THE MARSH HAWK 61 



bands. Below, pearl grayish on forebreast. White elsewhere below 

 with rufous markings. 



Adult female, above dusky with streaks on head and neck and red- 

 dish edgings to feathers on upper surface of wings. A white patch 

 at base of tail above as in the male. Tail heavily barred with buff 

 and black. Below, yellowish buff with heavy darker streaks. 



Immature birds are darker above than the female, and with dull 

 reddish or buffy rufous tinderparts. The white patch above the base 

 of the tail is especially conspicuous in this plumage. The plumage is 

 rather loose and soft, suggesting that of an owl. 



Measurements. Length, 19 to 22 inches; wing, 13.75 to 15 inches; 

 tail, 9 to 10 inches. 



Range. North America in general; south to Panama and Cuba. 

 Breeds throughout its North American range. (A. O. U. Checklist, 

 1910.) 



This slender-legged, long-tailed hawk is characteristically a bird of 

 the open prairie and marsh land. I have never seen it in heavy tim- 

 ber, though it sometimes frequents the margins of woods and scrubby, 

 brush-covered hills. 



It is easy in flight, seeming to hunt successfully on quite windy 

 days, but is not possessed of the strong, vigorous and direct flight of 

 many other hawks. 



The migration northward is usually late in March and early in 

 April, and southward in the crisp October and November days. Oc- 

 casionally it is to be found in Iowa in mid-winter. 



The habit of beating back and forth over the hunting territory, 

 whether prairie or marsh, stopping now and then in the tall grass and 

 rushes, or alighting upon some knoll on the prairie, corresponds in 

 many respects to the performance of well-trained hunting dogs. 



It is noteworthy that a great majority of the birds seen are in the 

 red plumage, comparatively few "blue hawks" being observed. 



At Eagle lake, in Hancock county, several of these birds were seen 

 in June, hunting the rush-grown marsh, and the remains of their 

 feasts littered the tops of Muskrat houses, where partly devoured 

 Mud Hens, Grebes, and occasionally Ducks were to be found. 



On September 2, 1914, while the writer was hunting with Mr. 

 Henry Ward of Britt, a female Marsh Hawk arose from the thick 

 rushes which were growing in the north end of Eagle lake. My com- 

 panion killed the hawk and going to the spot from which it was first 

 flushed, we found a male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), with the head 



