ICTINIA.—HARPAGUS. 105 
corpore subtus clare cineraceis, genis gulaque albidioribus; abdomine albido; subcaudalibus albidis, 
macula cinerea subterminali notatis; subalaribus et axillaribus cineraceis, margine alari nigricante : 
rostro nigro; pedibus aurantiaco-rubris; iride coccinea. Long. *tota circa 12-0, ale 11:8, caudee 5°75, 
tarsi 15. (Descr. exempl. ex Vera Paz, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 
Juv. Schistaceo-nigricans, plumis rufescente anguste marginatis et celatim albo notatis: rectricibus nigris, 
extus cinereo, intus albo trifasciatis; pileo et colli lateribus albidis, late nigro striolatis; fascia alba 
superciliari lata: subtus albicans, maculis ovatis rufescentibus ubique notatus aut striatus. (Descr. maris 
juv. ex San Antonio, Texas. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Norta America, Southern States east of the Rocky Mountains, Texas.— 
GUATEMALA, near Coban (Owen *). 
The Mississippi Kite is paler in colour than L. plumbea, and is easily distinguished 
by its light grey secondaries tipped with white. In JL. plumbea the secondaries are 
blackish like the rest of the wing, and the primaries are for the most part chestnut, of 
which colour there is but a faint trace in I. mississippiensis ; the tail of the latter is 
black without white cross-bars. The young, moreover, differ from those of L. plumbea 
in having the superciliaries broadly streaked with white, the sides of the face similarly 
marked, and the breast and underparts with large oval spots; the tail has three grey 
bands, which become white on the inner webs of all but the centre feathers. 
The only known Central-American specimen is the one we possess, captured by the 
late Robert Owen in Vera Paz ?, where J. plumbea is by no means uncommon. 
Mr. Ridgway (Man. N. Am. Birds, 2nd edit. p. 225), Captain Bendire*, and 
Dr. A. K. Fisher ®, however, state that the Mississippi Kite is found through Eastern 
Mexico to Guatemala. 
In the United States, Captain Bendire says that its breeding-range extends from 
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas northward to Southern Illinois, the Indian Territory, 
and Kansas; it likewise occurs and probably breeds in South Carolina, Georgia, 
Florida, and Alabama. In Iowa and Wisconsin the bird is a summer visitor, 
arriving at the end of April and leaving in October. A few winter in the Southern 
States. 
The food, according to Dr. Fisher 5, consists of lizards, small snakes, frogs, beetles, 
grasshoppers, and locusts. It frequently ascends to so great a height as to be almost 
invisible, and in flight resembles the Swallow-tailed Kite. 
The nests, composed of sticks, are not bulky, and are usually found in close proximity 
to each other; fresh leaves and twigs serve to repair the old ones‘. The eggs, 
varying from two to three in number, are ovate and bluish white, in rare instances 
marked with a deeper blue. 
HARPAGUS. 
Harpagus, Vigors, Zool. Journ. i. p. 3388 (1824). 
Three species of this Neotropical genus are known, two of which are entirely 
confined to South America and one to Central America. J. diodon, distinguished by its 
BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Aves, Vol. IIL, January 1901. 14 
