OF THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. I55 



Western Ontario mention is made of a pair having spent a 

 summer about eight miles north-west of London, and there is 

 also a record of one having alighted on the top of a flagstaff at 

 Ottawa, when it was closely examined through a glass and 

 satisfactorily identified. 



The food of this species consists chiefly of snakes, lizards, 

 grasshoppers, locusts, etc., which not being abundant in 

 Ontario readily accounts for the absence of the birds. 

 x\ccording to Audubon the Swallow-tailed Hawk feeds chiefly 

 on the wing, and having pounced on any prey on the ground, 

 rises with it and devours it while flying. " In calm weather," 

 he farther observes, " they soar to an immense height, pursuing 

 the large insects called Mosquito Hawks, and performing the 

 most singular evolutions that can be conceived, using their tail 

 with an elegance peculiar to themselves." 



Genus CIRCUS Lacepede. 



132. CIRCUS HUDSONIUS (Linn.). :^3L 



Marsh Hav7k. 



Adult-male : — Pale bluish-ash, nearly unvaried, whitening below and on 

 upper tail-coverts ; quills blackish towards the end. Length, 16-18 ; wing, 

 14-15 ; tail; 8-9 ; female larger, above dark-brown streaked with reddish- 

 brown, below the reverse of this ; tail banded with these colors ; immature 

 male is like the female though redder, but in any plumage the bird is known 

 by its white upper tail-coverts and generic characters. 



H.\B. North America in general, south to Panama. 



Nest on the ground ; composed of twigs and dried grass. 



Eggs, 4 to 5 ; pale greenish-white, spotted or blotched with light brown. 



In Ontario the Marsh Hawk in the red plumage is a well 

 known bird, but in the blue phase it is seldom seen. It arrives 

 from the south in April as soon as the ice is gone, and from 

 that time till November, it may usually be seen coursing over 

 the marshes and moist meadows m search of its food, which 

 consists of mice, small birds, snakes, frogs, worms, etc. It 

 breeds sparingly at the St. Clair Flats, becoming quite 

 numerous in the fall on the arrival of those which have bred 



