060 
countries of the north. It is common also in Europe, where its habits 
are the same as in this country. It nests in low trees, and is pretty shy. 
III. Sup-FAMILY Minvin, KIrEs. 
The species contained in this division differ much in size, they are gen- 
erally, however, small or moderate. The bill is small, hooked, sharp 
pointed and rather weak; the legs and feet slender; wings and tail usually 
long, the latter often forked. They lack the courage of the more robust 
species. - 
Genus NAUCLERUS vigors. 
Bill short, weak; wings long and pointed; tail long and deeply forked; 
tarsi and toes short. Believed to contain but three species, one of them 
African, the other two American. . 
N. FuRcATUS—inn—THE SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 
Wilson’s American Ornothology, VI., pl. 51, fig. 8. Audubon, B. of 
Am., oct, ed., vol. L, pl. 18. 
This beautiful bird was once pretty plentiful in Ohio, and often seen in 
Summit and Portage counties; but recently it has become scarce in the 
northern part of the State. The prairies in Crawford county were form- 
erly a favorite place of resort, and occasionally a specimen may be found 
there still. Further south it becomes more plentiful, and may sometimes 
be seen in small flocks during spring. 
The flight of this hawk is peculiarly graceful; it glides through the 
airin a manner quite different from other hawks. Its food consists of 
grasshoppers, cicada, (seventeen year locusts,) beetles, and other insects; 
also small lizards and insects, and is thus more beneficial than otherwise to 
the farmer. Their prey is always devoured upon the wing, the bird never 
alighting for that purpose. The swallow-tailed hawk often flies very high 
in pursuit of insects. 
The species is said to build on top of high trees, and the nest resembles 
that of the crow; the eggs are from four to six; greenish white, with 
blotches of brown at the larger end. Both parents take part in the labors 
of incubation. The young have the distinct black and white markings of 
the parents the first year. This hawk is migratory, and leaves the United 
States in September, for the lands south of the Gulf of Mexico, returning 
