§0 THE SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 



and snap off the pupse of the locust, or that insect itself. Although when on 

 wing they move with a grace and ease which it is impossible to describe, yet 

 on the ground they are scarcely able to walk. 



I kept for several days one which had been slightly wounded in the wing. 

 It refused to eat, kept the feathers of the head and rump constantly erect, 

 and vomited several times part of the contents of its stomach. It never 

 threw itself on its back, nor attempted to strike with its talons, unless when 

 taken up by the tip of the wing. It died from inanition, as it constantly 

 refused the food placed before it in profusion, and instantly vomited what 

 had been thrust down its throat. 



The Swallow-tailed Hawk pairs immediately after its arrival in the 

 Southern States, and as its courtships take place on the wing, its motions are 

 then more beautiful than ever. The nest is usually placed on the top branches 

 of the tallest oak or pine tree, situated on the margin of a stream or pond. 

 It resembles that of the Common Crow externally, being formed of dry 

 sticks, intermixed with Spanish moss, and is lined with coarse grasses and a 

 few feathers. The eggs are from four to six, of a greenish- white colour, 

 with a few irregular blotches of dark brown at the larger end. The male 

 and the female sit alternately, the one feeding the other. The young are at 

 first covered with buff-coloured down. Their next covering exhibits the 

 pure white and black of the old birds, but without any of the glossy purplish 

 tints of the latter. The tail, which at first is but slightly forked, becomes 

 more so in a few weeks, and at the approach of autumn exhibits little differ- 

 ence from that of the adult birds. The plumage is completed the first spring. 

 Only one brood is raised in the season. The species leaves the United States 

 in the beginning of September, moving off in flocks, which are formed 

 immediately after the breeding season is over. 



Hardly any difference as to external appearance exists between the sexes. 

 They never attack birds or quadrupeds of any species, with the view of 

 preying upon them. I never saw one alight on the ground. They secure 

 their prey as they pass closely over it, and in so doing sometimes seem to 

 alight, particularly when securing a snake. The common name of the Snake 

 represented in the plate is the Garter Snake. 



Swallow-tailed Hawk, Fako furcatus, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vi. p. 70. 



Falco fcrcatus, Bonap. Syn., p. 31. 



Swallow-tailed Hawk, Falco furcatus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 368; vol. v. p. 371. 



Adult Male. 



Wings very long and acute, the third quill longest, the first equal to the 

 fifth, the primaries widely graduated, the secondaries comparatively very 



