BIRDS OF PREY 



(331) Circus hudsonius 



(Linn.) (Lat.. a kind of hawk; of Hudson's 

 Bay). 



MARSH HAWK or HARRIER; 

 BLUE HAWK. Bill, at the base, 

 thickly set with long, curved bristles. 

 Face surrounded with an incomplete 

 rutf of short feathers, similar to owls. 

 Ear opening very large. Ad. cT — 

 In perfect plumage, as shown by the 

 nearer bird, a light blue-gray above 

 with white rump. Ad. 9 and Im. — 

 As shown by the farther bird; under 

 parts rusty; head and upper parts 

 reddish-brown; rump white. L., 

 1S.50; Ex., 42.00; W., 13.50; T., 

 9.50; Tar., 3.00. Egg.'i — Three to 

 fi\'e, plain bluish-white, 1.80 x 1.40; 

 laid on the ground in marshy places. 



Range — Breeds throughout the 

 U. S. and temperate Canada. Win- 

 ters in southern U. S. 



bushes or trees are taller, so they can see more of the sur- 

 rounding country and keep tabs upon their nests, which are 

 located in the tops of bushes or saw-grass within three or 

 four feet of the water. The nests are made of small sticks 

 and dry grasses and measure about a foot across. 



MARSH HAWKS, in summer, are pretty well distributed 

 throughout the United States, Canada, and Alaska. During 

 early morning or toward dusk they may usually be seen 

 sweeping in wide circles over most marshes or meadows, 

 searching for meadow mice and moles, which constitute the 

 greater part of their bill of fare. The poor mouse has pretty 

 good prospects of sooner or later finding a final resting place in 

 the stomach of some carnivorous or raptorial creature; if it 

 ventures abroad during daylight, it finds scores of hawks and 

 herons ready to pounce upon it; if it emerges from its retreat 

 at dusk, the present hawk, the Night Heron, or the Short- 

 eared Owl may at any instant spy it; or if it comes forth in 

 the dead of night, other owls or predatory mammals are 

 still lurking about with unappeased appetites. 



