MARSH HAWK— HARRIER— BLUE HAWK 69 



To say that the Blue Hawk is the true adult male Marsh 

 Hawk may or may not be correct ; but I am rather inclined to 

 give it as a plumage occasionally assumed by the old male bird. 

 To state positively, however, that all others are young and imma- 

 ture birds is simply absurd, for I have examined a number of 

 specimens of evidently fully mature male individuals which did 

 not show the slightest indication of the bluish CTarb. Writers 

 have been too fond of setting down peculiar and often local con- 

 ditions of plumage as that of adult or very old individuals of a 

 particular species, e.g. the white and unspotted stage of the Snow 

 Owl, which I know to be occasionally assumed as well b)- the 

 young birds ; and again the red stage of the Screech Owl — as 

 above referred to — wdiich appears to be independent of either 

 age or sex. But we cannot enlarge. For the present, therefore, 

 we may simply state that in Canada the Marsh Hawk is, with 

 few exceptions, of umber-brown or light rufous colors, and that 

 occasionally the males assume a lighter and lead-gray hue. It 

 is also sufficient to state here that our American bird is a 

 geographical variety of the European ; and further that in Am- 

 erica there appears to be a northern and southern variet)', namely 

 hndsonhis and cinereus. The species, however, may correct!}' be 

 described as diffused over the whole of North America from 

 Mexico to the Arctic regions. It is equally abundant on the 

 coasts of the Pacific as on those of the Atlantic, but as in many 

 of the other species of the family, the western specimens, and 

 especially the young of these, are much brighter-colored than 

 the eastern examples. In Europe and Asia the individuals of 

 this species also vary greatly in plumage ; and Mr. G. R. Gray 

 in his " Catalogue of British Bircis " cites no fewer than twenty 

 synonyms. 



The Marsh Hawk or Harrier is amoncj the " ig-noble " birds 

 of the falconers, but, as Mr. Coues remarks, " is neither a w^eakling 

 nor a coward, as one may easily satisfy himself by handling a 

 winged bird." Though long-winged, its flight is not rapid, but is 

 accomplished by alternate measured flappings and low sailings, 

 turning and " quartering" the ground, something in the manner of a 



