HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES 291 
its prey, devours it, and drinks while under way. Its flight possesses 
all the marvelous ease and grace of a Swallow’s, made more evident, 
and consequently more impressive, by the bird’s much greater size. 
828. Elanus leucurus (Vieill.). Wuuire-raibep Kits. Ads.—Upper- 
parts ashy gray, whiter on the head; wing-coverts black; tail and under- 
parts white. Im.—vVery different, head streaked black and whitish; back 
black narrowly tipped with rusty, many of the feathers with more or less 
concealed white bars; tail black, central feathers barred with gray, others 
with white; underparts rufous with buff margins; throat white, region around 
eye velvety black. A later plumage has the back grayish brown edged with 
whitish, tail gray tipped with white; wings much as in the adult, unitate 
white, breast streaked with rufous. L., 15°50; W., 12°50; T., 7°00; B. from 
Range.—N. and 8. A. Breeds in Lower Austral zone in Calif., Tex., 
Okla., a C., and Fla.; casual in s. Ills., La., Miss., and Ala.; winters in Calif. 
and Fla. and s. rarely to Guatemala; resident in S. A. and Argentina and 
Chile to Venezuela. Accidental in Mass. 
Nest, in trees. Eggs, 3-5, ‘‘handsomely marbled or clouded with various 
shades of rich madder-brown on a paler (sometimes whitish) ground, 1‘71 x 
1°31” (Ridgw.). Date, Brownsville, Tex., May 11 
This species is not often found east of the Mississippi. It frequents 
open, marshy situations. A pair which I observed in Texas hunted 
by hovering over the reeds, sustaining a position facing the wind, and 
about forty feet from the ground, by a gentle movement of the wings. 
$29. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wils.). Mussissrppr Kirr. Ads.— 
Head, neck, exposed margins of the secondaries, and underparts gray; back 
bluish slate-color; primaries streaked or spotted with rufous-chestnut; tail 
black, without bars. Im.—Head streaked with black and white; back black- 
ish, tipped with rufous or white, the concealed parts of the feathers white and 
with generally one blackish bar; primaries without rufous; tail with three 
or four broken white bars; below ag streaked ‘ah rufous and grayish 
brown. L., 14:00; W., 11° 25; T., 6°50; B. from N., 
Range. ” “Lower Austral zone ‘from Ss. Kans., nee Tils., s. Ind., and 8S. C., 
s. to Tex., and Fla.; winters in Fla. and s. Tex., and s. rarely to Guatemala; 
accidental i in Colo., s. D., Wisc., and Pa. 
Nest, in tall trees. Eggs, 1- 3, dull white, sometimes with a bluish tinge, 
1°63 x 1°32. Date, Lee Co., Tex., May 22; coast S. C., May 27, large embryo. 
This bird, like the preceding, is only a summer resident in the 
United States, arriving from the south in April. It is not common 
east of Louisiana. It migrates in flocks, sometimes flying within gun- 
shot, and at others so far above the earth as to be almost beyond the 
bounds of vision. 
330. Rostrhamus sociabilis (Vieill.). Everctapr Kirn. Ad.g.— 
Dark slate-color; under, and longer upper tail-coverts, and base of the tail 
white, tip of the tail whitish; upper mandible much lengthened and hooked. 
¢ and Im.—Upperparts black, tipped with rufous; underparts barred and 
mottled with ante ae and buffy; tail as in the Ad.7. L., 18°00; W., 
14:00; T., 7°75; B., 
Range. oT Trocieal Ta. Cuba, e. Mex., Cen. Am., ande.S. A. to Argentina; 
migratory in n. Fla. 
Nest, in bushes, among reeds or tall grasses. Eggs, 2-3, pale bluish white, 
heavily spotted, blotched, or washed with cinnamon or chocolate, 1°85 x 
1°47, Date, near Ft. Myers, Fla., Mch. 1. 
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