BIRDS OF INDIANA. 775 



or early in April. The iiest is usually placed in a marsh, on the ground 

 or low bush, or other slight elevation. Nests may be found late in 

 April and through May. The male assists in incubating. They fre- 

 quently begin to incubate when the first egg is laid. The male often 

 catches food and carries it to the female. The period of incubation 

 is somewhat over three weeks. Both parents care for the young. But 

 one brood is raised a season. 



The food of the Marsh Hawk, as far as I have examined it in White- 

 water Valley, is chiefly meadow mice, rabbits, squirrels and ground 

 squirrels, lizards, snakes, frogs, and birds, grasshoppers, locusts and 

 other meadow insects. The birds eaten are principally sparrows and 

 other birds of the prairie and meadow. The food being so largely of 

 injurious species, it is classed as one of the hawks that are mostly 

 beneficial. 



73. GRNUS ACCIPITER BRISSON. 



a 1 . Tarsus feathered less than one-third the way down in front; the feathers well 



separated in front. Subgenus ACCIPITER. 



b l . Wingmorethan 8.75; tail decidedly rounded. A. cooperi (Bonap.). 132 

 6 2 . Wing under 8.75; tail not decidedly rounded. A. velox (Wils.). 131 

 a 2 . Tarsus feathered more than one-third (usually one-half) the way down in 

 front; the feathers scarcely separated behind. Subgenus ASTUR. 



A. atricapillus (Wils.). 133 



Subgenus ACCIPITEB. 



*131. (332). Accipiter velox (WILS.). 



Sharp-shinned Hawk. 



Adult. Uniform bluish-gray above; top of head, darker; tail, 

 crossed by several blackish bands; wing, not more than 8.80 inches; 

 tail, more than two-thirds as long as wing, its tip even or slightly 

 notched; below, whitish, with breast and sides barred with dusky or 

 rufous. Immature. Above, dusky, more or less spotted with lighter, 

 the feathers bordered with rusty; below, whitish, streaked with brown 

 or dusky. 



Length, 10.00-14.00; wing, 6.00-8.80; tail, 5.80-8.20. (Fisher.) 



RANGE. North America, from Panama north to southern Canada, 

 and in the interior to Great Slave Lake. Breeds from southern United 

 States northward. Winters from northern Indiana and from northern 

 New York southward. 



Nest, in trees, 15 to 60 feet up, of sticks, lined with bark and leaves. 

 Eggs, 4-5; pale bluish, or greenish-white, blotched and spotted with 

 various shades of brown, the darker ones predominating; 1.47 by 1.16. 



Resident. Most of them leave the northern part of the State in fall 

 and return in spring. In southern Indiana it is more often found in 



