BLACK-SHOULDERED HAWK. 71 



at once that it was one of the birds which you had desired me to procure for 

 you, and went to the house for my gun. On returning I saw the Hawk very 

 high in the air, sailing beautifully over a large wet meadow, where many 

 Common Snipes were feeding. It would now and then poise itself for a 

 while, in the manner of our Little Sparrow Hawk, and suddenly closing its 

 wings plunge towards its prey with great velocity, making a rumbling noise 

 as it passed through the air. Now and then, when about half way, it suddenly 

 checked its descent, recommenced hovering, and at last marking its prey, 

 rushed upon it and secured it. Its cries, on being wounded, so much resem- 

 bled those of the Mississippi Kite, that I thought, as I was going to pick it 

 up, that I had only got one of that species. It was so shy that I was obliged 

 to get on horseback before I could approach it within gun shot." 



Mr. H. Ward, who accompanied me on my expedition to the Floridas, 

 found this species breeding on the plantation of Alexander Mayzck, Esq., 

 on the Santee River, early in the month of March, and shot three, two of 

 which, a male and a female, are now in my possession. Their nests were 

 placed on low trees near the margins of the river, and resembled those of the 

 American Crow, but had none of the substantial lining of that bird's nest. 

 Mr. Ward states, that at this time they were seen flying over the cane 

 brakes in pursuit of large insects, somewhat in the manner of the Mississippi 

 Kite, and that they were very shy. 



My friend John Bachman has seen this species fly in groups, at a very 

 great height, in the beginning of March, and thinks that it is only of late 

 years that they have located themselves in South Carolina, where, however, 

 five of them have been procured in one year. 



The Black-shouldered Hawk appears to give a decided preference to low 

 lands, not distant from the shores of the Atlantic. On our way toward the 

 Texas, several of these birds were seen over the large marshes, flying at a 

 small elevation, and coursing in search of prey, much in the manner of the 

 Hen-harrier or Marsh Hawk, but all evidently bent on proceeding to the 

 eastward. Whether this species winters there or not, I am unable to say, 

 but that some remain all the year in Florida, and even in South Carolina, I 

 am quite confident. 



The difference between the food of this species and that of the Mississippi 

 Kite is surprising to me. I have never seen the latter seize any bird, whereas 

 the Black-shouldered Hawk certainly does so, as in the stomachs of two 

 individuals which I examined were remains of birds as well as of coleopterous 

 insects. These two birds agree nearly with the description of the one pro- 

 cured by Mr. Titian Peale, excepting in the length of the wings, which 

 in them and in several others that have come under my notice, have their 

 tips fully an inch shorter than the end of the tail. A breeding female differed 



