THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 



The Faleo furcatus of Gmelin inhabits America. It is often called the Carolina, or 

 swallow-tailed kite. It is white, with the wings and tail black ; the two exterior of the 

 quiU feathers of the wing and taU are very long. 



Audubon has given us the following description of the habitats and the habits of this 

 bird. " A sohtary individual of this species has once or twice been seen in Pennsylvania. 

 Farther to the westward the swallow-tailed hawk has never, I beheve, been obsei-ved. 

 Travelling southward, along the Atlantic coast, we find it m Virginia, although m very 

 small numbei'S. Beyond that state it becomes more abundant. Near the falls of the 

 Ohio a pair had a nest and reared four young ones in 1820. In the lower parts of 

 Kentucky it begins to become numerous ; but in the states farther to the south, and 

 particulai'ly in parts near the sea, it is abundant. In the large prairies of the Attacapas 

 and Oppelloursas, it is extremely common. 



"" In the states of Lousiana and Mississippi, where these birds are abundant, they 

 arrive in large companies in the beginnhig of April, and are heard uttering a sharp 

 plaintive note. At this period I generally remarked that they came from the westward, 

 and have counted upwards of a hundred, in the space of an horn*, passmg over me in a 

 direct easterly course. At that season, and m the beginmng of September, when they 

 all return from the United States, they are easily approached when they have alighted, 

 being then apparently fatigued, and busily engaged in preparing themselves for contuiu- 

 ing their journey, by dressing and oiling their feathers. At all other times, however, 

 it is extremely difficult to get near them, as they are generally on wing through the 

 day and at night rest on the higher pines and cypresses bordering the river-bluflfe, the 

 lakes, or the swamps of that district of country. 



" They always feed on the mng. In calm and warm weather they soar to an immense 

 height, pursuing the large insects called musquito hawks, and performing the most sin- 

 gular evolutions that can be conceived, using their tail with an elegance of motion peenhar 

 to themselves. Their principal food, however, is large grasshoppers, green caterpillars, 

 small snakes, lizards, and frogs. They sweep close over the fields, sometunes seeming 

 to alight for a moment to secure a snake, and, holding it fast by the neck, carry it off, 

 and dcvoiu- it in the air. When searching for grasshoppers and caterpillars, it is not 

 difficult to approach them under cover of a fence or tree. When one is then killed and 

 falls to the ground, the whole flock comes over the dead bird, as if intent on carrying 

 it off. An excellent opportunity is thus afforded of shooting as many as may l>e wanted, 

 and I have killed several of these hawks in this manner, firing as fast as I could load 

 my gun. 



" The swallow-tailed hawk pairs immediately after its arrival in the soulliorn stntes ; 

 and as its courtships take place on the wing, its motions are then more beautiful than 



Falin Furcatiis. — (4melln. 



