148 



FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. 



Biological Survey, f 

 Agriculture. 



GENUS ELANOIDES. 



327. Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 

 Wings long-, slender, acute ; tail forked, and nearly as long as wing ; 



feet short but stout; tarsus feathered 

 about half way down in front ; bill rather 

 weak. Adults : white ; back, wings, and 

 tail black, bloomed with gray ; lesser wing 

 coverts bronzy purple. . Young : head 

 and neck streaked, back brownish, with 

 greenish instead of purple gloss ; wings 

 and tail feathers narrowly tipped with 

 white. Length : 19.50-25.50, wing 15.40- 

 17-70, outer tail feathers 12.50-14.50, bill 

 .70-.80. 



Distribution. From Assiniboia south 

 to South America, and, in the United 

 States, from the Carolinas west to the 

 Plains ; casually to Colorado and south- 

 ern New England. Breeds irregularly 

 throughout its United States range. 



Nest. In tops of tall trees, usually 

 near watercourses, made of dry twigs and 

 sometimes of gray moss. Eggs : 1 to 4, 

 white or buffy, boldly spotted or blotched, 

 chiefly around larger end, with browns. 

 Fig. 220. Food. Mainly reptiles and insects. 



The swallow-tailed kite lives mainly on the wing and by virtue of 

 its long tail has a remarkably graceful flight. When hunting it 

 flies close to the ground like a marsh hawk, but at other times sails 

 above the treetops, sometimes so far above that it takes a good eye 

 to see it. The kite picks up both food and nesting materials while 

 on the wing, carrying its food in its talons and eating as it goes. 

 Its call-notes have been given as a shrill, keen e-e-e or we-we-we, uttered 

 in a high key which carries a long distance. 



GENUS ELANUS. 



328. Elanus leucurus (Vieill). WHITE-TAILED KITE. 



Bill rather weak and compressed; feet very small; tarsus feathered 

 half way down in front, and below covered with minute roundish scales ; 

 claws not grooved beneath ; hind toe very short, claws all small and little 

 curved ; wings nearly or about twice as long as tail, pointed, first and 

 second quills emarginate, the feathers broad, obtuse at tips. Adults : 

 under parts white, upper parts plain bluish gray, except for white top of 

 head and tail, and black patches around eye and on shoulders. Young: re- 

 sembling adults, but tinged with rusty, extensively on under parts ; upper 

 parts indistinctly streaked ; wing feathers tipped with white ; tail with an 

 indistinct subterminal dusky band. Length : 15.15-16.75, wing 11.50- 

 13.30, tail 5.90-7.40, bill .65-.80. 



Distribution. Tropical America, except the West Indies ; north in the 

 United States to about the latitude of San Francisco on the Pacific coast, 

 St. Louis in the interior, and South Carolina in the east. 



