244 BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 



slender body and elegant shape chiefly distinguish them from their allies, 

 the Buzzards. They may be further subdivided into those in which the 

 female at least, is possessed of that curious facial ring of scaly or stiff 

 feathers so remarkable in the Owls, and those entirely destitute of it. 

 One species only is found in the United States, which belongs to the 

 first section, and cannot be confounded with any other than that from 

 which we have thought proper to distinguish it at the beginning of this 

 article. In this section, the female differs essentially from the male, 

 the young being similar to her in color. The latter change wonderfully 

 as they advance in age, to which circumstance is owing the wanton 

 multiplication that has been made of the species. In those which com- 

 pose the second section, the changes are most extraordinary, since, while 

 the adult male is of a very uniform light color, approaching to white, 

 the female and young are very dark, and much spotted and banded : 

 they are also much more conspicuously distinguished by the rigid facial 

 ring. 



These birds are bold, and somewhat distinguished for their agility, 

 especially when compared with the Buzzards, and in gracefulness of fliglu 

 they are hardly inferior to the true Falcons. They do not chase well 

 on the wing, and fly usually at no great height, making frequent cir- 

 cuitous sweeps, rarely flapping their wings, and strike their prey upon 

 the ground. Their food consists of mice, and the young of other quad- 

 rupeds, reptiles, fishes, young birds, especially of those that build on the 

 ground, or even adult water birds, seizing them by surprise, and do not 

 disdain insects ; for which habits they are ranked among the ignoble 

 birds of prey. Unlike most other large birds of their family, they 

 quarter their victims previously to swallowing them, an operation which 

 they always perform on the ground. Morasses and level districts are 

 their favorite haunts, being generally observed sailing low along the 

 surface, or in the neighborhood of waters, migrating when they are 

 frozen. They build in marshy places, among high grass, bushes, or in 

 the low forks or branches of trees ; the female laying four or five round 

 eggs, entirely white, or whitish, without spots. During the nuptial sea- 

 son, the males are observed to soar to a considerable height, and remain 

 suspended in the air for a length of time. 



The male Hen-Harrier is eighteen inches long, and forty-one in ex- 

 tent ; the bill is blackish horn color, the cere greenish yellow, almost 

 hidden by the bristles projecting from the base of the bill ; the irides 

 are yellow. The head, neck, upper part of the breast, back, scapulars, 

 upper wing-coverts, and middle tail feathers pale bluish gray, somewhat 

 darker on the scapulars ; the upper coverts being pure white, constitute 

 what is called a white rump, though that part is of the color of the back, 

 but a shade lighter ; breast, belly, flanks, thighs, under wing-coverts, 

 and under tail-coverts pure white, without any spot or streak. The 



