78 THE SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 



Adult Female. 



The female differs little from the male in colour, and is not much larger. 



Length 15 inches. 



Genus VIII.— NAUCLERUS, Vig. SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 



Bill short, wide at the base, much compressed toward the end; upper 

 mandible with the dorsal line decurved from the base, the sides slightly 

 convex, the edges with a slight festoon, the tip narrow and acute; lower 

 mandible with the angle very wide,1,he dorsal line straightish, the tip round- 

 ed and declinate. Nostrils round, with a central papilla. Head rather large, 

 roundish, flattened; neck short; body compact. Feet short; tarsus very 

 short, thick, scaly all round; toes scutellate above, scabrous beneath, with 

 pointed papillae; claws rather long, curved, acuminate. Plumage blended, 

 glossy. Wings extremely long, pointed, the third quill longest; secondaries 

 short. Tail extremely long, very deeply forked. 



THE SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 



NArCLERtTS FURCATITS, Linn. 



PLATE XVIII.— Male. 



The flight of this elegant species of Hawk is singularly beautiful and 

 protracted. It moves through the air with such ease and grace, that it is 

 impossible for any individual, who takes the least pleasure in observing the 

 manners of birds, not to be delighted by the sight of it whilst on wing. 

 Gliding along in easy flappings, it rises in wide circles to an immense height, 

 inclining in various ways its deeply forked tail, to assist the direction of its 

 course, dives with the rapidity of lightning, and, suddenly checking itself, 

 reascends, soars away, and is soon out of sight. At other times a flock of 

 these birds, amounting to fifteen or twenty individuals, is seen hovering 

 around the trees. They dive in rapid succession amongst the branches, 

 glancing along the trunks, and seizing in their course the insects and small 

 lizards of which they are in quest. Their motions are astonishingly rapid, 

 and the deep curves which they describe, their sudden doublings and cross- 



