184 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



large and destructive crickets (An-alns .s///^.r); where these are abundant 

 they feed almost exclusively on them. Now and then small birds or snakes 

 are also eaten, probably when other food is not so easy to obtain. It is an 

 extremely useful bird, and well deserves the fullest protection. 



According' to Mr. W. G. Smith, of Loveland, Colorado, the Marsh Hawk 

 will occasionally feed on decaying animal matter, such as dead Ducks, and 

 will kill and devour such game when found wounded. 



Dr. W. L. Ralph tells me: "In Florida I have often had these birds come at 

 the report of my gun and try to carry off the ducks that 1 had shot, and some- 

 times they would be so persistent that I could almost catch them before they 

 would leave. I saw a couple of these birds on March 27, and another pair 

 on March 28, 1891, a few miles from San Mateo, Florida. Still another pair 

 was seen by one of my men on the last day of that month, and I think that is 

 rather late for them to be so far south, unless they were going to nest. Some- 

 times they will fly just in front of the blaze of a forest or prairie fire to catch 

 the small mammals driven out by the heat." 



In the West, where I have principally observed these birds, they are not 

 very shy, often sailing in search of food quite close to a person. Sometimes 

 they seem to be so entirely absorbed in such occupation that I frequently 

 had them pass within 20 feet without apparently seeing me, and, after noticing 

 me, turning only a little out of the way and altering their course but very 

 slightly. 



The mating season begins about April 1, sometimes earlier. Pairs of these 

 birds may be seen at this time playing with each other, sailing around in grace- 

 ful gyrations, turning over and over, and uttering shrill screams of delight while 

 engaged in these aerial evolutions. Soon thereafter a suitable nesting site is 

 selected, and this is always on the ground or close to it. It is usually not far 

 from water, in a thick bunch of grass, on a slight hillock in a marsh, in bunches 

 of rank weeds, low bushes, among rushes, flags, or on tule drifts. The male 

 assists faithfully in the construction of the nest, which, in most cases, is but a 

 slight- affair. Now and then one is found somewhat more elaborately built than 

 the average, but, as a rule, there is but little material used, and the inner lining 

 is also generally rather scant. A reasonably level surface in the high grass or 

 thick bushes having been selected for this purpose, bits of dry grasses, stubble, 

 or pieces of weed stalks are carried to the site, and this is arranged in a circle, 

 leaving a rather shallow cavity in the center, lined with similar material, and 

 the eggs are deposited on this. Occasionally, especially when placed in wet 

 places subject to overflow, the nest proper is put on a slight platform of sticks 

 to raise it slightly from the ground. I have never found a nest lined with 

 either hair or feathers, excepting such as drop from the sitting bird. 



In the Southern States nidification begins in the early part of April; in the 

 Middle States usually about the second week in May, rarely earlier, and cor- 

 respondingly later northward, where it is protracted till the first two weeks in 

 June. When not disturbed the same sites are resorted to from year to year, 



