12 
NEW-YORK FAUNA - BIRDS. 
GENUS NAUCLERUS. Vigors. 
Bill short, wide at the base, slightly festooned on its cutting edge. Tarsus short, equal in 
length to the hind toe, thick, scaly all round. Wings and tail extremely long; the latter 
deeply forked. Third primary longest. Plumage glossy. 
THE SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 
Nauclerus furcatus. 
PLATE VII. FIG. 15. 
(CABINET OF THE LYCEUM.) 
Falcofurcatus . Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 6, p. 70, pi. 51, fig. 2 (Adult inale).. 
F . (Elanus) id. Bonap. Am. Lyc. Vol. 2, p. 31. 
Nauclerus furcatus. Vigors, Zool. Jour. Vol. 2, p. 386. 
F. furcatus. Aud. Orn. Biog. Vol. 1, p. 368 ; and Vol. 5, p. 371. 
Kite. Nuttall, Manual, Vol. 1, p. 94, figure. 
Swallow-tailed Hawk . Aud. B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 78, pi. 18 (male). 
Swallow-tailed Hawk. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 13. 
Characteristics. White. Wings and tail black. Legs plumbeous. Length, 25 inches. 
Description. Wings very long and acute ; the secondaries comparatively very short. 
Tail of 12 feathers, the lateral ones being excessively elongated. 
Color. Head, neck, and all beneath white tinged with grey ; the shafts of the feathers on 
the head and neck dark colored. The black of the back, wings and tail glossed with pur¬ 
plish reflections. Bill bluish black. Cere, feet and eyelids blue. 
Length, 25-0. Alar extent, 54-0. 
The Swallow-tailed Hawk, or Fork-tail, is a southern species, and appears in the Southern 
States in the spring. They are numerous in Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. The spe¬ 
cimen exhibited in the plate was shot in the neighborhood of New-York, where, however, it 
can only be regarded as a rare and accidental visiter. Along the seacoast, it rarely passes 
beyond the 37th degree ; but in the interior, it has been observed at the Falls of St. Anthony, 
in the 44th degree of north latitude. Some years since, they were numerous in Ohio, but 
have now disappeared. Its ordinary food consists of snakes, lizards and other reptiles. 
Major Le Conte informs me, that when the fields are burned at the South, many of these 
hawks immediately appear hovering over the smoke, in pursuit of the winged insects which 
are driven upwards by the heated currents of air. Occasionally they swoop down after rabbits 
and snakes, which are endeavoring to escape from the flames. 
