SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 79 



during summer, but is observed in autumn going farther 

 south to pass the winter. According to Vieillot, it visits 

 Peru and Buenos Ayres. 



The habits of this bird have been detailed from personal 

 observation by the American Ornithologists, Messrs. Wil- 

 son, Audubon, and Nuttall : and to Mr. Audubon's Bio- 

 graphy I am indebted for the following particulars of the 

 geographical distribution and habits of this bird. 



" A solitary individual of this species has once or twice 

 been seen in Pennsylvania. Farther to the eastward the 

 Swallow-tailed Hawk has never, I believe, been observed. 

 Travelling southward, along the Atlantic coast, we find it 

 in Virginia, although in very small numbers. Beyond that 

 State it becomes more abundant. Near the falls of the 

 Ohio a pair had a nest and reared four young ones in 

 1820. In the lower parts of Kentucky it begins to be- 

 come numerous; but in the States farther to the south, 

 and particularly in parts near the sea, it is abundant. In 

 the large prairies of the Attacapas and Oppellousas, it is 

 extremely common." 



" In the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where these 

 birds are abundant, they arrive in large companies in the 

 beginning of April, and are heard uttering a sharp plaintive 

 note. At this period I generally remarked that they came 

 from the westward, and have counted upwards of a hun- 

 dred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a direct 

 easterly course. At that season, and in the beginning of 

 September, when they all retire from the United States, 

 they are easily approached when they have alighted, being 

 then apparently fatigued, and busily engaged in preparing 

 themselves for continuing their journey, by dressing and 

 oiling their feathers. At all other times, however, it is 

 extremely difficult to get near them, as they are generally 



