198 BUTEO LAGOPUS. 



travelled, but, being very shy, only one specimen was procured. 

 A pair were seen at their nest, built of sticks, on a lofty tree, 

 standing on a low, moist, alluvial point of land, almost encir- 

 cled by a bend of the Saskatchewan. They sailed round the 

 spot in a wide circle, occasionally settling on the top of a tree, 

 but were too wary to allow us to come within gun-shot ; so 

 that, after spending much time in vain, we were fain to relin- 

 quish the chase. In the softness and fulness of its plumage, 

 its feathered legs, and habits, this bird bears some resemblance 

 to the owls. It flies slowly, sits for a long time on the bough 

 of a tree, watching for mice, frogs, &c., and is often seen skim- 

 ming over swampy pieces of ground, and hunting for its prey 

 by the subdued daylight, which illuminates even the midnight 

 hours in the high parallels of latitude." 



Mr Audubon found it plentiful in winter in the neighbour- 

 hood of Boston, and observed it in various places from the Bay 

 of Fundy to the eastern parts of North Carolina, beyond which 

 it seldom proceeds. " It is a sluggish bird,"" he says, " and 

 confines itself to the meadows and low grounds bordering the 

 rivers and salt-marshes, along our bays and inlets. In such 

 places you may see it perched on a stake, where it remains for 

 hours at a time, unless some wounded bird comes in sight, 

 when it sails after it and secures it without manifesting much 

 swiftness of flight. It feeds principally on moles, mice, and 

 other small quadrupeds, and never attacks a duck on the wing, 

 although now and then it pursues a wounded one. When not 

 alarmed, it usually flies low and sedately, and does not exhibit 

 any of the courage and vigour so conspicuous in most other 

 hawks, suffering thousands of birds to pass without pursuing 

 them. The greatest feat I have seen them perform was scram- 

 bling at the edge of the water, to secure a lethargic frog. They 

 alight on trees to roost, but appear so hungry and indolent at 

 all times, that they seldom retire to rest until after dusk. Their 

 large eyes indeed seem to indicate their possession of the faculty 

 of seeing at that late hour. I have frequently put up one, that 

 seemed watching for food at the edge of a ditch, long after sun- 

 set. Whenever an opportunity offers, they eat to excess, and, 

 like the Turkey Buzzards and Carrion Crows, disgorge their 



