MARSH HAWK 399 



The bird is about eight and one-half inches long. The adult 

 male has crown and throat red, breast black, and belly a shade 

 of yellow. The female has no red on the throat, and the red color 

 of the crown is sometimes replaced by black (Fig. 391). 



Hawks and Owls. Rank injustice has been done this group of 

 birds. We unhesitatingly place the sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's 

 hawk, and the goshawk as chief marauders against poultry and 

 small birds hi the category of bad birds; but a large number of 

 hawks and owls are useful. They prey upon gophers, field mice, 

 rabbits, and other animals inimical to the interests of the forest, 

 the poultryman, orchardist, and gardener. The poultryman, 

 particularly if living near timber, will occasionally lose poultry on 

 .account of the presence of hawks, but practically never on account 

 of the three or four birds of prey which we specifically mention 

 as useful. 



From time immemorial the farmer's boy has felt justified in 

 shooting every hawk and every owl he meets under the impression 

 that he is doing agriculture a good turn thereby. Whenever he 

 can bring down a crow or shoot into a bunch of blackbirds he feels 

 an honest conviction that his action will be approved at home; 

 hence he returns triumphant. He proudly displays his dead crow 

 or hawk or owl as he 'walks the village street; while partridge, 

 quail, or " chicken/' shot out of season, is packed snugly away 

 under his hunting coat. 



Marsh Hawk (Plate 3, Fig. 11). The male and female are 

 quite different, both in size and color. The adult male is nineteen 

 inches long. It is grayish above, the tail being barred with blackish. 

 The feathers above at the base of the tail (upper tail coverts) are 

 conspicuously white. The breast is gray, fading into white on the 

 belly, where brownish markings are found. The adult female is 

 twenty-two inches long. She is dark brown above, and is marked 

 on the head and neck with reddish brown. The upper tail coverts, 

 as in male, are conspicuously white. The tail is darker brown, 

 barred with reddish brown. The breast is buff; the color fading 

 on the belly. Nests are made on the ground in marshes. 



Food. This is eminently a bird of the meadows and prairies, 

 and is often seen skimming over the top of the marsh grass, hunting 

 its food, at which time the white of the upper tail coverts is con- 

 spicuous. It eats field mice, squirrels, rabbits, grasshoppers, frogs, 

 and reptiles. Occasionally small birds or poultry are taken, but not 

 often. The writer regards it as a useful bird to the agriculturist. 



