I'A I.C ( )X 1 1).!: — Til !•; FAl.COX.S. 1 05 



ii])Oii KiiiiiU siiak(>s, iiarl'riil;\rly tlic little -^rei'ii siuiki' (Lqifaii/iis a's/Z/v's) 

 jiiid tliu (.liireicutsiiei'ie,s(.r Ei'/ciilit. It Iniilils ils iiust lliuiu a!ii(iii;j, lliu nak 

 or hickory trees which hiinler []w streams iiilersectiiig the prairies. Towards 

 the latter jmrt ol' suiniuer it l)ecoiues very ubuialaiit oil the prairies, buiiiu 

 attraeteil l)y the ahuiulaiiee of ibotl, wliieli at tiiat season consists very 

 laruely of insects, es])ecially .\nir'>i'/rr<(. It is most alaiiidant in Ani;n^,t, 

 and in liright weather dozens of them may bo seen at a time sailin.i,' round 

 in pursuit of insects. 



;Mr. Amluliun speaks of tlio niovomonts ol' this bird in ili.ulit as astonisiiin!j;ly 

 rajad, the deep curves they describe, their sudden doubliiiL;s and crossinus, and 

 the extreme ease with which they .seem to cleave the air, never failin>;- to ex- 

 cite admiration. In the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where, he adds, 

 those bird.s are very abundant, they arrive in largo companies in the liegin- 

 niiig of Ajiril, and ntter a sharp and ]ilaintive note. They all come from 

 the westward ; and he has counted upwards of a liuiidroil, in the sjxice of an 

 hour, passing over him in an easterly direction. They IV'ed on the wing, and 

 their ]}rincipal food is said to lie grassho])pers, caterpillars, small snakes, 

 lizards, and frogs. They sweej) over the fields, and seem to alight for a 

 inoiuont to secure a snake or .some other object. ' They also fiv(|ueiit tiie 

 creek.s, to pick up water-snakes Ijasking on the lloating logs. 



On the ground their movements are said to be awkward in the extreme. 

 ■\Vhen wounded, they randy strike with their talons, (jr offer serious resist- 

 ance. They never attack other birds or (puidrupeds to i)rey upon them. 



This Hawk is a great wanderer, and a mindier oi' instances are on reconl 

 of its having been taken in Europe. One of these was in Scotland, in 1772 ; 

 anotlier in Hiiglaiul, in LSOo. 



Mr. K. Owen (Ibis, ISOt), p. 241), while travelling from Coban to San 

 Oeronimo, in Guatemala, among the mountains, came suddenly upon a hirge 

 Hock of two or throe hundred of these "lawks, wliicli were pursuing and 

 preying upon a swarm of bees. At times they ])assed vitliiu lour or 

 five yards of him. Every now and then the neck was observed to bo bent 

 slowly and gracefully, bringing the head (piite under the body. At the same 

 time the foot, with the talons contracted as if grasjiing some object, would 

 bo brought ibrward to meet the beak. The beak was then seen to open and 

 to close again, and then the head was again raised and the foot thrown back. 

 This movement was repeatedly oliserved, and it was (piito clear to him that 

 the birds v. ^re preying upon the bees. 



This Hawk constructs its nest on tall trees, usually overhanging or near 

 running water. Tlui nest is like that of tlio Crow in its general ajipoaranco. 

 It is constructed externally of dry twigs and sticks, intermixed with which 

 are great (piantities of the long Spanish moss "peculiar to tin; Southern 

 States, and lined witli dry gra.sses, loaves, and feathers. One found liy Dr. 

 C. Kollock, of Cheraw, S. ("., in May, ISoo, containing young, was on a largo 

 tree, not near the trunk, but on one of the projecting l)ranc]ies, and dillicult 

 of a]Jiiroacli. 



