78 RAPTORES. ELANUS. Elams. 



Occasional I INSERT this elegant species in the list of our fauna as 



visitant, g^ occasional visitant, upon the authority of two specimens ; 

 one of which was killed at Ballachoalish, in Argyleshire, in 

 1772, and recorded by the late Dr Walker in his Adver- 

 saria for 1772 and 1774 ; the other was taken alive in Shaw- 

 Gill near Hawes, in Wensley-dale, Yorkshire, in September 

 1805, and mentioned in the 14th Vol. of the Linnean Tran- 

 sactions, p. 183. In the Southern States of North America, 

 in Peru and other parts of South America, it is an abundant 

 species; but, according to Audubon, has never been seen 

 to the north or eastward of Pennsylvania. From the descrip- 

 tion given of it by that practical ornithologist, and from that 

 of the not less gifted Wilson, (to both of which I must, on 

 account of their length, refer my readers,) the habits of this, 

 and, I believe, of the other species of Elanus, differ in many 

 essential particulars from those of the more typical Falco- 



Food. nidae. The prey of this bird, whether consisting of reptiles 

 or of insects, taken upon wing, either in their flight, from the 

 surface of the ground, or from the branches and trunks of 

 trees, is invariably devoured in the air. It is remarkable for 

 the gracefulness of its motion on wing, and the extraordinary 

 evolutions it performs when in pursuit of its insect prey. 

 Contrary to the habits of the other Falcons, it is gregarious, 

 being frequently seen in great numbers together, and so un- 

 willing is the flock to desert a companion in distress, that 

 when one is shot or wounded, instead of flying from the dan- 

 ger, they all assemble over the dead or dying bird, and con- 

 tinue to hover over it, even after being repeatedly fired at, 

 and having their numbers diminished by each sviccessive dis- 

 charge *. It breeds, according to Audubon, in the tops of 

 the highest oak and pine trees near the margin of ponds and 



Nest, &c. streams, making a nest similar in external appearance to that 

 of the crow ; formed outwardly of dry sticks intermixed with 

 Spanish moss, and lined with coarse grass and a few feathers. 



• See Audubon's Ornith. Biograph. vol. 1. p. 3C8. article Srvallmv- 

 tailed Hawk. 



