FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC/ 



149 



Nest. Generally in live oaks, made of twigs, lined with stubble and 

 grasses. Eggs : '> to 5, ground color white, heavily marked over entire 

 surface with blotches of red and brown. 



Food. Small snakes, lizards, frogs, and insects such as grasshoppers 

 and beetles. 



The white-tailed kites frequent lowland valleys, breeding when 

 possible near streams or marshes, where they hide their nests in the 

 tops of oaks or willows. 



Their flight, Mr. Chester Barlow says, is graceful and often quite 

 rapid, though it lacks the dash of the falcons. When hunting early 

 in the morning, both birds often go together, when they may be 

 seen hovering motionless in the air like sparrow hawks. Their 

 principal call-note Mr. Barlow gives as a plaintive musical whistle. 



The kites are resident in the oak groves of Santa Clara Valley, and 

 frequent the marshes about San Francisco Bay, where Mr. W. K. 

 Fisher has found them catching large numbers of the California 

 meadow mouse. 



GENUS ICTINIA. 



329. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wils.). MISSISSIPPI KITE. 



Bill small but robust, cutting edge of upper mandible scalloped ; wings 

 and tail moderate, two outer primaries 

 emarginate on inner web, and next two 

 sinuate ; feet short and stout ; tarsus scan- 

 tily feathered about half way down in 

 front, then crossed by large scales ; outer 

 and middle toes connected by web for whole 

 length of basal joint of middle toe ; claws 

 stout, much curved. Adults : head and 

 band across wing grayish white ; under 

 parts dark gray ; upper parts bluish slate, u-ith 

 black tail and long black wing quills ; quills 

 with dull reddish brown webbing. Young: 

 head streaked black and white, whiter 

 on throat ; under parts whitish, heavily 

 streaked with dark brown and buffy ; upper 

 parts blackish, feathers with convex edges 

 brown, gray, or white ; tail and wing quills 

 black tipped with white, and without rufous 

 webbing. Length : lo.00-15.oO, wing 10.00- 

 12.30, tail 6-7. 



Distribution. Breeds chiefly in Lower From Biological Survey, L T . S. Dept. 

 Sonoran zone of the southeastern United t^S?***' 



States, westward to western Texas, south 



to Guatemala ; casually in Upper Sonoran zone to Pennsylvania, Wiscon- 

 sin, and Dakota. 



Nest. Usually an old one of its own or some other bird, in a high tree- 

 top ; remodeled by patching up the sides with a few sticks and lining 

 with Spanish moss or green leaves. Eggs : 2 or 3, pale bluish green, 

 unspotted. 



Food. -- Lizards, small snakes, and frogs, together with insects, such as 

 the larger beetles, grasshoppers, and locusts. 



