172 FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. 



Nest. — A bulky mass of twigs, flags, weeds, coarse grass, leaves, cot- 

 ton, or Spanish moss ; placed according to the locality in low bushes or in 

 high trees, l^ggs : 2 or o, ground color brown or white, generally entirely 

 hidden by spots of darker brown. 



Food. — Carrion, mice, rabbits, fish, and snakes. 



The caracara or Mexican buzzard is the oddest looking bird found 

 in that most interesting belt of strange Mexican types, the southern 

 border line of the United States. In flight it has a wooden look, 

 given probably by its curious color pattern and long neck. Head 

 and neck appear like one stiff round-headed stick. Its wings look 

 stiff and angular too, and as it flaps along their white tips add to 

 the singular effect. On your first view of the bird you exclaim in- 

 voluntarily, "AVhat a queer looking creature !" 



In driving from Corpus Christi to Brownsville, while we found the 

 Swainson, Harris, and white-tailed hawks common on the open 

 prairie, we saw caracaras only on the mesquite or shin oak prairie. 

 In the mesquite one day we came to two of the birds standing in the 

 road beside a dead snake. As they stood with heads raised, they 

 had a proud, hawk-like bearing. 



South of San Ignatius, in driving through the low shin oak, we 

 found two caracaras perched on an isolated little round-topped oak. 

 They were so big and the tree was so small that they more than 

 filled it, looking like huge stuffed birds on meagre standards. They 

 were so evidently at home, sitting pluming themselves calmly 

 while we stared, that we looked about for a nest and soon discov- 

 ered it, a mass of sticks, holding a fuzzy-headed nestling, on the top 

 of another small round oak. 



On the coast of southern Texas, Colonel Goss found the caracara 

 playing the part the eagles do with fish hawks. When the brown 

 pelicans were coming to shore with their pouches full of fish, the 

 caracaras would dart down screaming and strike at them with their 

 talons till the pelicans disgorged their fish, when the robbers would 

 calmly take possession of the quarry. 



GENUS PANDION. 



364. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (GmeL). Fish Hawk. 



Plumage close, firm, imbricated, oily ; feet large and strong, roughly 

 granular; toes all free^to the base, outer toe reversible; claws all the 

 same length ; wings long, pointed ; tail short. Adult male : Head, neck 

 and under parts white, head more or less streaked with blackish, broad 

 dark streak on side of head ; breast sometimes slightly blotched with 

 brown ; tail narrowly tipped with white and crossed by 6 or 7 narrow 

 blackish bands. " Adult female: similar, but chest heavily spotted with 

 brown. Young : sexes similar to adults, but upper parts blackish brown, 

 feathers tipped with white or buffy. Length : 20.75-o25.00, extent about 

 65, wing 17-21. tail 7-10, bill 1.20-1.45. 



