THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN 



45 



Photograph by William L. Finley 

 A FULI<-GROWN CAI^IFORNIA CONDOR ENJOYS A SUN BATH 

 He differs from the South American members in dress, but not appreciably in size. His 



head and neck are much more colorful and there is no caruncle, 

 here shown gives this bird marvelous powers of flight. 



The tremendous wing spread 



The most aberrant types in the entire 

 order are the American vultures, which 

 are far removed from the hawks and 

 eagles and in some ways have peculiarities 

 that set them off from most other birds. 



Aside from the peculiar types just men- 

 tioned, the various species of this order 

 are fairly uniform in build and form, 

 differing principally in length of legs, 

 grasping power of claws, and size and 

 degree of robustness of bill. Thus, the 

 bill of the eagle is strong and heavy, but 

 that of the everglade kite is extremely 

 slender and elongated. 



The bateleur eagle (Terathopius ecau- 

 datus) has the tail so short that it does 

 not project beyond the wings — an anomaly 

 in a group that as a whole has long, strong 

 tail feathers. In spite of this peculiarity, 

 the bateleur sails with ease, using its wings 

 as planes, though it is said to have diffi- 

 culty in keeping aloft when there are no 

 wind or air currents to assist it. 



One of the striking phenomena of some 

 of our American hawks has been the fall 

 migrations, in which hundreds, or even 

 thousands, move together in southward 



flight. Years ago, in eastern Kansas, in 

 the pleasant weather of October, it was 

 usual to encounter flights of red-tailed 

 and American rough-legged hawks, in 

 which these splendid birds drifted steadily 

 across the sky for hours in never-ending 

 procession. Occasionally, attracted by 

 rising currents of air over some hill slope, 

 they paused to wheel in enormous spirals. 



MIGRATION OF SOME HAWKS SPECTACULAR 



Often I lay on soft grass, in the warm 

 sun, watching several hundred of these 

 hawks turning slowly through the sky, 

 some at such an elevation that they looked 

 no larger than swallows. On occasion I 

 have seen similar flights of the Swainson's 

 hawk of the western Plains, these birds 

 traveling in bands on migrations that carry 

 them far into South America. 



The migration flights of the sharp- 

 shinned and Cooper's hawks in the East 

 are better known, though they are seen 

 only in favored localities. Point Pelee, 

 which projects as a long peninsula from 

 the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, for 

 many years has been famous for its hawk 



