DIKECTOKY TO BIRDS OF EASTERN KOBTH AMERICA. lo7 



c. Black and White Kites. Elanus. 



Bill, short: wings, long: tail, short and square. 



1. WHITE-TAILED KITE, E. leucurus. 16.00; head, 

 neck, tail, and beneath, white; above with central tail feath- 

 ers, ashy-gray ; patch on bend of wing, black. Breeds in 

 southern U. S. from S. C. and southern 111. to Tex. and Cal. : 

 winters in South America: casual in Mich. 



d. Curve-billed Kite.s. Rostrbamus. 



Rather large, slender kites with well-curved bills, long 

 wings, and nearly square tails. 



1. EVERGLADE KITE, R. sociabilis. 17.00: ashy- 

 black above, brown beneath : base of tail and its coverts, 

 white, fig. 191. Female browner above and much marked 

 with reddish below. Breeds in Fla.. Cuba, and southward 

 into eastern South America. Xests placed in low bushes in 

 Fla. in March ; eggs, 1 or 2. bluish-white spotted and blotched 

 with brown of varying shades. Flies low over marshes with 

 rather slow wing-beats and erratic movements. Food, large- 

 ly fresh-water mollusks. 



Figr. IPl. Fig. 192. 



S,A, d, 1. 1-8. S, A, e, 1. 1-G. 



e. Harriers. Circus. 



Slender birds with long wings, legs and tail : lower por- 

 tion of face surrounded bv a ruff. 



