( 37J ) 



SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 



Falco furcatus, Linn^ 



PLATE LXXII. Vol. I. p. 368. 



I SAW a good number of Swallow-tailed Hawks in the Texas, and 

 observed, that while on wing they not unfrequently shake themselves, 

 partially closing the wings, and vibrating the tail-feathers, the birds 

 meanwhile gliding to the distance of ten or fifteen yards, after which 

 they resume their graceful flight. We saw one coming down, rapidly 

 sweeping over the water of Buffalo Bayou, and drinking in the manner 

 of a Swallow. In the same country I found these birds at a greater 

 distance from woods than I have elsewhere seen them, and frequenting 

 the wet prairies. We frequently saw them having long slender snakes 

 hanging in their talons, and observed that they devom-ed them while 

 on wing. Some of these snakes were so slender that my friend Edward 

 Hakeis thought, on first seeing them dangling in the air, that the Hawk 

 had a long blade of grass in its claws. On being shot at the bird would 

 sometimes drop its prey, unless it happened to be beyond the reach of 

 shot. This species nestles in that country on the tallest trees, along 

 the margins of the bayous or water-courses. 



My friend Dr Bachman informs me, that the Swallow-tailed Hawk 

 '* is seen sparingly in South Carolina, where it breeds on the high trees 

 of the swamps. They occasionally appear in companies of five or six. 

 I have seen it more frequently," he continues, " along the sea-coast, 

 coursing about over the brown grass, and among the myrtles, apparent- 

 ly in search of insects. It is rather a scarce bird in every part of this 

 State, and I have ascertained that it is scarcely ever seen in the upper 

 country. A singular habit of this bird may be worth mentioning. It 

 is common in Carolina to set on fire early in the spring the woods and 

 dried grass of old fields, for the purpose of procuring an early growth 

 of grass for cattle. No sooner are woods on fire than this Hawk makes 

 its appearance, sailing around like a Tern, plunging into the smoke 

 and within a few feet of the flames. It is evidently tempted to these 

 situations by the number of insects, particularly by several species of 

 Gryllae, which are disturbed by the fire, and are seen flying among the 



