BIRDS OF PREY 139 
on the wing, they have a steadiness of flight unlike the 
bullet-like dash of some of the hawks, and more closely 
resembling the flight of the gulls. owe 
Their call is a high-keyed whistle, 4 “SS. | y 
which falls three tones in a plaintive ee i 
minor key. Besides this, they utter a \\ eae oe 
sharp, short squeak when darting down 
to seize their prey. Aside from the fact 
of his beauty and grace, the food of 
the White-tail is such as to ne 
render him beneficial to farmers, ““"\ 
and he should be protected by 
law fully as much as the game 
and song birds. Lizards, frogs, 
snakes, grasshoppers, and eK) 
beetles are his bill of fare, and 
these he consumes in great num- 
bers. Small birds do not fear 
him as they do the bird-eating 
328. WHITE-TAILED KITE. 
** Preying upon the field mice.” 
species, and this alone is proof that he does not molest 
them. 
331. MARSH HAWK. — Circus hudsonius. 
Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. 
Length: 19.50-24.00. 
Adult Male: Slate-color streaked with white; under parts and rump 
pure white; breast and sides lightly speckled with reddish brown ; 
tail with alternate bands of brown and black, six or seven in number ; 
tips of wings black. 
Adult Female, and Young: Rusty, more or less streaked with black. 
Downy Young: Rusty buff above, more or less washed with gray, and 
merging to whitish on lower parts, 
