MARSH HAWK 
331. Circus hudsonius. 19 in. 
Upper tail coverts and base of tail white. Male, 
blue-gray above; below whitish, streaked and barred 
with rusty. Female and young.—Above rusty brown- 
ish-black; below rusty with dusky streaks on the breast 
and sides. As shown by its name, this hawk is found 
most abundantly in or around marshes or wet meadows. 
I have found them especially abundant in boggy marshes 
such as frequented by bitterns. Their flight is quiet 
and owl-like, and as they do most of their feeding 
toward dusk, they often seem like owls as they flit 
by without a sound. Their food is composed chiefly of 
meadow mice and moles, which they spy and dash 
down upon as they fly at low elevations. 
Notes.—A_ shrill whistle when their nest is ap- 
proached. 
Nest.—Of grasses, on the ground in marshes; four 
plain bluish-white eggs. (1.80x 1.40); May, June. 
Range.—Breeds locally in the whole of the United 
States and Canada, north to Hudson Bay; winters in 
the southern half of the United States. 
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