BIRDS OF PREY 



(330) Rostrhamus sociabilis 



iVieill.) (Lat,, a beak, a hook; gregarious). 



EVERGLADE KITE ; SNAIL 

 HAWK. Bill long, slender and 

 hooked into a sickle-shape; cutting 

 edges smooth, with no notches. 

 Legs, cere and bare loral space yellow. 

 General color slaty-black, lighter on 

 the wings and blacker on the head. 

 Rump, tip of tail and bases of the 

 lateral feathers white. L., 17.00; 

 Ex., 44.00; W., 14.50; T., 7.00; Tar., 

 2.00. Nest — Of twigs, lined with 

 leaves and weeds; placed in bushes, 

 usually over water; two or three 

 greenish-white eggs, heavily blotched 

 with brown, 1.70x1.45. 



Range — Resident in the southern 

 half of Fla., the West Indies, eastern 

 Mexico, and eastern South America 

 to Argentina. 



MISSISSIPPI KITES breed chiefly in those states 

 bordering on the Gulf coast and occasionally north to Kansas. 

 They are very active and, like the other kites, have wonderful 

 powers of flight, often soaring to such heights as to be almost 

 invisible. Their notes are shrill, broken whistles, very 

 similar to those of the two preceding species. 



EVERGLADE KITES are common throughout tropical 

 America, but reach our borders only in the Everglades of 

 Florida. Their form is peculiar, somewhat suggestive of 

 that of the Marsh Hawk, but the wings are even longer than 

 those of that species. In most parts of their range they are 

 known as Snail Hawks, because their food consists almost 

 wholly of a certain species of snail. The bill, with its long, 

 rounded, hooked tip, is peculiarly adapted to drawing these 

 creatures from their houses. As each pair of birds claims a 

 section of swamp as its own, and have favorite perches to 

 which most of their captures are brought to be dissected, 

 the discarded shells often collect in quite large mounds. 

 These lookout places are usually on small islands where the 



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