162 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



pale grey-green instead of creamy white, as in the other species. The only sets of 

 eggs we know to have been taken in North Carolina were secured on an island in 

 Neuse River, two miles above Milburnie, in Wake County, on April 20, 1891, and 

 April 20, 1893, and April 6, 1896, by Brimley. The eggs found on the two former 

 dates were advanced in incubation, while those on the last date were fresh. 



3O. FAMILY BUTEONID/E. HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, ETC. 



This family includes all of the hawk tribe, except the true falcons, and the 

 Osprey or Fish Hawk. 



They have strong, hooked bills, and long, curved, sharp claws. All are diurnal 

 in their habits and they constitute our typical birds of prey. Many of them feed on 

 small mammals, others partake extensively of reptiles, while fish, crustaceans, and 

 insects are not despised. Many of these points, however, are shared in common 

 with the Osprey s, all the claws of which are the same length, and the Falcons, 

 which have circular nostrils with a central bony tubercle. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Wing more than 20, tail not forked. Eagles. See 2. 



1. Wing not more than 18. See 3. 



2. Tarsus feathered to the toes. Aquila. 



2. Tarsus naked all round for at least lower third. Haliaeetus. 



3. Tail deeply forked. Elanoides. 



3. Tail not deeply forked. See 4. 



4. Tarsus densely feathered in front to base of toes. Archibuteo. 



4. Tarsus naked all round. See 5. 



5. Tarsus reticulate all round. Elanus. 



5. Tarsus scutellate in front. See 6. 



6. Face with a slight ruff, as in the owls; tarsus about as long as tibia; wings long. Circus. 



6. Face without a ruff. See 7. 



7. Tarsus about as long as tibia; wings short, little longer than tail. Accipiler. 



7. Tarsus decidedly shorter than tibia. See 8. 



8. Tarsus scuttelate in front and behind. Buteo. 

 8. Tarsus scutellate in front only. Ictinia. 



Genus Elanoides (Vieill.) 

 144. Elanoides forficatus (Linn.}. SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 



Description. Head, neck, and entire lower parts, and band across rump white; back, wings, 

 and tail black. Distinguished from all our other hawks by the very deeply forked tail. L., 

 19.00 to 25.00; W., 15.50 to 17.75; T., 12.50 to 14.50. 



Range. Tropical and warm temperate America; regularly from North Carolina southward; 

 casually much farther north. 



Range in North Carolina. Summer resident in Craven County, and probably other parts of 

 the east. Occasional in the mountain region. 



In gracefulness of flight the Swallow-tailed Kite is the equal of a tern or swallow, 

 and on the wing it appears not wholly unlike a gigantic member of either group. 



In this State it seems to occur regularly in the lake region of Craven County 

 below New Bern, where we have observed it during summers of 1905, 1906, 1907, 

 and 1909. Pearson also noted a specimen near Waccamaw Lake, in Columbus 

 County, on June 16, 1898. While not of common occurrence, it is evidently a regu- 

 lar summer visitor in Craven County, where it has acquired the name of "Snake 



