140 LAND BIRDS 
Geographical Distribution: North America from southern border of 
Alaska, south in winter from latitude 40° to Cuba. 
Breeding Range: In California breeds on the interior marshes as far 
south as San Diego and north to Oregon. 
Breeding Season: April, May, and June. 
Nest: On the ground, among the marsh grass ; made of grass and sticks, 
and lined with feathers. 
Eggs: 4 to 6; dull bluish white, sometimes spotted with light and dark 
brown. Size 1.80 X 1.38, 
To most bird-lovers the sight of an old gray Marsh 
Hawk soaring gracefully over the broad stretch of wet 
meadows in the early spring suggests but one thing, — 
an immediate tramp in his direction. All sorts of fasci- 
nating things are hiding in that grass, and who knows it 
so well as he? A sudden swoop downward, a slow, 
circling rise, with a small dark object in those strong 
claws, and an alighting on the nearest tree to dine. 
What is the menu? Perhaps a pretty field mouse that, 
unconscious of the sharp eyes overhead, ran through his 
burrow ; or a gopher, or possibly a lizard. He has little 
choice between these and frogs, snakes, young ground- 
squirrels, and insects. In that he never molests the 
chicken yard but rids the meadow of insects and small 
animals, he is the protégé of the intelligent farmer. A 
few there are to whom a hawk is simply a hawk, to be 
destroyed without mercy or discrimination, but such per- 
sons become fewer every year as the economic value of 
certain varieties of these birds becomes better known. 
In a clump of stiff marsh grass or a bunch of weeds, 
you may find the nest of this “ soft-winged still-hunter.” 
It is simply a thick mat of coarse sticks and straw, lined 
slightly with feathers, and usually measuring about thir- 
en eee 
