196 KEY AND DESGBIPTION 



M. Wing, 14i-17| ; -western ; black phase o£. .14. Swainson's Hawk. 



M. Wing, 13J-16| ; northeastern ; black variety under 



25. Gray Gyrfalcon. 



W . Tarsus hardly at all feathered at the upper part 27. Duck Hawk. 



N. Tarsus feathered less than half way down in front ; back grayish- 

 brown 26. Prairie Falcon. 



N. Tarsus feathered over half way down in front and on the sides 



24. White Gyrfalcon. 25. Gray Gyrfalcon. 



0. TaU white without bars and square tipped ; wing, 11-14 long 



2. White-tailed Kite. 



0. Tail white at base and whitish at tip; tail coverts above and below 

 mainly white ; upper mandible lengthened and hooked ; culmen, 

 1 or more long ; wing, 12-16 long ; Florida 4. Everglade Kite. 



0. Slaty-blue above, gray below ; tail black, unban-ed 



3. Mississippi Kite. 



P. Legs bright brownish-red with black bars . 20. Ferruginous Rough-leg. 



P. Legs more or less buffy without brownish-red 



19. American Rough-legged Hawk. 



1. Swallow-tailed Kite (327. Elanoldes forficcltus). — A beau- 

 tiful, large, glossy, bluish-black kite, with, the head, rump, and 



under parts white, 



and the tail deeply 



forked. The neck and 



tinder wing coverts 



are also white. This 



is a graceful bird, 



X ^^^^v^ generally seen on the 



/^ ^^^^ wing, where its move- 



^ ments remind one of 



Swallow-tailed Kite ,, „ „ 



those of a swallow. 

 It is remarkable in that it can drink as well as eat, while 

 coursing through the air. Common in the south. 



Length, 20-25 ; wing, 16-|(15^17f) ; tail, 13^-; tarsus, \\; culmen, 1. 

 Interior United States, west to the Great Plains, north to North Carolina 

 and Minnesota ; casual to New England and Manitoba ; breeding locally 

 throughout its regular range, and wintering in Central and South America. 



2. White-tailed Kite (328. Elanus leucurus). — An ashy- 

 backed, white-headed, white-tailed, white-bellied kite, with the 

 wing coverts conspicuously black. The young have the whites 



