346 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



beautiful and often sublime flight. They frequently sail up- 

 wards or forwards without moving the wings, generally doing 

 so in circles. They usually pounce upon their prey from above, 

 and often perch long to watch for it. 



The fish-hawks (IX). ' k Plumage lacking aftershafts" and 

 oily. Feet very large. See IX. 



i. emeus 



(A) CYANEUS (var. HUDSONIUS). Marsh Hawk. American 

 Harrier. 



(A common summer-resident throughout New England.) 



(a). Upper tail-coverts, white. Mature $ , extreme length 

 about eighteen inches. Above, bluish-gray, becoming white 

 beneath ; often marked with brown. Wings tipped icit/i black. 

 9 , extreme length about twenty inches. Upper parts, and 

 streaks beneath, dark brown. Markings above, under parts, 

 and bands on the tail, soft reddish-rusty. 



(b). The nest, composed of grasses or occasionally sticks, 

 is built, unlike thoSe of all our other hawks, upon the ground, 

 usually in a meadow, or other wet place. The eggs, of which 

 in Massachusetts four are laid about the tenth of May, average 

 1'80 X 1'35 of an inch, and are white, often tinged with blue, 

 and often marked with brown. 



(c). The Marsh Hawks are among the least ambitious of 

 their family, for the most part contenting themselves with such 

 humble prey as mice, snakes, or frogs, and remaining near the 

 ground. They may usually be seen flying low over meadows 

 and fields, or wandering about the shores of some pond, but 

 they also visit farms, and even molest poultry. Sometimes 

 the} 7 beat about for their game ; at other times they perch upon 

 some fence to digest their last meal or to watch for another. 

 They generally fly irregularly and leisurely, with intermittent 

 sailing, up or down, to the right or left. But occasionally they 

 mount higher, and sail about with ease ; in autumn, when fol- 

 lowing the migrations of smaller birds, they even pursue these 

 on wing, and often with success. Customarily, however, they 

 drop upon their prey on the ground, and, after hurriedly pois- 



