200 



MARSH HAWK 

 331. Circus hudsonius. 19 in. 



Upper tail coverts and base of tail white. Male, 

 blue-gray above; below whitish, streaked and barred 

 with rusty. Female and young. Above rusty brown- 

 ish-black; below rusty with dusky streaks on the breast 

 and sides. As shown by its name, this hawk is found 

 I most abundantly in or around marshes or wet meadows. 

 I have found them especially abundant in boggy marshes 

 such as frequented by bitterns. Their flight is quiet 

 and owl-like, and as they do most of their feeding 

 toward dusk, they often seem like owls as they flit 

 by without a sound. Their food is composed chiefly of 



?adow mice and moles, which they spy and dash 



wn upon as they fly at low elevations. 



Notes. A shrill whistle when their nest is ap- 

 I proached. 



Nest. Of grasses, on the ground in marshes; four 

 I plain bluish-white eggs. (1.80x1.40); May, June. 

 H Range. Breeds locally in the whole of the United 

 States and Canada, north to Hudson Bay; winters in 

 the southern half of the United States. 



