THE EVERGLADE KITE. 



{Rostrhamus sociabilis) 



High in mid-air the sailing hawk is pois'd. 



— Isaac McLellan, "Nature's Invitation." 



The Everglade Kite or Snail Hawk, as 

 it is sometimes called, has a very small 

 range within the borders of the United 

 States, where it is limited to the swamps 

 and marshes of Southern Florida. It also 

 frequents Eastern Mexico, Central Amer- 

 ica, Cuba and the eastern portion of 

 South America as far southward as the 

 Argentine RepubHc. 



Its habits are very interesting. 

 Peaceable and sociable at all times, other 

 birds do not fear them. "The name of 

 the Sociable Marsh Hawk is very appro- 

 priate, for they invariably live in flocks of 

 from twenty to a hundred individuals and 

 migrate and even breed in company. In 

 Buenos Ayres they appear in September 

 and resort to marshes and streams 

 abounding in large water snails, on which 

 they feed exclusively." They spend 

 much of the time flying, and when soar- 

 ing will frequently remain poised in the 

 air for a considerable time without ap- 

 parent motion, except that the tail is con- 

 stantly and nervously moved in nearly 

 every direction. 



An authority, writing of these birds in 

 Florida, says, "Their favorite nesting 

 sites are swamps overgrown with low 

 willow bushes, the nests usually being 

 placed about four feet from the ground. 

 They frequent the borders of open ponds 

 and feed their young entirely on snails. 

 According to my observations the female 

 does not assist in the building of the nest. 

 I have watched these birds for hours. 



She sits in the immediate vicinity of the 

 nest and watches while the male builds it. 

 The male will bring a few twigs and al- 

 ternate this work at the same time by 

 supplying his mate with snails, until the 

 structure is completed. They feed and 

 care for their young longer than any other 

 birds I know of, until you can scarcely 

 distinguish them from the adults." 



The nest is a flat structure, the cavity 

 being rarely more than two or three inches 

 in depth, and the whole structure is 

 about twelve or sixteen inches in diam- 

 eter and about one-half as high. It is 

 usually placed in low shrubs or fastened 

 to the rank growth of saw grass suilfi- 

 ciently low to be secure from ooservatioii. 

 The materials used in its construction are 

 generally dry twigs and sticks loosely 

 woven together. The cavity may be bare 

 or lined with small vines, leaves or dry 

 saw grass. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher says, "Its food, as 

 far as known, consists exclusively of 

 fresh-water univalve mollusks, which it 

 finds among the water plants at the 

 edges of shallow lakes and rivers or the 

 overflowed portions of the everglades. 

 When the bird has captured one of these 

 mollusks it flies to the nearest perch and 

 removes the meat from the shell with 

 apparent ease and without injuring the 

 latter. While collecting food it will often 

 secure five or six before returning to the 

 nest, keeping m its gullet the parts it has 

 extracted for the young." 



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