196 BIRDS 



the scent of a hare — ^the peculiarity of saw-toothed flight 

 that has earned it the hare-hound or harrier's name. A 

 few easy strokes in succession, then a graceful sail on 

 motionless wings, make its flight appear leisurely, even 

 slow and spiritless, as compared with the impetuous dash 

 of a hawk that piu-sues feathered game; hence this is 

 counted an "ignoble" hawk in the scornful eyes of fal- 

 coners. Open stretches of country, wide fields, salt and 

 fresh water marshes, ponds, and the banks of small 

 streams, whose sides are not thickly wooded, since trees 

 simply impede this low flier's progress, are its favorite 

 hunting grounds; and it will sometimes alight on a low 

 stump, or in the grass itself, for it is a low percher, too. Be- 

 cause its quarry is humble, and farmers, on the whole, ap- 

 preciate its service in destroying meadow mice, crickets, 

 grasshoppers, and other pests, this bird suffers compara- 

 tively little persecution, and still remains one of the most 

 widely distributed and common of its tribe. It is some- 

 times known as the harrier, the mouse hawk, or the blue 

 hawk. 



Turkey Vulture or Buzzard 



Length — ^30 inches; wing-spread about 6 feet. 



Male and Fexnale — Blackish brown; wing coverts and lin- 

 ings grayish; head and neck naked and red, from livid 

 crimson to pale cinnamon, and usually with white 

 specks; base of bill red, and end dead white; feet flesh 

 colored. Head of female covered with grayish brown, 

 fur-like feathers. Young darker than adults; bill and 

 skin of head dark and the latter downy. Nestlings of 

 yellowish white. 



