221 



FISH HAWK. 



r;iii(liou haliaetus caroliueusis. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Wings long- and pointed; second and third quills longest. 

 Three first primaries emarginate on inner webs; bill stout with 

 a very long hook and sharp end; feathers oily to resist water, 

 those of head lengthened and pointed; thighs and little of the 

 front parts of tarsi are covered with short feathers which lie 

 close; legs, tarsi and feet very strong and robust; claws all 

 ?ame length, very large and sharp. The tarsus all round cov- 

 ei'ed with rough scales; toes padded below and covered with 

 numerous hard-pointed projections to aid in holding their slip- 

 pery prej-. 



Adult. — Upper parts dark brown or grayish-brown; most of 

 head, neck and under parts white (chest in female and some- 

 times in male, is spotted with brown), the tail usually paler 

 than the back, is tipped with white, and has six or seven 

 dusky bais. The immature, very similar to adults, have upper 

 parts spotted with pale reddish-brown or white. Iris in some 

 specimens reddish, but mostly yellow; bill and claws blue- 

 black; tarsi and toes graj'ish-blue. Length (female) about 25 

 inches; extent about 52. 



JECabitat.—^ ovth America, from Hudson's bay and Alaska 

 south to the West Indies and northern South America. Breeds 

 sparingly in Pennsylvania. 



The Fish Hawk, although most numerous about the 

 sea coast, is quite frequently met with along our large 

 rivers. This bird arrives in Pennsylvania generally 

 about the last week in March, and remains sometimes 

 as late as the first oa* November. 



THK XEST AND KGGS. 



Although the Fish Hawk commonly rears its young 

 along the sea coast, it is frecjuently found breeding 

 near the borders of large rivers or in the vicinity of 

 large inland lakes. The nest, a particularly bulky 

 structure (from four to eight feet in diameter) com- 

 posed chiefly of sticks, and lined with sea- weeds, 

 grasses, etc., is built usually on a large tree, near the 

 water. In Florida T have found eggs and young of 

 this bird early in March. This hawk is a regular but 

 by no means common breeder in Pennsylvania. Th»' 

 nost of this bird mny bo found almost every year along 



