HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES 291 



its prey, devours it, and drinks while under way. Its flight possesses 

 all the marvelous ease and grace of a Swallow's, made more evident, 

 and consequently more impressive, by the bird's much greater size. 



328. Elanus leucurus (VieilL). WHITE-TAILED KITE. Ads. Upper- 

 parts ashy gray, whiter on the head; wing-coverts black; tail and under- 

 parts white. Im. Very different, head streaked black and whitish; back 

 black narrowly tipped with rusty, many of the feathers with more or less 

 concealed white bars; tail black, central feathers barred with gray, others 

 with white ; underparts rufous with buff margins ; throat white, region around 

 eye velvety black. A later plumage has the back grayish brown edged with 

 whitish, tail gray tipped with white; wings much as in the adult, underparts 

 white, breast streaked with rufous. L., 15'50; W., 12'50; T., 7'00; B. from 

 N., 70. 



Range. N. and S. A. Breeds in Lower Austral zone in Calif., Tex., 

 Okla., S. C., and Fla.; casual in s. Ills., La., Miss., and Ala.; winters in Calif, 

 and Fla. and s. rarely to Guatemala; resident in S. A. and Argentina and 

 Chile to Venezuela. Accidental in Mass. 



Nest, in trees. Eggs, 3-5, "handsomely marbled or clouded with various 

 shades of rich madder-brown on a paler (sometimes whitish) ground, 1'71 X 

 1-31" (Ridgw.). Date, Brownsville, Tex., May 11. 



This species is not often found east of the Mississippi. It frequents 

 open, marshy situations. A pair which I observed in Texas hunted 

 by hovering over the reeds, sustaining a position facing the wind, and 

 about forty feet from the ground, by a gentle movement of the wings. 



329. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wils.). MISSISSIPPI KITE. Ads. 

 Head, neck, exposed margins of the secondaries, and underparts gray; back 

 bluish slate-color; primaries streaked or spotted with rufous-chestnut; tail 

 black, without bars. Im. Head streaked with black and white; back black- 

 ish, tipped with rufous or white, the concealed parts of the feathers white and 

 with generally one blackish bar; primaries without rufous; tail with three 

 or four broken white bars; below buffy, streaked with rufous and grayish 

 brown. L., 14'00; W., 11'25; T., 6'50; B. from N., '60. 



Range. Lower Austral zone from s. Kans., Iowa, Ills., s. Ind., and S. C., 

 s. to Tex., and Fla.; winters in Fla. and s. Tex., and s. rarely to Guatemala; 

 accidental in Colo., S. D., Wise., and Pa. 



Nest, in tall trees. Eggs, 1-3, dull white, sometimes with a bluish tinge, 

 1'63 x 1'32. Date, Lee Co., Tex., May 22; coast S. C., May 27, large embryo. 



This bird, like the preceding, is only a summer resident in the 

 United States, arriving from the south in April. It is not common 

 east of Louisiana. It migrates in 'flocks, sometimes flying within gun- 

 shot, and at others so far above the earth as to be almost beyond the 

 bounds of vision. 



330. Rostrhamus sociabilis (VieilL). EVERGLADE KITE. 

 Dark slate-color; under, and longer upper tail-coverts, and base of the tail 

 white, tip of the tail whitish ; upper mandible much lengthened and hooked. 

 9 and Im. Upperparts black, tipped with rufous; underparts barred and 

 mottled with rufous, black and buffy; tail as in the Ad.<?. L., IS'OO; W., 

 14'00; T., 7'75; B., T20. 



Range. Tropical Fla., Cuba, e. Mex., Cen. Am., and e. S. A. to Argentina; 

 migratory in n. Fla. 



Nest, in bushes, among reeds or tall grasses. Eggs, 2-3, pale bluish white, 

 heavily spotted, blotched, or washed with cinnamon or chocolate, 1'85 X 

 1'47. Date, near Ft. Myers, Fla., Mch. 1. 



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