isr. 



THE XKST AND EGGS. 



The ut'st of the Marsli Hawk differs from tliat of all 

 others of the family which breed here, in beinj; |)hiced 

 on the ftronnd, and usually, it i« said, in a swamp or 

 meadow. The nest, according to different writers, is 

 composed of sticks, grasses, hay, etc., or sometimes 

 no nest is made, the eggs simply being deposited on a 

 bed of grass, moss, etc., on the ground. "Eggs, three 

 to eight, 1.80 by 1.41, white or bluish-white, usually 

 plain, but often more or less spotted oi' blotclied witli 

 pale l)ro\An." — Ridgway. 



FEEDS OX MICE. 



Notwithstanding the fact that these hawks rarely, 

 if ever, prey upon any kinds of game except sometimes 

 an occasional Reed bird, gunners, who so industriously 

 search over the swamps never fail to destroy every 

 -Marsh Hawk which comes within range of theii' deadly 

 weapons. 



Marsh Hawks rarely disturb poultry, but subsist 

 mainly on field mice, other small quadrupeds, frogs, 

 large insects and sometimes, though seldom they catch 

 small wild birds. In writing of the food-habits, etc., 

 of this species Xuttall says: "It frequents chiefly, 

 ojten, low and marshy situations, over which it sweeps 

 or skims along at a little distance usually from the 

 ground, in quest of mic(\ small birds, frogs, lizards 

 and otiici- Kqiiilcs. which it often selects by twilight 

 as well as in the o])en day; and at times, pressed by 

 hunger, it joins the owls, and seeks out its prey even 

 by moonlight." 



In fourteen examinations made by myself, seven 

 hawks had only field mice in their stomachs; three, 

 frogs; two, small birds (warblers); one. few feathers, 

 apparently of a sparrow (Melospizn) ;ind fragments of 



