ICTINIA.— HAEPAGTJS. 105 



corpore subtus clare cineraceia, genis gulaque albidioribus ; abdomine albido ; subcaudalibus albidis, 

 macula oinerea snbterminali notatis ; subalaribus et axillaribus cineraoeis, margine alari nigricante : 

 rostro nigro ; pedibus aurantiaco-rubris ; iride coccinea. Long, tota circa 12-0, alse 11"8, caudae o*75, 

 tarsi 1"5. (Descr. exempl. ex Vera Paz, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 

 Jvfl). Sohistaceo-nigricans, plumis rufescente anguste marginatis et celatim albo notatis ; reotrieibiis nigris, 

 extus cinereo, intus albo trifasciatis ; pileo et colli lateribus albidis, late nigro striolatis ; fascia alba 

 supereiliari lata : subtus albicans, maculis ovatis rufescentibus ubique notatus aut striatus. (Descr. maris 

 juv. ex San Antonio, Texas. Mus. nostr.) 



Hal. North Ameeica, Southern States east of the Kocky Mountains, Texas. — 

 Guatemala, near Coban (Owen^). 



The Mississippi Kite is paler in colour than /. plumbea, and is easily distinguished 

 by its light grey secondaries tipped with white. In /. plumbea the secondaries are 

 blackish like the rest of the wing, and the primaries are for the most part chestnut, of 

 which colour there is but a faint trace in /. mississippiensis ; the tail of the latter is 

 black without white cross-bars. The young, moreover, differ from those of /. plumbea 

 in having the superciliaries broadly streaked with white, the sides of the face similarly 

 marked, and the breast and underparts with large oval spots ; the tail has three grey 

 bandg, which become white on the inner webs of all but the centre feathers. 



The only known Central-American specimen is the one we possess, captured by the 

 late Robert Owen in Vera Paz ^, where I. plumbea is by no means uncommon. 



Mr. Eidgway (Man. N. Am. Birds, 2nd edit. p. 225), Captain Bendire*, and 

 Dr. A. K. Fisher 5, however, state that the Mississippi Kite is found through Eastern 

 Mexico to Guatemala. 



In the United States, Captain Bendire says that its breeding-range extends from 

 Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas northward to Southern Illinois, the Indian Territory, 

 and Kansas; it likewise occurs and probably breeds in South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Florida, and Alabama. In Iowa and Wisconsin the bird is a summer visitor, 

 arriving at the end of April and leaving in October. A few winter in the Southern 



States. 



The food, according to Dr. Fisher ^, consists of lizards, small snakes, frogs, beetles, 

 grasshoppers, and locusts. It frequently ascends to so great a height as to be almost 

 invisible, and in flight resembles the Swallow-tailed Kite. 



The nests, composed of sticks, are not bulky, and are usually found in close proximity 

 to each other; fresh leaves and twigs. serve to repair the old ones 4. The eggs, 

 varying from two to three in number, are ovate and bluish white, in rare instances 

 marked with a deeper blue. 



HARPAGUS. 



Harpagus, Vigors, Zool. Journ. i. p. 338 (1824). 



Three species of this Neotropical genus are known, two of which are entirely 

 confined to South America and one to Central America. -H. diodon, distinguished by its 



BIOL. CENTE.-AMEK., Aves, Vol. lit., January 1901. 14 



