140 LAND BIRDS 



Geographical Distribution: North America from ' southern border of 



Alaska, south in winter from latitude 40° to Cuba. 

 Breeding Range: In California breeds on the interior marshes as far 



south as San Diego and north to Oregon. 

 Breeding Season: April, May, and June. 

 Nest : On the ground, among the marsh grass ; made of grass and sticks, 



and lined with feathers. 

 Eggs: i to 6; dull bluish white, sometimes spotted with light and dark 



•brown. Size 1.80 X 1.38. 



To most bird-lovers the sight of an old gray Marsh 

 Hawk soaring gracefully over the broad stretch of wet 

 meadows in the early spring suggests but one thiug, — 

 an immediate tramp in his direction. All sorts of fasci- 

 nating things are hiding in that grass, and who knows it 

 so well as he ? A sudden swoop downward, a slow, 

 circling rise, with a small dark object in those strong 

 claws, and an alighting on the nearest tree to dine. 

 What is the menu ? Perhaps a pretty field mouse that, 

 unconscious of the sharp eyes overhead, ran through his 

 burrow ; or a gopher, or possibly a lizard. He has little 

 choice between these and frogs, snakes, young ground- 

 squirrels, and insects. In that he never molests the 

 chicken yard but rids the meadow of insects and small 

 animals, he is the protege of the intelligent farmer. A 

 few there are to whom a hawk is simply a hawk, to be 

 destroyed without mercy or discrimination, but such per- 

 sons become fewer every year as the economic value of 

 certain varieties of these birds becomes better known. 



In a clump of stiff marsh grass or a bunch of weeds, 

 you may find the nest of this " soft-winged still-hunter." 

 It is simply a thick mat of coarse sticks and straw, lined 

 slightly with feathers, and usually measuring about thir- 



