86 FALCONID^. 



during summer, but is observed in autumn going further 

 south to pass the winter. According to Vieillot, it visits 

 Peru and Buenos Ayres. 



The habits of this bird have been detailed from personal 

 observation by the American Ornithologists, Messrs. Wil- 

 son, Audubon, and Nuttall : and to Audubon's Biography 

 I am indebted for the following particulars of the geogra- 

 phical distribution and habits of this bird. 



" A solitary individual of this species has once or twice 

 been seen in Pennsylvania. Further to the eastward the 

 Swallow-tailed Hawk has never, I believe, been observed. 

 Travelling southward, along the Atlantic coast, we find it 

 in Virginia, although in very small numbers. Beyond that 

 State it becomes more abundant. Near the falls of the 

 Ohio a pair had a nest and reared four young ones in 

 1 820. In the lower parts of Kentucky it begins to be- 

 come numerous ; but in the States further to the south, 

 and particularly in parts near the sea, it is abundant. In 

 the large prairies of the Attacapas and Oppellousas, it is 

 extremely common." 



" In the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where these 

 birds are abundant, they arrive in large companies in the 

 beginning of April, and are heard uttering a sharp plain- 

 tive note. At this period I generally remarked that they 

 came from the westward, and have counted upwards of a 

 hundred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a di- 

 rect easterly course. At that season, and in the beginning 

 of September, when they all retire from the United States, 

 they are easily approached, when they have alighted, being 

 then apparently fatigued, and busily engaged in preparing 

 themselves for continuing their journey, by dressing and 

 oiling their feathers. At all other times, however, it is 

 extremely difficult to get near them, as they are generally 

 on wing through the day, and at night rest on the higher 



