining of wings interruptedly whitish. Wing-quills varied, mostly in large pattern, and tail pretty regularly barred (about 5 bars) with the two colors of the upper parts. Facial area white or nearly so, but with a large black eye-patch; the disc minutely speckled with fulvous and blackish, bordered with white internally and usually having a blackish patch behind the ear; radiating feathers of the oper-culum streaked with blackish and fulvous. Iris bright yellow; bill and claws dusky-bluish; the naked granular soles yellowish. The ear-opening of this species is extremely large, being two inches or more across the longest way." Elliot Coues, 1884

Short-eared Owl

"Asio accipitrinus. Short-eared Owl. Marsh Owl. Ear-tufts inconspicuous, much shorter than middle toe…